A number of countries – like Italy, Belgium and Spain – have introduced total or near-total bans on gambling advertising, and a parliamentary inquiry weighing up reform in Australia recommended similar more than 1000 days ago. <\/p>\n
In a speech to the National Press Club on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was “getting the balance right” with this package.<\/p>\n
“Letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure our children don’t see betting ads everywhere they look.”<\/p>\n
Under the reforms, from January 1:<\/p>\n
TV ads from betting agencies will be capped at three per hour, between 6am and 8:30pm, and banned completely from any live sports broadcasts during those hours<\/p>\n
Gambling ads will be banned from radio during school pick-up and drop-off times<\/p>\n
Celebrities and sports players will not be permitted to appear in gambling advertising<\/p>\n
Gambling ads on online platforms will be banned, unless people have a logged in account, are over 18 and have the option to opt-out<\/p>\n
Gambling ads will be outlawed in sports venues and on players’ and officials’ uniforms<\/p>\n
The government will also crack down on illegal, offshore gaming sites, and ban more types of online gambling – like Keno and apps and websites modelled on poker machines.<\/p>\n
The measures have already prompted backlash from voices in the gambling industry.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Responsible Wagering Australia – the peak body for betting agencies – said the new measures are “draconian” and set a “dangerous precedent”.<\/p>\n
“Today it’s gambling advertising, tomorrow it’s alcohol, then it’s sugary drinks, fast food, critical minerals and who knows what else comes next,” chief executive Kai Cantwell said.<\/p>\n
He accused the government of blindsiding a sector that supports 30,000 jobs and “provides critical funding to sport, racing and broadcast industries”.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from Sportsbet – one of Australia’s biggest agencies – said they were concerned the “overly blunt” restrictions could have “unintended consequences”, like driving more Australians towards illegal offshore betting which isn’t limited by the same conditions.<\/p>\n
“Sportsbet recognises changing community sentiment on gambling advertising and has already taken proactive steps.”<\/p>\n
Many of those advocating for change were also unhappy, believing the proposed changes don’t go far enough. <\/p>\n
“Imagine three cigarette ads per hour,” Reverend Tim Costello said.<\/p>\n
“Australian children deserve to grow up in a country that puts their wellbeing before corporate profits.”<\/p>\n
His Alliance for Gambling Reform were among groups calling for a full gambling advertising ban on the web and broadcast platforms, and the establishment of a national industry regulator.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Australian Medical Association vice-president Julian Rait in a statement declared that “partial bans do not work”.<\/p>\n
“Anything less than a comprehensive ban will continue to expose Australians – especially children – to relentless gambling promotion,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A number of countries – like Italy, Belgium and Spain – have introduced total or near-total bans on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":{"0":"post-379493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}