Australian Government to Tighten TV Gambling Ads Restrictions
It is becoming increasingly clear that Australia’s Labor Government will reject the proposal for a complete ban on gambling advertising on Australian television.
The proposal, which came after a parliamentary inquiry chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, would have seen a complete ban introduced on all types of gambling advertising on television, radio, newspapers and online within the next three years.
However, it seems that the government of Australia has rejected the complete ban and will instead impose limits on television adverts. Instead, the government is planning to introduce a limit of two gambling adverts per hour on all television channels until 10 pm. Furthermore, no gambling adverts will be allowed for an hour on either side of a live televised sporting event.
Under the current laws, between 5 am and 8:30 pm, gambling adverts are not allowed to be aired from five minutes before a live sports event starts until five minutes after it has finished. From 8:30 pm onwards, the adverts may be shown at any time, including during breaks in the event.
Government Still considering Ban on Online Ads
While the government will not move forward with the total ban on television adverts, it is said to be considering a complete ban on all gambling ads on social media and all other online platforms. This means that in addition to blocking ads relating to sports betting, adverts for casinos offering games such as slots and online baccarat will also be banned.
The plans are not due to be announced for a number of weeks, but it has been suggested that the law will be named “Murphy’s Law” in honor of the late MP who publicly supported the ban prior to her death.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been steadfast in his commitment to honoring Murphy’s wishes and has repeated said that the number of gambling adverts needs to be reduced. However, he has never promised to support a full ban and back in February, he said that there are still a number of issues the government needs to deal with.
“I myself have met with people like Tim Costello about these issues, and we’re working through them to make sure that any action doesn’t have unintended consequences because that’s what good governments do.”
Intense Opposition to Ban
It is no surprise that there has been strong opposition to the ban by both gambling operators and media companies. Furthermore, a number of sports governing bodies have come out in opposition to the idea of a blanket ban, as numerous clubs and associations are dependent on revenues from gambling adverts.
There has been an intense behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign against a ban on gambling adverts led by the Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon. They are warning that grassroots sports will greatly suffer if millions of dollars in revenue from gambling adverts disappear from Australian media.
Furthermore, media networks such as News Corp, Nine Entertainment, and Seven West Media have said that a ban could result in job losses and reduce their ability to produce content. Networks Ten, Nine, and Seven also claimed that they may not be able to continue funding local news bulletins. At the same time, the politician Bill Shorten said that the broadcasters are in “diabolical trouble”.
Nonetheless, some gambling operators are not completely opposed to restrictions. For instance, PointsBet, which does not air adverts on television before 9:30 pm, and Tabcorp are not against a ban, while Tabcorp has gone further and publicly welcomed the idea of great limits on adverts.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority reported that more than 1 million gambling adverts were aired on free-to-air TV, radio, and online in the year leading up to April 2023 at a cost of $238 million.
