Nerilee Hing

My name is Nerilee Hing. I am a Research Professor in Gambling Studies at CQUniversity Australia. For more than two decades, my academic career has been dedicated to understanding gambling behaviour, identifying factors that contribute to harm, and informing policies and practices that reduce negative consequences while respecting adult autonomy.

My work has evolved alongside the gambling environment itself. When I began researching gambling, most activity occurred in physical venues — clubs, hotels, race tracks. Today, gambling is increasingly digital. Online betting platforms, mobile wagering applications, inducements, targeted advertising, and algorithm-driven engagement tools have transformed the landscape.

My academic journey reflects this transformation. Over time, I moved from studying venue-based gambling environments to investigating online betting ecosystems, advertising exposure, behavioural risk markers, and consumer protection in digital gambling markets.

This is the story of how that work developed.

Early Academic Foundations

My academic background is rooted in social science and behavioural research. From early in my career, I was interested in how environments shape human decision-making. Gambling provided a particularly complex and revealing context: it involves risk, emotion, probability misjudgment, marketing influence, social norms, and regulatory structures.

In the early 2000s, I became increasingly focused on gambling as a public health issue. While many people gamble recreationally without experiencing harm, a minority experience significant personal, financial, relational, and psychological consequences.

Understanding this spectrum — from recreational use to harmful behaviour — became central to my research.

Founding the Centre for Gambling Education and Research

In 2003, I became the Founding Director of the Centre for Gambling Education and Research at Southern Cross University in Australia. This marked a defining moment in my career.

The Centre was established to:

• Conduct independent gambling research
• Provide evidence-based education
• Inform policymakers
• Support harm minimisation initiatives
• Foster collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and regulators

During my time leading the Centre, we conducted numerous empirical studies examining gambling behaviours, community attitudes, regulatory frameworks, and the impacts of electronic gaming machines.

It was also during this period that I began observing the rapid growth of online wagering platforms in Australia.

Transition to CQUniversity

In 2016, I joined CQUniversity Australia as a Research Professor in Gambling Studies. This move allowed me to expand my research focus further into digital gambling environments.

CQUniversity provided an interdisciplinary research environment that supported large-scale studies involving psychology, marketing, public health, behavioural economics, and policy analysis.

My research agenda increasingly centred on:

• Online betting and sports wagering
• Gambling advertising exposure
• Inducements and promotional strategies
• Youth exposure to gambling marketing
• Consumer protection in digital gambling

The rise of mobile betting apps and targeted advertising created new research questions. How do inducements influence decision-making? Does repeated exposure to wagering advertisements shape betting behaviour? Are online environments associated with different risk profiles than land-based gambling?

These became core themes of my work.

Research Philosophy

My philosophy is grounded in balance.

I do not approach gambling research from a moralistic perspective. Gambling is a legal recreational activity for many adults. However, for a minority, it can cause severe harm.

My work aims to:

• Protect vulnerable individuals
• Inform policymakers
• Guide responsible innovation
• Encourage transparency
• Promote evidence-based regulation

I believe technology can be part of the solution — but only if we understand how it influences behaviour.

Focus on Inducements and Advertising

One of the most significant developments in modern gambling has been the expansion of inducements — promotional offers such as bonus bets, cashback offers, stake insurance, odds boosts, and risk-free bets.

These features are often framed as value-enhancing tools for consumers. My research has examined whether they also function as behavioural accelerators that may increase risk.

Through experimental designs, surveys, and ecological momentary assessment studies, my colleagues and I have explored how exposure to inducements and advertising influences both intended and actual betting expenditure.

Our findings suggest that inducements can:

• Increase perceived value
• Reduce perceived risk
• Encourage impulsive betting
• Reinforce continuous engagement

These findings have informed policy discussions across Australia.

Online Gambling Risk Factors

Another major area of my work involves identifying risk markers specific to online gambling.

Online platforms differ from land-based environments in several ways:

• 24/7 accessibility
• Rapid bet placement
• Private, solitary play
• Embedded digital payments
• Targeted advertising

We have examined how these structural features interact with individual vulnerability factors such as impulsivity, financial stress, and gambling motivations.

Understanding this interaction is essential for harm minimisation strategies.

Youth Exposure and Digital Gambling Culture

In recent years, I have expanded my work to include youth exposure to gambling marketing. Young people today grow up in media environments saturated with sports betting advertisements, sponsorship integrations, and digital promotional content.

My research investigates:

• How youth perceive gambling advertising
• Whether advertising normalises betting
• How early exposure influences future intentions

This line of inquiry intersects with public health, media studies, and regulatory policy.

Policy and Consumer Protection

Research has limited value if it does not inform real-world policy.

Throughout my career, I have contributed to discussions regarding:

• Advertising restrictions
• Inducement regulation
• Consumer protection mechanisms
• Responsible gambling frameworks
• Harm minimisation technologies

I advocate for proportionate regulation grounded in empirical evidence rather than ideology.

Selected Publications

Below is a selection of representative publications related to online gambling, inducements, advertising, and behavioural risk.

Academic Profiles and Professional Links

Looking Forward

The gambling environment will continue to evolve. Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, personalised marketing, cryptocurrency betting environments, and immersive digital experiences will reshape risk landscapes.

The central question remains:

How do we protect individuals while respecting autonomy?

I believe the answer lies in:

• Transparent research
• Evidence-based policy
• Interdisciplinary collaboration
• Technological accountability
• Consumer education

Gambling research is not about prohibition. It is about balance, informed choice, and harm prevention.

My work continues to explore that balance.

n many ways, the concept of balance has become the organising principle of my academic life. Gambling, particularly in its modern digital form, sits at the intersection of freedom and vulnerability. It is a voluntary leisure activity, yet it can produce involuntary patterns of harm. It is powered by innovation, yet shaped by regulation. It generates revenue and entertainment, yet also raises ethical questions. To study gambling responsibly is to hold all of these realities at once.

Over the past decade, the rapid expansion of online wagering has fundamentally reshaped the environment in which gambling occurs. Mobile applications have reduced friction between intention and action. Promotional inducements have reframed risk as opportunity. Data analytics have enabled increasingly personalised marketing. These developments are not inherently harmful, but they alter the psychological architecture of gambling. My research increasingly asks: how do structural features interact with human cognition and emotion in digital contexts?

One area of continued focus in my work is structural design. Gambling environments — whether physical venues or online platforms — are not neutral spaces. They are carefully engineered systems. In online betting, this includes interface design, bet placement speed, notification systems, live odds updates, visual reinforcement cues, and frictionless payment mechanisms. Each of these elements can subtly shape decision-making. My colleagues and I continue to investigate how these structural characteristics influence impulsivity, perceived control, and expenditure patterns.

Another dimension of balance concerns consumer information. Many regulatory frameworks emphasise disclosure — providing information about odds, terms, and responsible gambling tools. However, behavioural research consistently demonstrates that information alone does not always change behaviour. I am interested in the gap between knowledge and action. Why do individuals who understand probability still engage in risky wagering? How do inducements override rational evaluation? And what types of messaging genuinely support informed decision-making rather than simply meeting compliance requirements?

In recent years, my research has increasingly incorporated interdisciplinary methods. Behavioural economics offers insights into loss aversion and framing effects. Psychology contributes understanding of reinforcement schedules and cognitive biases. Public health frameworks contextualise harm at the population level rather than focusing solely on individuals. Marketing research helps unpack persuasive communication strategies. By combining these perspectives, we are better able to understand gambling not as a singular behaviour, but as a system embedded in social, technological, and commercial contexts.

Youth exposure remains another priority in my ongoing work. Today’s young people are growing up in environments where gambling advertising is integrated into sports broadcasts, social media feeds, and influencer partnerships. Even when young individuals are not legally permitted to gamble, they are exposed to the language, branding, and cultural narratives of betting. I am particularly interested in how early exposure shapes attitudes. Does it normalise wagering as a routine extension of sports fandom? Does it create perceptions of inevitability? And how might early education mitigate potential risks?

Emerging technologies also present new research frontiers. Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in customer segmentation, personalised marketing, and behavioural tracking. These tools can identify patterns of engagement with remarkable precision. They can also, potentially, identify markers of escalating risk. The ethical question is not whether such technology exists, but how it is deployed. Could predictive analytics be used proactively to intervene when risk markers appear? What safeguards are necessary to ensure that data-driven systems prioritise consumer welfare alongside commercial objectives?

Cryptocurrency and decentralised betting platforms add further complexity. These environments may operate across jurisdictions, sometimes with limited regulatory oversight. The speed and anonymity of digital currency transactions can alter risk dynamics. As gambling ecosystems become more globalised, collaboration between researchers and policymakers across countries becomes increasingly important. My future work aims to contribute to these international conversations.

Throughout my career, I have maintained a commitment to evidence-based policy engagement. Academic research should not exist in isolation. I regularly participate in consultations, policy discussions, and advisory contexts where research findings are translated into regulatory considerations. Effective policy requires nuance. Blanket restrictions may have unintended consequences. Conversely, insufficient oversight can permit avoidable harm. Striking the appropriate balance requires empirical grounding.

Harm minimisation strategies also continue to evolve. Self-exclusion programs, deposit limits, reality checks, and behavioural feedback tools are now standard components of many regulated platforms. Yet their effectiveness varies depending on implementation and user engagement. I remain interested in how these tools are designed and presented. Do they empower users, or do they function merely as symbolic gestures? Research must evaluate not only whether tools exist, but whether they meaningfully reduce harm.

Community impact is another aspect of balance that often receives less attention. Gambling-related harm extends beyond the individual. Financial strain, relationship conflict, and psychological distress can ripple outward into families and social networks. Public health approaches recognise these broader effects. My work increasingly considers gambling harm not solely as an individual pathology, but as a phenomenon embedded within communities.

Looking ahead, I anticipate that immersive technologies — including virtual environments — may further blur the boundaries between gaming and gambling. The integration of skill-based elements, social features, and digital economies complicates traditional regulatory definitions. Researchers must remain adaptable. As the environment evolves, so too must our methodologies and conceptual frameworks.

Mentorship has also become an important dimension of my professional life. Supporting emerging researchers in gambling studies ensures continuity and diversity of perspectives. This field benefits from scholars who bring varied disciplinary backgrounds and lived experiences. Encouraging critical thinking, methodological rigour, and ethical sensitivity in the next generation is essential for sustaining balanced inquiry.

I am often asked whether I believe gambling can ever be entirely “safe.” The answer, like many aspects of this field, is nuanced. Risk is inherent in gambling. The objective is not to eliminate risk altogether, but to ensure that systems are designed transparently, that consumers are protected from exploitative practices, and that those experiencing harm have access to support. Research plays a central role in identifying where interventions are most needed.

Ultimately, my work continues to explore the delicate equilibrium between innovation and responsibility, autonomy and protection, commerce and care. Gambling is neither wholly benign nor wholly harmful. It is a complex human activity shaped by structural, psychological, and cultural forces. Understanding those forces — and using that understanding to promote informed, balanced outcomes — remains the guiding purpose of my research.

As the gambling landscape continues to transform, I remain committed to asking difficult questions, engaging with diverse stakeholders, and grounding conclusions in robust empirical evidence. Balance is not a static endpoint; it is an ongoing process of evaluation, adaptation, and dialogue. My work continues within that process — striving to illuminate complexity rather than simplify it, and to contribute thoughtfully to conversations about the future of gambling in an increasingly digital world.