Australia Gambling Advertising Ban Follows Years of Public Pressure

The Australia gambling advertising ban takes effect as the country grapples with the world’s highest per capita gambling losses. Presently serving as the government’s response to mounting public pressure, the reforms arrive more than 1000 days after a parliamentary inquiry first recommended similar measures. Australia joins several countries, including Italy, Belgium and Spain, that have implemented total or near-total bans on gambling advertising. The new restrictions, launching January 1, introduce comprehensive limits across television, radio, sports venues and athlete endorsements. Industry stakeholders and advocacy groups have offered contrasting perspectives on the sweeping changes to gambling promotion.

Australia Announces Gambling Advertising Ban After Years of Mounting Pressure

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the gambling advertising reforms at the National Press Club on Thursday, describing them as “the most significant reform on gambling that has ever been implemented”. The announcement follows a landmark report led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, handed to the government in June 2023. The Murphy Report contained 31 recommendations, including a phased-out ban of all forms of online gambling advertising.

The government will table a formal response to the Murphy report when parliament returns on May 12, coinciding with the federal budget. Albanese stated the government was “getting the balance right” with the package, allowing adults to gamble while ensuring children “don’t see betting ads everywhere they look”.

The reforms arrive as Australians lose GBP 25.41 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, more per capita than anywhere in the world. Multiple stakeholders, including former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull, former state premiers Dominic Perrottet and Steve Bracks, and Murphy’s husband Rod Glover, had lobbied the government to adopt a total ban.

Albanese acknowledged that the status quo of “saturation of gambling advertising where children are exposed to it, is untenable”. The government emphasized it was tackling gambling harm “in a way that will ensure that there aren’t unintended consequences”.

What Restrictions Does the New Ban Include?

Television advertising from betting agencies will be capped at three per hour between 6am and 8:30pm under the reforms taking effect January 1. Gambling ads will be banned completely from any live sports broadcasts during those hours. Radio restrictions target school pick-up and drop-off times, when gambling promotions will be outlawed.

Online platforms face stringent requirements. Gambling ads will be banned unless users have logged into an account, verified they are over 18, and retain the option to opt-out. Celebrities and sports players will not be permitted to appear in gambling advertising. The ban extends to odds-style ads that target sports fans.

Physical advertising faces elimination from sports venues and on players’ and officials’ uniforms. The government will additionally block illegal offshore gaming sites. Online keno-type products, which represent a substantial percentage of Australian gambling losses, will be banned.

The restrictions fall short of the Murphy Report’s recommendation for a phased, comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising within three years. Former Communications Minister Michelle Rowland had considered a model proposing all gambling ads banned on social media and a ban on TV ads one hour before and after live sport, with a cap of two ads per hour until 10pm.

How Industry and Advocates Are Responding to the Changes

Advocacy groups criticized the Australia gambling advertising ban as insufficient. Tim Costello, chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, called it a “timid response” while welcoming the prime minister’s acknowledgment that “we aren’t protecting kids from gambling”. Costello argued the onus should be on gambling companies to not advertise, rather than on adults to opt-out under the new rules.

Independent MP Kate Chaney, who served on the Murphy committee, said the response is “big on talk, small on substance”. She stated it “appears to have been designed to give certainty to powerful vested interests rather than to reduce harm”. Similarly, independent senator David Pocock accused the government of being captured by vested interests, stating it would not “reverse the rampant normalization of gambling as an inseparable part of sport”.

Meanwhile, Responsible Wagering Australia called the changes “draconian” and a “kick in the guts,” claiming they were made with no consultation. Chief executive Kai Cantwell warned: “This sets a dangerous precedent. Today it’s gambling advertising, tomorrow it’s alcohol, then it’s sugary drinks, fast food”. Free TV Australia expressed concerns about revenue impact on advertiser-funded services.