Sally Gainsbury – professor of psychology and gambling researcher

I have spent more than two decades trying to understand one deceptively simple question: what does technology do to the way people gamble? The internet changed this industry before most regulators noticed, and I have been studying those changes from the inside – first as a PhD student, then as a clinical psychologist, and now as a professor running Australia’s only university-affiliated gambling treatment clinic. My name is Sally Gainsbury, and everything I write here is shaped by that combination of research, clinical practice, and an honest look at the evidence.

Where I started – and why it still matters

I grew up at a time when gambling in Australia meant a TAB on the corner or poker machines at the local club. By the time I was deep into my postgraduate studies, everything was moving online, and almost nobody in the research community was paying serious attention to what that shift meant for ordinary players. That gap felt important. I completed a BPsych with Honours, then a PhD in Psychology focused on online gambling behaviour, then a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology – an unusual combination that I chose deliberately. I wanted to be both a scientist who could design rigorous studies and a clinician who sat across from real people dealing with real consequences.

That dual training is still the thing I value most about my background. A randomised controlled trial looks different when you have also spent time in a consulting room with someone who is trying to stop. Policy recommendations read differently when you understand both the data and the human cost of getting them wrong.

My current role

I am a Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney and Director of the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic at the Brain and Mind Centre. The clinic holds a position that is, as far as I know, unique in Australia – it is the only university-affiliated gambling treatment service in the country, and it serves as the lead Gamble Aware provider for gambling treatment across Sydney Central, Sydney West, and Sydney South-West. That means we take referrals, deliver evidence-based therapy, run outreach programs, and simultaneously conduct research into what actually works. The proximity of research and practice is not incidental. It is the whole point.

I also serve as Chief Investigator of the Technology Addiction Team at the Brain and Mind Centre, which brings together psychologists, public health researchers, data scientists, and policy specialists to study how digital environments – gambling platforms, video games, social media – interact with addictive behaviour. Within that team, gambling is both a focus area and a model: the research methods and frameworks we develop there translate to other forms of technology-related harm.

What I actually study

People sometimes assume that gambling research is a narrow field. It is not. The questions that pull me in span psychology, public health, economics, law, and technology design – and in 2026 they are more urgent than ever.

Online gambling and digital risk

The structural features of online gambling – 24/7 availability, elimination of travel friction, integration with payment systems, algorithmic personalisation – change how people experience risk in ways that are not always visible to the player. I have been documenting those changes since the early days of Australian internet gambling, and the patterns I identified then are now mainstream public health concerns.

Whether harm-reduction tools actually work

This is probably my sharpest research focus right now. Australia has mandated a range of consumer protection tools for online gambling platforms – activity statements, deposit limits, cooling-off periods. The policy logic is sound. The evidence base for real-world impact is more complicated. My team has published detailed work on the uptake, understanding, and effectiveness of these tools, and the findings consistently show that good intentions and good outcomes are not the same thing.

The blurring line between gaming and gambling

I started publishing on the convergence of video games and gambling before “loot boxes” was a mainstream concern. The structural and psychological overlaps between these two industries raise serious questions – particularly about younger players who grow up inside game economies that function very much like gambling systems. I have written on video games as exploitative monetised services and what that means for consumer protection frameworks that were designed before these products existed.

Offshore and unlicensed markets

A substantial portion of Australian online gambling activity happens on sites that are not licensed to operate here. Understanding why players use those sites – and what specific harms follow – is critical for any evidence-based regulatory response. My research in this area has directly informed policy discussions about how Australia manages its offshore gambling problem.

Clinical treatment and recovery

Through the clinic, I oversee treatment delivery and research into outcomes. What actually helps people who want to change their relationship with gambling? What works for different severity levels, different gambling types, different demographics? These are not hypothetical questions for me. They are the questions my clinical team grapples with every week.

The numbers behind the work

More than two decades of focus on a single domain produces a record I am proud of. The figures below reflect where things stand in 2026.

The editorial role at International Gambling Studies matters to me beyond the professional recognition. Reading and shaping the field’s leading journal means I stay genuinely current across every subarea of gambling research – not just my own specialisation. When I write a review or commentary, I am drawing on a very wide reading of the current literature.

Some papers from my body of work that have had the most impact:

• “The prevalence and determinants of problem gambling in Australia: assessing the impact of interactive gambling and new technologies” – one of the foundational Australian studies on this question
• Work on consumer use of responsible gambling tools on internet gambling sites – motivators, barriers, and actual uptake rates
• Research on social casino games and their relationship to real-money gambling behaviour
• Papers on crime and gambling disorders (systematic review)
• Analysis of video games as exploitative monetised services – examining game patents through a consumer protection lens

Speaking and policy engagement

Research that stays inside academic journals does not change much in the real world. I have been deliberate about taking findings to the people who can act on them – regulators, legislators, industry operators, and the broader community.

In 2026 I spoke at Regulating the Game in Sydney, one of the most significant international gambling regulation conferences. I am a regular plenary speaker at the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) and at the International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking. I have given keynotes to audiences as varied as club industry CEOs, health professionals, and parliamentary committee members.

Beyond formal speaking, I have provided expert input for government inquiries and policy processes in Australia and internationally, and I currently sit on advisory boards covering regulation, community harm reduction, and industry practice. The Churchill Fellowship I received in 2024 was specifically awarded to support work on technology-based strategies for preventing and treating gambling harms – an area that will define the next decade of policy in this space.

The standard I hold my writing to

When I review an online casino or write about gambling for a general audience, I apply the same evidence standard I would to any academic output. That means I do not repeat claims I cannot verify, I distinguish between what the research shows and what operators assert, and I flag genuine uncertainty where it exists. I am aware that this kind of writing can be used to drive commercial decisions, and I take that responsibility seriously.

The things I look at when evaluating an online gambling platform go well beyond the obvious. Licensing and security matter – but so does the structure of the bonus system, whether the responsible gambling tools are accessible or buried, how the site handles players who show early signs of problematic behaviour, and whether the terms and conditions reflect what the marketing actually promises. These are the questions my research has trained me to ask, and they are the questions I bring to everything I write here.

A rough framework for how I approach any platform assessment:

A note on my relationship with Ripper Casino

I want to be straightforward about this. I write for Ripper Casino as an independent expert, applying the same analytical standards I bring to my academic work. I have not altered findings to reflect well on the platform, and I do not intend to. The value I offer readers comes entirely from my credibility as a researcher – that is not something I am willing to trade for anything.

Most Australians who use online casinos are recreational players making informed choices with discretionary money. They deserve accurate, well-sourced information written by someone who understands the research. That is what I aim to provide. Where I have concerns about a feature or practice, I say so. Where the evidence supports a positive assessment, I say that too.

Get in touch

For academic collaboration or research inquiries, I can be reached through the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology profile page. My publication list is available on Google Scholar and ResearchGate. For media requests, the University of Sydney media office manages initial contact.

For anyone concerned about their own gambling or that of someone close to them, the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic at the Brain and Mind Centre offers evidence-based treatment and is the lead Gamble Aware provider for greater Sydney. You do not need a referral to make contact.