Like so many other Australians, Sam grew up in a community where punting was synonymous with sport.

“Our friends and family would ask, ‘Oh, who are you betting on this week?’ Those were the normal conversations that were having,” says his sister Amy, who does not use her real name.

Looking back, she blames this normalization of gambling—the way it crept into her home and baked into social interactions—for her brother’s addiction and the suffering he endured before ending his life.

“It destroyed him physically and emotionally,” she explains. “We tried everything. We were a close family, but of course we didn’t know how bad it was – it destroyed him.”

Amy is one of dozens who have come forward as witnesses to a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into the impact of gambling in Australia, a country that bets more per capita than any other.

The inquiry found that there are “few safeguards” to protect those battling gambling addiction. The commission recommended 31 reforms to prevent a new generation of children from being “trained” into gambling, starting with a phased ban on advertising over three years.

Now pressure is growing on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take action, both from outside and within his party. Polls suggest that a majority of the population supports this step.

But the government has indicated it may opt for a cap to limit advertising instead, citing the role of gambling advertising revenue in propping up the country’s struggling free-to-air broadcasters and warnings from betting shops that a ban could drive consumers abroad.

This would result in huge tax losses for Australian betting platforms that currently fund “vital services,” the industry’s umbrella organization explains.

The debate sparked accusations that corporate interests were standing in the way of sensible reforms.

In addition, the deep-rooted links between sport, gambling and entertainment in Australia were brought into the spotlight.

Betting holds a special place in Australian culture.

In the 1980s, it was the first country to deregulate its gambling industry, allowing slot machines – once only permitted in casinos – to be installed in licensed pubs and clubs.

Today, Australia is home to about 0.33% of the world’s population, but a fifth of all “pokies” – the colloquial term for slot machines.

The past two decades have also seen an explosion in the popularity of online betting, particularly in sports. It is estimated that Australians spend around 25 billion Australian dollars ($16.8 billion; £12.9 billion) on legal betting each year – with 38 percent of the population gambling weekly.

Experts argue that sophisticated marketing has fuelled this boom, while sponsorship deals, partnerships and bribes to leading sports federations have helped legitimise the industry.

Sean (not his real name) has been gambling legally and often compulsively for more than 18 years. He was introduced to sports betting by a friend as a teenager and it was uphill from there. “Some days I couldn’t sleep if I didn’t know what I had bet on. It got to the point where I was betting on sports I had never seen, in countries I had never heard of,” he told the BBC.

Now 36, he relies on the help of sponsors and doesn’t want to keep track of the losses, which seem like a lifetime, but estimates that the total amount is around 2 million Australian dollars.

He says the relationship breakdowns and years of isolation are harder to quantify: “If I had never played, I would be married with children now.”

A scientific paper found that, like Sean, 90% of Australian adults and about three-quarters of children aged eight to 16 view betting as a “normal part of sport”. Proponents such as Martin Thomas argue this is evidence that the practice has “penetrated every corner of society”.

“Our children know as much about the odds of a game and accumulator bets as they do about their favourite players,” he tells the BBC.

In Amy’s view, this normalization not only makes it harder for people of all ages to escape gambling, it has also created a dangerous subtext: any negative effects – such as debt or addiction – are the fault of the individual, not the system.

“When you watch a sporting event and see that it’s packed with betting ads, you think, ‘Oh, I’m the problem. Because everyone’s doing that,’ you know what I mean?

“My brother thought so too.”

Like many other advocates, she wants to redefine gambling as a major public health issue rather than a purely recreational activity, because surveys have shown that almost half of gamblers are at risk or are already facing the dangers associated with gambling, including financial difficulties, domestic violence, depression and suicide.

Research suggests that an advertising ban could be the first step toward achieving that goal. And advocates say the government could be treading a well-trodden path. Thomas cites Australia’s decision to ban tobacco advertising in 1992 – which is credited with a dramatic drop in smoking rates – as proof of what’s possible.

But although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the “oversaturation of gambling advertising” as “unsustainable,” he has not yet committed to a course of action.

Instead, when asked about it, he pointed to other initiatives of his government – such as banning the use of credit cards for online betting and setting up a register where people can exclude themselves from betting sites. He also occasionally portrayed gambling as an age-old problem.

“I suspect (this) has been a problem in our society since men and women walked and bet on who could ride a horse the fastest or run from stone to stone, probably before there were buildings,” he told Parliament on Wednesday.

The Australian Sportsbooks Association described a blanket ban as “a step too far” and strongly supported the government’s proposed cap, which would restrict online advertising and general television programming.

“This will allow us to meet community expectations to see less advertising while maintaining important support for sporting bodies and local broadcasters,” Responsible Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell said in a statement.

But Dr Andrew Hughes, a senior lecturer in marketing at the Australian National University, expresses doubts about how important this financial support really is, as Nielsen data shows that the lion’s share of Australian broadcasters’ advertising revenue comes not from betting platforms but from a range of other sectors.

And independent senators like David Pocock criticise the logic of using betting money to support the media.

“Journalism is incredibly important but it should not be dependent on promoting products that we know are harmful and cause addiction, personal problems, family breakdown and, in some cases, suicide,” he told the BBC.

“The government should have enough imagination to look for other ways to close this gap.”

Mr Pocock is one of several senators who have publicly questioned whether betting shops and the industries they fund are interfering in policymaking, citing their extensive lobbying activities and history of large political donations.

Last week, he and 20 MPs from across the political spectrum signed an open letter supporting an advertising ban, while calling for a free vote on the issue to allow MPs from Albanese’s party to switch sides without fear of reprisal.

Several medical organisations also support a ban, as does a government-appointed panel of experts to investigate how to reduce the number of domestic violence cases in Australia – adding to the pressure Albanese faces.

The government is already alerting the public to the risks by using warnings in gambling advertisements.

But Sean says it hardly deters those affected.

“I know the house always wins, but every time I’m ready to bet, it’s all gone,” he explains. I start to think I’m about to get that one win that will take me away from everything. The win that will give me everything back.”

Although nothing has been finally decided and Mr Albanese’s cabinet is still weighing up its options, the debate has become too “numb” even for Amy to follow.

She can’t understand what’s causing the delay and wants answers.

“Anyone who understands this issue would no doubt agree with a complete ban on advertising – that’s what the facts show,” she told the BBC. “It feels like these lobbyists own the government… We’re shoving this dangerous product in everyone’s face and normalising it, and the worst case scenario has happened to us.”

“My family will never recover. You don’t recover from that.”