He uses cold, hard logic when he makes his decisions and always plays for certainty.
“Life’s a gamble anyway,” he says. “Why would you go out of your way to risk losing something you already have? Particularly something as important as your money.”
Mind you, he said the same thing about alcohol a few years ago in his documentary series Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce and then this teetotaller spent one episode getting drunk.
In Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke, he turns a sober eye on Australia’s lifelong love affair with gambling. Shaun travels across the country to find out how we became the biggest gambling nation in the world. Are we making a risky bet on our future? And can even Shaun’s rational mind resist the lure of a sure thing?
PRODUCTION CREDITS
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 Documentary and Specialist: Susie Jones.
The ABC and Screen Australia proudly announced today at the ABC 2026 Showcase that Shaun Micallef will front a new 3-part documentary series, Shaun Micallef’s Going For Broke.
Following the success of his acclaimed series Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce, Micallef returns with a new documentary which tackles one of the country’s most entrenched habits: gambling.
In Shaun Micallef’s Going For Broke, the famous writer, actor and comedian taps back into his curious side and sets out to understand a national obsession he’s never quite grasped.
“Life’s a gamble anyway,” says Shaun. “Why would you go out of your way to risk losing something you already have? Particularly something as important as your money.”
Shaun has never understood gambling. He uses cold, hard logic when making decisions and always plays for certainty. But as viewers saw in On The Sauce, even a teetotaller can be swayed - Shaun spent one episode getting drunk to better understand Australia’s relationship with alcohol.
Now, he turns a sober eye to our love affair with gambling. Travelling across the country, Shaun meets punters, experts, and those affected by the industry to uncover how Australia became the biggest gambling nation in the world. From pokies in suburban pubs to high-stakes sports betting, Going For Broke asks: are we making a risky bet on our future?
Can even Shaun’s rational mind resist the lure of a “sure thing”?
ABC Head Documentary & Specialist Susie Jones says “We’re thrilled Shaun has turned his rapier wit and invitational curiosity to the subject of gambling. This series shines a light on an issue that effects Australians from all walks of life either directly or indirectly. Through Shaun’s journey we’ll come to better understand the ramifications of our national obsession and what it’s really costing us as a nation.”
Screen Australia Head of Documentary Richard Huddleston said, “Like it or not, gambling’s part of who we are — it’s in our national identity. Today, it’s increasingly complex with so many ways to have a punt, anytime, anywhere. There is no one better suited than Shaun and the CJZ team to take us through the wins, the losses, the highs, the lows and everything in between.”
Shaun Micallef’s Going For Broke will air on the ABC in 2026.
“Shaun brings his wit, but he also brings in equal measures, his empathy and his interrogation and inquiry. It was a surprise to me that he’s never stepped into an RSL before. He’s not gambled previously. So he walks into it really trying to understand this national pastime and but also explores how people get drawn into that group of addiction. Australians lose nearly $32 billion every year. We spend more on gambling than we do on drinking.”
Quized on her own first hand experience, Collins reveals, “No, I don’t partake in gambling.”
Shaun Micallef Takes On Australia’s Gambling Obsession in new documentary series Going For Broke
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.
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.
Shaun Micallef investigates Australia’s tumultuous love affair with gambling, tracing how a national pastime became a 32-billion-dollar industry and asking how we became the world’s biggest losers.
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 confronts Australia’s gambling industry in this final episode, investigating the rise of gambling influencers, underage betting and stalled reform.
From the Gold Coast to Canberra, he challenges politicians and industry leaders, explores gambling as a public health issue, and finds cautious hope in a pokies-free community club model.
This 3-part series finished up last night on the ABC. Very informative. Done in Shaun’s clever tone too - with getting the points across in a serious way, and in a sly sort of way too.
I think the doco was well produced with views from almost all angles (being banned from filming in a capital city racetrack was bit of a bummer). Having Dylan DiPierdomenico (son of Aussie Rules legend Robert aka Dipper), who was released from prison after serving a nine month sentence for embezzlement, on the show was a substantial get.
Even though the doco was announced at the ABC Showcase last November, filming had gone for most of 2025, including Shaun going to the dawn service at Caulfield RSL on Anzac Day, travelling with four ladies in a stretch limo to Derby Day at Flemington, and seeing first hand Dylan’s release from prison and reuniting with his wife outside.
