Celebrities and sportspeople will no longer be allowed to promote gambling on TV, radio or online as part of a long-awaited and wide-ranging crackdown on betting ads.
An overhaul of the nation’s gambling ad laws will come into effect at the start of 2027, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday, aimed at minimising children’s exposure to gambling.
Under the changes, all gambling ads will be banned during live sport broadcasts shown on TV between 6am and 8.30pm.
When sport isn’t being shown, promotions will be limited to three an hour on TV during those hours.
Gambling ads will be banned on online platforms unless users have been verified to be over the age of 18. Platforms will need to allow users to opt out.
Players’ and officials’ uniforms will not be allowed to display the logos of gambling products and betting ads will be banned in sporting venues.
Radio stations will be banned from playing gambling ads during school pick-up and drop-off times.
The reforms would allow Australians to continue betting while reducing gambling harms, Mr Albanese told the National Press Club.
“We are getting the balance right,” he said.
“Letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure that our children don’t see betting ads everywhere they look.
“We don’t want kids growing up thinking that footy and gambling are inextricably linked.”
The reforms stem from a report published by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy in June 2023, which the government has yet to formally respond to.
Mr Albanese said a full response to the review would be tabled on parliament’s next sitting day, scheduled for May 12.
Senator Pocock
Independent Senator David Pocock said the government’s response was “hugely disappointing” after the landmark Murphy Report and broad support across the community for bold action to ban all gambling ads.
“Despite a community and crossbench urging the Prime Minister to be brave, he has yet again put vested interests ahead of Australians.
“This reinforces how captured this government is by vested interests and how out of step they are with what Australians expect, from taxing gas to banning gambling advertising.
“The Government’s own regulator has shown that partial bans just increase the amount of gambling advertising. At first blush, these reforms will lead to more ads on social media, on streaming services and on podcasts, and it will not reverse the rampant normalisation of gambling as an inseparable part of sport.
“Inexcusably, the Prime Minister has ignored Peta Murphy’s most urgent recommendation to ban gambling inducements, which her Committee concluded had ‘no place’ in Australia.
“Verifying whether people are over 18 before they can receive a gambling ad online ignores the way most families view media together on streaming services. If you’re watching a movie together, and logged on dad’s account, you will still see gambling ads.
“The government has decided not to implement the majority of the 31 recommendations the Murphy Report made. This weak response is a betrayal of Peta Murphy’s work and legacy.
“The last Government made some tweaks to when ads could play during sport. A year later, we discovered ads actually increased by 50 per cent — more in regional areas and during times where children could see them.
“Dropping this out after parliament has risen under the cover of global conflict and in the lead up to Easter is disingenuous and a disservice to the many people who have advocated so hard for so long for meaningful change.
“While there are some positive measures in this package, such as the ban on online keno and in-stadia advertising, this falls woefully short of what is needed and ignores the late Peta Murphy’s central, and most urgent recommendation: to ban gambling inducements.
“For the love of the game, I ask the Prime Minister to listen to experts and Australians, and work with the crossbench to strengthen what he is offering so that we can truly reduce harm in our communities for the next generation.”
