A Victorian coroner has found that online sports betting was the main cause of the suicide of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson, The Guardian Australia reports.
Coroner Paul Lawrie said the Werribee man's case showed the human cost of online gambling. Hudson opened a Sportsbet account on his 18th birthday and bet almost $900,000 over four years with Sportsbet, Entain and Bet365, triggering behavioural alerts at Sportsbet 37 times. The coroner rejected Sportsbet's argument that there was not enough evidence of gambling harm, calling its position chilling.
He recommended the federal government consider further restrictions including a ban on online gambling advertising, set up a national online gambling regulator, and fund an independent data vault of betting records. He said monitoring should not be left to the betting firms alone.
Support for anyone affected is available from Lifeline.
Source: The Guardian Australia
