Frequently asked questions

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What is the Better Gambling Forum (BG Forum)?
A: The BG Forum is a global initiative that convenes a wide range of stakeholders including regulators, gambling operators, suppliers to the gambling industry, treatment providers, public health experts, researchers, stakeholder groups, and elected as well as appointed officials. The Forum exists to address the growing challenges associated with gambling-related harm by sharing leading and emerging practices, developing policies, and creating solutions that can be applied worldwide. The BG Forum anchors on the principle of Player Protection - a unifying concept that keeps the focus on prevention, system design, and accountability across stakeholders. By emphasizing Player Protection as a guiding principle, the Forum provides a framework that connects and strengthens approaches across sectors, while recognizing that concepts like “responsible,” “safer,” and “healthy” gambling contribute to the broader dialogue.

What is the Brain Capital Alliance and what does it have to do with gambling?
A: The Brain Capital Alliance is a global initiative advancing brain health as a foundation for individual well-being, economic productivity, and societal resilience. Brain Capital refers to the cognitive, emotional, and psychological resources of individuals and communities. The Better Gambling Forum is an initiative of the Alliance, created in response to calls from the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the G7/G20 for evidence-based policy on gambling harm. By framing gambling harm as a Brain Capital issue, the Forum highlights its impact on mental health, decision-making, and social stability. This perspective helps ensure gambling policy protects brain health, prioritizes harm prevention, and maintains gambling as a safe form of entertainment.

Who are the stakeholders involved in the Better Gambling Forum?
A: The BG Forum is a multi-stakeholder initiative that welcomes contributions from:

• Regulators and policymakers who design and enforce gambling laws and regulations.
• Gaming operators who oversee gambling venues and online platforms.
• Public health and treatment providers who focus on prevention, intervention, and recovery.
• Researchers and academics who provide data, insights, and evidence-based approaches.
• Community Organizations and lived-experience voices who represent individuals and communities affected by gambling harm.
  

The diversity of perspectives ensures that solutions are balanced, comprehensive, and informed by real-world impact.

What are the primary goals of the Better Gambling Forum?
A: The Forum’s main goals are to:

• Develop a global framework for player protection that can be applied across jurisdictions.
• Foster collaboration so prevention and harm reduction efforts are aligned and effective.
• Promote innovation and research to strengthen prevention, treatment, and policy.
• Develop and recommend regulatory and operational frameworks, informed by stakeholder input, that enhance player protection.
• Maintain ongoing dialogue to ensure gambling evolves in ways that protect public health.
  

What will the Better Gambling Forum contribute to global gambling policy?
A: The BG Forum provides a comprehensive platform for developing evidence-based strategies to prevent and mitigate gambling harm. By promoting practical guidelines and a global approach, it aims to inform policy and program development at national and international levels. Through collaboration, the Forum will facilitate benchmarking for practices and provide governments, regulators, operators, harm prevention organizations and health organizations with the tools to implement effective and scalable solutions.

How can stakeholders participate?
A: Participation is open to all interested parties. Stakeholders can provide input, contribute to working groups, or take part in consultations and events. The Forum organizes workshops, roundtable discussions, and global summits to share insights, review emerging evidence, and deliberate policies. Contributions of data, research, and case studies are especially valuable in shaping the Responsible Gambling Practice and Policy Pillars (RG3P) framework.

Why develop the RG3P?
A: Although the fields of disordered gambling and harm prevention have expanded and evolved worldwide, frameworks for comparative review and evaluation remain underdeveloped. The Responsible Gambling Practice and Policy Pillars (RG3P) framework was created to fill this gap. Although the framework retains the “responsible gambling” title for continuity with established sector terminology, the Forum consistently anchors on Player Protection - a term deliberately chosen over “responsible,” “safer,” or “healthy” gambling because it shifts the focus away from individual blame, avoids geography-specific terminology, and prevents language that can dilute the seriousness of gambling harms.

The RG3P seeks to benchmark, classify, and evaluate practices across all sectors. It highlights leading and emerging practices, identifies gaps, and provides a common reference point for regulators, operators, healthcare, and public health experts. By taking a global view, the RG3P promotes policies and practices that are evidence-informed, measurable, and continuously improved to safeguard players and communities.

What will the RG3P deliver and what difference will it make?
A: The RG3P framework will address prevention and mitigation strategies undertaken by all sectors addressing gambling harm. It will classify policies and practices, highlight leading and emerging approaches, and allow for benchmarking. Any organization - regulatory, industry, government, treatment, or public health - can use it to design, evaluate, or enhance their programs. As a living framework, RG3P will evolve over time, expand its repository of practices, track evaluation methods, and provide a foundation for dialogue on managing a legal and regulated industry while protecting players and communities.

How was the RG3P created?
A: The initial model was informed by a review of international standards, regulations, and frameworks. The first RG3P is presented as a starting point for dialogue. Iterative drafts will be refined with input from across sectors and jurisdictions, ensuring the framework is collaborative, practical, and globally relevant. In essence, you will help create the RG3P by attending events and/or being part of a committee.

Isn’t the Better Gambling Forum an industry-led effort?
A: No. While the Forum includes industry stakeholders , its governance ensures balance and integrity across all sectors concerned about gambling harm. The Steering Committee is expanding to include regulators, researchers, public health leaders, and harm prevention organizations. Its balance will ensure no single perspective dominates.

Most importantly, the Scientific Oversight Committee (SOC) operates fully independently. The SOC has final approval authority over all research-related outputs, ensuring that the Forum’s deliverables meet the highest standards of scientific integrity, evidence alignment, and ethical practice. This safeguard means participation in the Forum does not risk lending credibility to weak or biased outputs - instead, members directly help uphold its credibility.

How does the Scientific Oversight Committee ensure integrity?
A: The SOC is composed of independent experts in public health, addiction science, gambling research, and related fields. Its role is to review and approve all research-related outputs before they are published or used to inform policy recommendations. If an output does not meet standards for scientific rigor, evidence-informed practice, or ethical principles, it cannot be associated with the Forum’s name.

This authority committee supports the Forum’s intention to be a neutral, evidence-based body, where research integrity is protected . The SOC’s independent review role prioritizes that science leads policy, not the other way around.

Is this an effort by the gaming industry to avoid tighter regulation?
A: No. The Better Gambling Forum is not industry-led. It is a multi-stakeholder initiative that prioritizes the perspectives of regulators, policymakers, researchers, public health experts, and recovery professionals. Industry voices are included as one perspective among many. The Forum’s purpose is to create an evidence-based framework that places harm prevention and community well-being first, while still recognizing gambling’s role as a source of entertainment and economic activity.

What will the Forum fund? Research? Campaigns? Other activities?
A: The Forum is not currently a funding body. Its immediate mandate is to create a practical, comprehensive framework that guides policy and practice across sectors. Over time, as the initiative evolves, it may support research, campaigns, or other activities aligned with its mission.

How does the BG Forum  differ from current responsible gambling and problem gambling groups?
A: Existing groups such as trade associations, research institutes, or treatment organizations focus on specific sectors. The Better Gambling Forum complements these efforts by serving as a global platform that convenes all sectors. It is unique in its multi-stakeholder approach, public health grounding, and emphasis on brain health. Its mission is to develop the RG3P framework as a common benchmark that unifies leading and emerging practices across jurisdictions, enabling existing initiatives to align, scale, and have greater collective impact.