Allowing any kind of advertising will continue to “trigger” people with gambling issues, campaigners have insisted, as they urged the federal government to impose a blanket ban in its long-awaited reform of the sector.
With only a handful of sitting days left this year, and an election possible in early 2025, proponents of stricter gambling rules are urging Labor to take action. The Greens will try to force debate on Wednesday by introducing a bill modelled on the recommendations of the inquiry led by late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which called for a full ban on gambling advertising.
“The public are sick of the excuses and the delays,” said Sarah Hanson-Young, the Greens’ communications spokesperson.
Tim Costello, chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, was also concerned at the delay in enacting change.
“I’m completely mystified this has taken 16 months,” he said.
The landmark June 2023 report into gambling, chaired by Murphy, called for the government to prohibit all online gambling inducements and inducement advertising “without delay”. Crossbenchers, gambling harm advocates and some inside Labor have been calling on the Albanese government to speed up moves towards banning ads, now 16 months on from the report with still no government response.
It is understood the government is considering new restrictions on advertising, such as frequency caps, rather than a full ban.
The current parliament calendar only has 11 sitting days for the Senate until the end of 2024. The next election is due by May 2025, but many in the Coalition and crossbench are preparing for a potential March election, which could see parliament not return again until after the election.
Zoe Daniel, the member for Goldstein, brought members of the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts group into parliament on Tuesday. Paul Fung, the group’s co-chair, said he had begun gambling at age seven, including on horse racing, sports and casino games. He urged a full ban on advertising, not just restrictions.
“Every time I see an ad in media or social media, something goes off in my brain because of all those years of gambling. It still activates, it still triggers for people like myself and many, many others around, so we need to ban all the gambling advertising,” he said at a press conference in Parliament House.
“It’s like a physical and a mental reaction, where something goes off… it’s not a nice feeling, because you go back into what you were doing.”
Fung said still allowing even a restricted number of ads would exacerbate issues for problem gamblers.
“They’re still so appealing, the ads… they’re intentionally trying to find you, to find that trigger off, to try to really activate you, to get that memory and that emotion back,” he said.
“If you minimise it and say, ‘we can do five [ads]’, it’s still going to have an effect.”
Daniel said she was concerned about sports betting becoming “a normal part of life”.
“Particularly teenage boys in my electorate who are betting on their phones and who see gambling as a standard part of their experience of sport. This is incredibly dangerous. It’s toxic for our communities,” she said.
Kate Chaney, member for Curtin and a member of the Murphy inquiry committee, accused Albanese of “ducking and weaving” over the gambling ad issue.
“The government needs to listen to the community on this really important issue that has a relatively simple solution. I urge the government to listen to the stories [of addiction survivors] and make a decision based on what the community wants, not not based on what the power and money wants.”
In parliament’s question time, Daniel claimed Albanese wouldn’t meet with the addiction advocates. Albanese responded that he had met Daniel on Monday, “so she’s fully aware of where I’ve been”.
“So I reject the assertion that I won’t meet with people. The last person I met with on this issue was Tim Costello, 10 days ago,” Albanese said.
Costello confirmed he’d met Albanese in Melbourne to discuss the reforms. He too urged the government to speed up its response.
“The delay means more and more young people are getting ensnared [by gambling],” he said.
“They seem to have ruled out a full ban, which is what the committee recommended.”
The Greens will reintroduce a bill on Wednesday which would ban gambling ads on TV, radio, print and online, consistent with the recommendations from Murphy’s inquiry.
Hanson-Young said it would be a test for Labor and the Coalition.
“The government clearly doesn’t have the guts to stand up to the bookies and ban gambling ads so the Greens will,” she said.
“Gambling ads do significant harm and they must be banned, just like tobacco ads.”
