Prominent Australians Urge Total Ban on Gambling Advertising

Australia’s 27 million people are estimated to lose $25 billion to various forms of gambling every year.

A man plays poker on his computer connected to an Internet gaming site from his home. A University of Calgary study found that online gambling is fuelling addiction rates in Canada. Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty images

The Labor government and Coalition opposition are being urged to outlaw all gambling advertising within three years, in line with the recommendations of a 2023 report into gambling harm.

The call comes in a letter sent to both party leaders by 60 prominent Australians with backgrounds in politics, unions, sports and faith as part of an ongoing campaign by the Alliance for Gambling Reform.

Former Prime Ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull are among the signatories, along with former state premiers Dominic Perrottet and Steve Bracks, family violence prevention advocate Rosie Batty, and Jesuit priest and academic Frank Brennan.

Federal independent MPs Andrew Wilkie, Rebekha Sharkie, Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender, Kylea Tink, Zali Steggall, Zoe Daniel, Kate Chaney, Dai Le, Helen Haines, Sophie Scamps have also signed, along with independent Senator David Pocock, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, and former federal Labor minister Robert Tickner .

The letter calls on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to commit publicly to implementing the 31 recommendations of the Federal Inquiry into Online Gambling to stop what it calls “a tsunami of gambling ads targeted at Australians, especially children.”

This includes banning inducements and promotions that are used to trap people who want to stop gambling.

‘Enormous harm’: John Howard

“Many Australians are alarmed about the proliferation of gambling advertising on our screens and the mounting losses through gambling,” Howard said. “I believe gambling losses are responsible for enormous harm across the community.

“Our political leaders should follow the courageous example of the former New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet. As an unapologetic sports fan I am troubled by how advertising is now linked with all our major sporting codes and what message this is sending to our children.”

A 2020 poll by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education found that 86 percent of Australians agreed that gambling advertising should not be shown to children while online, while the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation found that children were the highest consumers of gambling ads shown on TV, with an average of 374 such ads broadcast each day.

Despite the proliferation of “pokies,” sports wagering is Australia’s fastest-growing form of gambling, doubling in the five years to 2017/18, with losses now exceeding more than $1.2 billion ($790 million) annually.

“A total ban on all gambling advertising is essential to stop gambling companies targeting our children,“ according to Alliance for Gambling Reform CEO Martin Thomas. ”Any decision to simply cap advertising, or limit a blanket ban to only social media, would be a win for vested interests and leave Australians exposed to significant harm.

“Australians lose $25 billion a year to gambling. But the real cost of inaction is the mounting financial ruin, mental health problems, suicide, and the family violence that gambling can exacerbate.”