Shaun Micallef’ Going For Broke on ABC S1E2 – Shaun Micallef explores the predatory nature of the gambling industry. In the second of three episodes, he lifts the lid on the industry’s playbook and the tactics used to reel people in and keep them betting.
Shaun Micallef exposes how modern gambling hooks Australians. He enters the world of race-day betting marketed to young women, contrasts it with the comparatively gentle culture of bingo, and then witnesses the harm of poker machines in disadvantaged communities.
Shaun explores how apps and constant markets target young people, meets families affected by addiction, and confronts the irony of treatment funded by gambling itself, asking how such a powerful industry can be challenged.
Shaun Micallef’ Going For Broke on ABC and ABC iview – Tuesday 26 May at 8pm
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Shaun Micallef’ Going For Broke on ABC S1E2
About the Show
Shaun Micallef returns to the ABC with a bold new three‑part documentary series that tackles one of Australia’s most deeply entrenched habits: gambling.
Shaun Micallef’s Going For Broke premieres Tuesday 19 May at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
This insightful new series sees the writer, actor and comedian turn his forensic logic and trademark wit on a national obsession he has never understood – and barely participated in. Famously risk‑averse, Shaun places his first bet in decades and travels the country to uncover how Australians have become the biggest gambling losers in the world.
Across three episodes, Shaun explores Australia’s complicated love affair with having a punt, tracing how a once‑casual pastime has evolved into a carefully engineered, highly profitable industry that keeps Australians betting more often and at higher stakes than ever before.
By placing himself inside each experience, Shaun offers a distinctive and deeply human lens on an industry that thrives in plain sight.
Micallef traces Australia’s gambling culture from its early rituals to the human cost of poker machines, sharing stories from both casual players and those impacted by addiction. He interrogates the industry’s predatory tactics and turns to the future, examining advertising, influencers and reform, while spotlighting venues thriving without gambling revenue.
Blending sharp inquiry, empathy and Shaun’s unmistakable humour, Shaun Micallef’s Going For Broke challenges viewers to reconsider what gambling has become in Australia, who is paying the price – and whether, as a nation, we are truly going for broke.
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PRODUCTION CREDIT:
A CJZ production for the ABC. Principal production funding from the ABC, in association with Screen Australia. Local distribution by the ABC. Post, digital and visual effects supported by Screen NSW. Supervising Executive Producer: Paula Bycroft. Executive Producer: Andrew Farrell. ABC Executive Producer: Julie Hanna. ABC Head of Documentaries and Specialist: Susie Jones.
Media Release – ABC
