MEMBERS of the Committee for Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula joined Reverend Tim Costello AO and Wayne Holdsworth at Sages Cottage in Baxter on 23 July for a forum focused on sports gambling reform and the under-16 social media ban.
Costello and Holdsworth spoke about their personal journeys on the two issues before taking questions from Committee members.
Both social causes link back to Frankston, including the parliamentary inquiry into sports gambling harm chaired by the late Peta Murphy MP.
Costello’s advocacy on gambling reform continues at a national level, more than two years after the Murphy Report was tabled.
Murphy chaired the House of Representatives inquiry into online gambling harm, which handed down its report, titled “You win some, you lose more”, in June 2023, six months before her death.
The report made 31 unanimously supported recommendations, including a ban on online gambling advertising, stronger consumer protections and a legislated duty of care.
Murphy represented the federal electorate of Dunkley from May 2019 until her death in office on 4 December 2023, following a battle with breast cancer.
The federal government tabled its response to the report in May, but has been criticised for not acting on all of its recommendations (Murphy Report response released, The News 22/05/26).
The committee said the report gave the country a serious, evidence-based roadmap for reducing sports gambling harm, and urged the government to take stronger action.
Holdsworth’s advocacy, undertaken in the name of his son, has helped shift the national conversation about young people, social media and online safety.
Holdsworth founded the charity SmackTalk after the death of his 17-year-old son Mac in October 2023, following an incident of sextortion.
The charity delivers free listening-skills sessions to schools, sporting clubs and businesses, and runs the Unplug24 campaign, encouraging Australians to disconnect from social media for 24 hours each October.
Holdsworth was named Frankston’s 2025 Citizen of the Year and was a finalist for Victorian of the Year in 2024, in recognition of his advocacy work.
SmackTalk received $450,000 in federal government funding earlier this year to expand its reach (Funding for SmackTalk expansion, The News 25/06/26).
Holdsworth and other parents of children harmed by social media have made significant progress on the issue over the past three years, with Australia now leading the world on under-16 social media reform.
Frankston has a special place in both reform stories, the committee said, with Holdsworth’s advocacy, Costello’s leadership and Murphy’s determination all connecting directly to the peninsula. That connection brings a responsibility, the committee said, but also an opportunity to keep leading the push for reform with compassion, evidence and courage.
First published in the Mornington News – 28 July 2026
