Australian gambling companies are facing a strong wave of criticism after allegations that they have been targeting children with their advertising and marketing campaigns.
According to the latest reports of the Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR), the lack of federal regulation on gambling advertising meant that companies were able to get underage individuals hooked on their services. The organisation that is aimed at preventing and minimising gambling-related harm has estimated that more than 430,000 people under the age of 16 are likely to bet online.
Tim Costello, a long-time anti-gambling advocate, noted that the lack of federal regulation on gambling advertising meant that gambling companies were able to “groom” Australian children with impunity. He informed local legislators that reviewing gambling reform that gambling operators had established a presence through a large plethora of adverts.
Furthermore, Mr Costello shared that at the time when he first started researching the sector, he thought that Australian residents simply loved gambling, which is exactly what resulted in such massive gambling losses. However, he now believes that the losses come from the lack of regulation and not from a culture that simply implies Australians love to gamble more than anyone else in the world. As he explained at a reform inquiry that took place on December 5th, the country actually has the worst anti-gambling policies and the worst gambling market regulation, which is why it also has the greatest losses.
Commonwealth and Local Governments Lack Suitable Regulation of Gambling and Gambling Advertising Practices
While there is somehow limited oversight of gambling advertising by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), anti-gambling campaigner Mr Costello described the regulatory body as a “toothless tiger”.
A number of large gambling companies, including Ladbrokes and Sportsbet, have defended their advertising practices but, still, admitted they have been targeting underage individuals with adverts despite criticism and regulations. Sportsbet submitted a response to the inquiry to acknowledge that more solutions were necessary to protect minors and people at risk of being affected by gambling-related harm but also noted that the safeguards and the responsible gambling practices needed to be balanced against the legal rights of a company to advertise its services.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform also criticised the Government for not taking gambling as a serious public health issue. The CEO of the AGR, Carol Bennett, has noted that she has 30 years of experience in the public health system and for this time she has seen both the Commonwealth and the state and territory Governments across the country combine their efforts to tackle certain health issues by research and awareness campaigns, as well as policies involving prevention and early intervention. Alas, gambling has not been part of these health issues.
According to Ms Bennett, there was an anomaly in the prevention of gambling-related harm from the federal and state Governments, because such prevention simply did not occur. The CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform also shared that the inclusion of representatives of the gambling sector in the talks regarding gambling harm reduction and prevention of the potential negative effects of gambling and gambling advertising would make it difficult for the authorities to come up with an adequate response to the ongoing public health issues because, after all, the gambling industry generates money “by making losers” and such operators are not interested in reducing the odds for more harm to be inflicted.
- Author
Daniel Williams
