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“Our definition of gambling needs to change. “The Australian gambling regulations are so behind the times that we need a total review,” Levin says. Levin points to the case of Tasmanian woman Rachel Naomi Perri, who in December last year was sentenced to six years in jail after defrauding her employer of $940,000 in order to play another social casino game, Heart of Vegas, which is made by the Australian company Aristocrat Leisure. “Gambling financial counsellors are now very concerned about how much money people are losing playing with social casino games and the addictions that are developing,” she says.

Lauren Levin, the director of policy and campaigns at Financial Counselling Australia, says the evidence is mounting that virtual games can cause harm similar to conventional poker machines. Guardian Australia is aware of one person who poured tens of thousands of dollars into Slotomania, causing them to fall behind on housing and other essential payments. “We want to get evidence about this,” Murphy says. Some countries, including Belgium, have gone further and decided that “loot box” mechanics in video games, where players pay for a chance to win a powerful in-game item, are also a form of gambling. The inquiry will also look at developments overseas, where some jurisdictions have decided that social casinos are indeed a form of gambling.

“Most of us on the committee have had our constituents talk about this sort of simulated gambling either leading to gambling or getting people hooked on that itself – and you are losing money in it.” The chair of the committee, Labor MP Peta Murphy, says virtual gaming is widespread.

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