Communications Minister Michelle Rowland met with health experts and anti-gambling advocates on Friday to discuss the upcoming changes to Australia’s gambling advertising legislation. As reported by Guardian Australia, no proposals to limit gambling ads on field signs or player jerseys during live games were announced, and the lack of such measures is something several gambling companies criticised on Friday, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Moreover, already planned restrictions will not apply to newspapers. Instead, the meeting confirmed the previously rumoured plans that, as opposed to a blanket ban on various forms of gambling promotion, Labour is looking to implement a more balanced set of policies. The proposals include a ban on gambling ads during programmes reserved for children, a comprehensive ban on betting and gaming ads online, and it has also been announced that networks will no longer be permitted to air betting advertisements an hour prior to and after live games. Other time slots will have gambling ad volume reduced to two per hour until 10 pm.
Many Proponents of Strict Bans Argue Partial Measures Will be Ineffective
The blanket prohibition on online gambling ads was welcomed by the Alliance for Gambling Reform, but reception toward the rest of the plans has been mostly negative since they were first revealed in early August. The alliance’s CEO, Martin Thomas, described the cap as “manifestly inadequate,” and similar criticism has been expressed by Senator David Pocock and MP Zoe Daniel, who have said partial bans were ineffective in limiting exposure to gambling ads and actually had the opposite effect.
Another person to express such views was Charles Livingstone, who spoke with Guardian Australia and argued that advertisers would simply use loopholes to continue targeting Aussie consumers. He further stressed that the goal of ending the normalisation of gambling would not be achieved.
Earlier on Friday, the Australian Financial Review reported that Sportsbet, Pointsbet, and Entain (owner of the Neds sportsbook and Ladbrokes) all called for betting adverts to no longer be displayed on the shirts of players during live games. In order for the reforms to not be “undermined,” gambling ads on field signs should also be prohibited, argued a spokesperson for Sportsbet.
Some Are in Support of Partial Prohibitions to Protect Australian Media
Advocates for gambling reform have urged the government to implement all 31 proposals of the late Peta Murphy’s inquiry into gambling harm, which included a plan for the introduction of a comprehensive ban on gambling ads on television. However, the complete ban on betting advertisements has been subject to pushback from Australian sports codes, media giants, and gambling companies.
Most individuals who have opposed a stricter crackdown on advertisements have mainly done so out of worry that Australian media companies that rely on gambling ad revenue could be put out of business as a result. In response to these fears, the Australian Greens brought forward a proposal for a “tech tax” that would mitigate any potential negative consequences free-to-air television could suffer while still allowing for the full prohibition of gambling promotions to be put into effect.
Additionally, thanks to last week’s rumours, the government’s Communications Department has been accused of spending a disproportionate amount of time consulting with industry players and loosening the restrictions at their behest, something that MP Michelle Rowland has denied. “The documents will show I met zero times with gambling executives, and we will continue to go about this process with the facts in an orderly way because facts are important here,” stressed Ms Rowland.
- Author
Daniel Williams
