Fair Play

Young people had no dedicated, publicly accessible resources to help them navigate gambling harm. As online gambling and gambling features in video games grew rapidly, young people, parents, and communities were left without the tools to recognise or respond to the risks. Co-design research with parents showed that many were unaware of the gambling mechanics embedded in everyday games, while young people described a lack of peer-relevant information on sports betting and in-game spending. The challenge was to design resources that would reach and resonate with each group, without stigma, jargon, or the tone of a lecture

The solution is fairplay.org.au: a single digital hub that brings together evidence-based resources and eight bespoke tools, each one drawn from what young people, parents, and professionals asked for in workshops. Over 50 stakeholders shaped the design across separate co-design committees, with the ecological model of child development guiding the framework so content matched the realities of each age group. Including 12-year-olds in co-design required a mid-project ethics amendment, complex to navigate but essential for hearing the youngest voices directly.

Fair Play addresses a gap in Australia's response to gambling harm. It is the first co-designed digital hub of its kind, providing publicly accessible gambling harm resources for young people. By targeting three age groups with tailored, co-designed content, Fair Play reaches young people, parents, and the broader community on their own terms. The hub launched during Gambling Harm Action Week with the ACT Minister for Gaming Reform, Senator David Pocock, and ANU's Vice-Chancellor speaking alongside a young person who shaped it. Grounded in an evidence-based framework and developed through participatory research, the model is structured for replication across jurisdictions.

Fair Play's standout feature is its age-stratified design framework, grounded in the ecological model of child development. Resources are tailored to three groups: parents and carers of 5 to 11 year olds, peers and friends of 12 to 18 year olds, and the general community of 18 to 25 year olds. Each group receives content in the format and tone they respond to.Language was treated as a design element. Young people do not describe themselves as gambling; they bet, roll, or put on a punt. Fair Play's resources reflect this, avoiding the jargon that causes traditional gambling harm messaging to be dismissed.The hub includes eight bespoke tools, each requested directly in co-design workshops: Check Your Game (a parent-facing lookup for gambling-like features in popular games), Conversation Guide, Steps to Reduce Risk, Common Types of Gambling, A Quick Self-Check, Self-Exclusion and Blocking Tools, Spending Calculator, and Is it Gambling? Quiz.Tools are organised by activity, not by demographic: Online Gaming, Online Betting, and General. This meets people where their question actually starts.Co-design shaped every layer of the project. Ethics approval was sought and amended to include participants as young as 12, ensuring the youngest voices were genuinely represented.