{"id":463335,"date":"2026-05-27T22:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/463335\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T22:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:27:23","slug":"david-pocock-criticises-bonkers-situation-facing-podcasters-over-gambling-ad-reforms-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/463335\/","title":{"rendered":"David Pocock criticises \u2018bonkers\u2019 situation facing podcasters over gambling ad reforms | Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The independent senator David Pocock<\/a> says a government plan that could require podcasts sponsored by betting companies to produce two versions of the same program \u2013 so people can avoid gambling ads \u2013 is \u201ctotally unworkable\u201d and \u201cbonkers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed restrictions<\/a>, the so-called \u201ctriple lock\u201d system will only allow streaming platforms to have gambling ads for users who are over 18 and have logged in. Users must be allowed to opt out of seeing or hearing such advertisements, in order to prevent children hearing them.<\/p>\n

Department officials confirmed in a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday that the restriction would apply if a podcast host refers to a betting company when saying something like \u201cwe\u2019d like to thank our sponsors\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be considered advertising as well. And so that if you have opted out, you shouldn\u2019t be hearing a host,\u201d Margaret Lopez, the communications department\u2019s gambling branch assistant secretary, told the hearing<\/p>\n

Pocock asked: \u201cSo then you can\u2019t hear an entire episode?\u201d<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s deputy secretary, David Mackay, replied: \u201cIt\u2019s a matter for the platform that is hosting that content as to as to how they would handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

Pocock described it as a \u201ctotally unworkable system\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike that is bonkers that you would be saying you can be a podcast, can be sponsored by a gambling company, you can have it in the intro, but you can\u2019t play that to someone if they\u2019ve opted out,\u201d he said during the hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the podcast hosts now are going to have to have two different versions of their podcast that they upload, and Spotify is somehow going to decide which one they\u2019re going to play, to which person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pocock has previously stated his support<\/a> for a total ban on gambling advertising, a recommendation from the Peta Murphy report on gambling reform.<\/p>\n

The government is now consulting stakeholders on the legislation, and the feedback received has indicated there may be some technical issues that need to be factored in, but officials rejected suggestions that it was unworkable.<\/p>\n

Spotify and Apple were approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Definition of \u2018influencer\u2019 being developed<\/p>\n

Inducements \u2013 where gambling platforms encourage people to place bets<\/a> or gamble more often \u2013 would not be considered advertising as part of the reforms, the officials confirmed.<\/p>\n

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has previously said celebrities and sports players will be banned from appearing in gambling ads, with government officials on Wednesday confirming this would cover social media influencers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how does someone know that, know if they\u2019re an influencer?\u201d Pocock asked.<\/p>\n

Lopez said the definition is being developed as part of the draft legislation.<\/p>\n

Pocock also criticised the government after it \u201cnoted\u201d the 31 recommendations<\/a> of the Murphy report, rather than agreeing or rejecting any specific recommendation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me and most Canberrans that I speak to, noting is not a response. If you respond to something, you actually say: \u2018yeah, we like that recommendation, we\u2019re going to do it\u2019, or \u2018no, we\u2019re not going to do it\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoting is I think in most people\u2019s minds like a bit of a pat on the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Labor senator Nita Green, representing the communications minister, said the government had responded to the report by announcing the reform package.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The independent senator David Pocock says a government plan that could require podcasts sponsored by betting companies to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-463335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463335","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=463335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}