If Victoria had stronger gambling laws, Anna Bardsley feels her life would have turned out very differently. Warning: This story mentions suicide, which some readers may find distressing. The 76-year-old Bacchus Marsh mother battled a gambling addiction for 10 years. "At my very lowest point, I thought the only way out was to be dead," Ms Bardsley said. "It disconnected me from anything good in my life. As co-founder of the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts, Ms Bardsley says she "would not have lost 10 years of [her] life" to gambling if there had been some sort of barrier, such as precommitment cards, to stop her. "There was nothing to stop me once I was in front of a machine — I just couldn't leave until everything was gone," she said. Ms Bardsley said she wanted to see "some political bravery" this week as Victorian politicians go to parliament to debate mandatory precommitment cards, a bill the opposition is not backing. What is a precommitment card? A precommitment card requires users — before they play the pokies — to set a limit on how much they are willing to lose. Precommitment cards are already in use at Crown Casino but the Allan Labor government plans to make them mandatory across the state. The proposed bill plans to run a trial in 40 venues for three months, before mandating it on all 26,000 poker machines. The reform will also see the maximum amount of money people can load onto a machine at any time reduced from $1,000 to $100 by the end of 2027. But Ms Bardsley's sights are not just on the state government. Ahead of the federal election, she wants to see both sides of federal politics promising to tackle problem gambling. Frustrations on both sides With the federal election looming, chief advocate with the Alliance for Gambling Reform Tim Costello said he was "outraged" by the lack of conversation around gambling reform. "Nothing has happened to the debate [at a federal level] — both Prime Minister Albanese and Peter Dutton have been captured by the gambling industry," Mr Costello said. In June 2023, the "You win some, you lose more" report was released with 31 recommendations following the Online Gambling National Inquiry, aka the Murphy Inquiry, led by late Labor MP Peta Murphy. A key recommendation was to introduce a blanket ban on all gambling advertising, a reform the Albanese government vowed to implement. But nearly two years since the inquiry released its findings, Mr Costello said he was "frustrated … that neither side has even responded to the Murphy report". "We are grooming our kids whose heroes play AFL, NRL, or cricket, and literally 80 per cent of those 10-year-old kids know the odds, know the logos, and know the jingles of sport betting companies," he said. A federal coalition spokesperson criticised the Labor government for failing to act on recommendations from the inquiry. "Labor has been sitting on a report from their own committee inquiry since 2023, yet all they seem to be able to decide on is to wait until after the election," the spokesperson said. "A Coalition government would ensure that families enjoying the broadcast of their favourite sporting event will be protected from gambling ads, which we know cause harm, particularly to children." A spokesperson for the Albanese government said the government takes its responsibility to protect Australians from the harms of online gambling seriously. "The government is continuing to work through the 31 recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry into online gambling," the spokesperson said. Time for change Ms Bardsley said the major parties needed to care "about the people, not the gambling industry". "And I'm not alone. A lot of people have been in my situation, which is why we have to change the conversation — we have to have a different conversation than what we've been having."