Gambling Research Glasgow

Global Gambling Control Monitor

The Global Gambling Control Scorecard (GGCS) project brought together a multidisciplinary team to address the growing global challenge of gambling-related harms. Despite growing concern worldwide, there has so far been no shared framework to evaluate whether current regulation protects the public - unlike in more established public health domains, such as tobacco or alcohol.

GGCS is a new international benchmarking tool designed to help governments, regulators, researchers, and civil society organisations assess the strength of their jurisdictions' responses to gambling-related harms, including addictions, mental health impacts, suicide, and financial distress. 

Central to the project was a global e-Delphi study, which facilitated co-development of the GGCS tool through structured engagement with gambling regulators, national and international policymakers (including WHO representatives), academic researchers, clinicians, and civil society organisations. This collaborative process enabled consensus-building across diverse stakeholder groups and geographies, ensuring the GGCS reflects the complexity and diversity of global gambling policy landscapes. 

The GGCS offers a structured, evidence-based scorecard that covers seven key dimensions:

• Legal status & regulatory regime
• Actions to prevent illegal/unlicensed gambling
• Policies to prevent gambling harms and support multisectoral collaboration
• Use of prevention measures and availability of treatment
• Effectiveness of regulatory controls (legal powers; prescriptive vs voluntary approaches)
• Systems for monitoring harms
• Funding mechanisms for harm prevention

Thus, the GGCS enables cross-country comparison, supports civil society advocacy, and provides governments with a roadmap for reform.

The GGCS was funded by the UKRI via an Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) award.