Media release – House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, 28 June 2023
Report released: You win some, you lose more
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has today tabled the report of its inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm. Chair of the Committee, Ms Peta Murphy MP, said ‘Australians are the biggest losers in the world when it comes to gambling. We have a culture where sport and gambling are intrinsically linked. These behaviours are causing increasingly widespread and serious harm to individuals, families, and communities.’
The report provides 31 recommendations that apply a public health lens to online gambling to reduce harm to Australians. This includes the Australian Government developing and implementing a comprehensive national strategy on online gambling harm reduction, supported by national regulation, an online gambling ombudsman, a harm reduction levy on online wagering service providers (WSPs), a public education campaign, more independent research and improved data collection.
Ms Murphy said, ‘Gambling advertising and simulated gambling through video games, is grooming children and young people to gamble and encourages riskier behaviour. The torrent of advertising is inescapable. It is manipulating an impressionable and vulnerable audience to gamble online.’
‘A phased, comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising is recommended within three years. This will give major sports and broadcasters time to find alternative advertisers and sponsors, while preventing another generation from experiencing escalating gambling harm.’ Ms Murphy said.
‘The Committee has also recommended stronger consumer protections for licenced online gambling, including a requirement for WSPs to verify their customer’s identity before accepting bets from them, a ban on inducements and a legislated duty of care. We have also called for a crackdown on illegal gambling websites.’
‘Currently our support services, where they are appropriately targeted, are overwhelmed. We have recommended a range of measures to improve the availability and adequacy of the support and treatment available to those experiencing gambling harm, and to reduce stigma which is currently preventing many from seeking help.’ Ms Murphy said.
Ms Murphy added, ‘The Committee supports the Australian Government’s proposed changes to the classification system to reduce the risk of harm from social casinos and loot box features in interactive games. We have recommended the classification scheme be consistently applied across online app stores, that a simulated gambling warning label be developed, that minimum consumer protections be applied to games and better education for young people, parents, caregivers and teachers about simulated gambling.’
The report, You win some, you lose more, and the Committee’s complete list of recommendations can be accessed via the inquiry website.
Media release – Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, 28 June 2023
GOVERNMENT MUST IMMEDIATELY BAN GAMBLING ADVERTISING
Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, has welcomed the recommendation by a parliamentary inquiry to ban all ads for online gambling, but urges the Government to go further.
“The inquiry’s 31 recommendations on limiting gambling harm are a welcome development,” Mr Wilkie said. “The banning of all online gambling advertising within three years is especially valuable as it will go a long way to help curb the negative influence of gambling.
“However, the Government must go a step further and implement these changes as quickly as possible. Three years is far too long to continue allowing gambling advertising to fester in our community.
“The community has had a gutful of gambling being promoted and normalised through advertising. Too often people, including children, are bombarded with targeted advertising campaigns on television, billboards and worst of all, their phones. You can’t even sit down to watch a footy match without being told the latest multi. They are everywhere and are essentially grooming young people for future gambling addiction.
“There is a widespread appetite in the community for reform that genuinely minimises the human cost of gambling addiction. I’ve heard hundreds of devastating stories from constituents about the toll it has on people’s finances, relationships and mental wellbeing. The Government must now move quickly to implement the inquiry’s recommendations.”
Media release – Australian Medical Association, 28 June 2023
AMA welcomes recommendation to ban online gambling ads
The Australian Medical Association has welcomed a parliamentary inquiry’s recommendation to ban all advertisements for online gambling within three years.
The inquiry’s report, ‘You win some, you lose more’, calls for a phased approach towards banning the ads across all media platforms to protect young Australians, who are the target of “grooming” by betting companies.
The AMA also welcomes a key recommendation to establish an online gambling regulator tasked with providing national regulatory oversight, but maintains its longstanding calls — dating back to 2013 — for an independent body that also regulates physical gambling sites.
AMA President Professor Steve Robson urged the federal government to act on the 31 recommendations, which followed years of advocacy by the AMA on the many risks of online gambling platforms and advertising.
“The AMA emphatically welcomes the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ report, which calls for a complete prohibition on all online gambling advertising and sponsorship within three years,” Professor Robson said.
“There has been an explosion of online gambling and associated advertising, which is insidious in its nature of targeting young Australians and exploiting gambling’s commercial relationship with sport.
“Sport is Australia’s favourite pastime, but it has been infiltrated by gambling companies with advertisements that manipulate vulnerable audiences to gamble online.”
In the report, inquiry chairwoman Peta Murphy MP said a comprehensive ban on all gambling advertising on all media “that leaves no room for circumvention” was needed, as partial bans did not work.
Professor Robson said gambling addiction had far reaching impacts on mental health and wellbeing and banning advertisements would be a positive step towards protecting young Australians from falling into the grips of gambling addiction.
“Gambling addiction is linked with comorbid mental health disorders and substance abuse, and can cause family breakdowns and financial distress,” Professor Robson said.
“It must be treated as a health issue that is free of stigma and treated by qualified health professionals.”
The AMA also agrees with the inquiry’s finding that there are “few safeguards to protect people with gambling disorder from online gambling harm” and welcomes recommendations to develop a comprehensive national strategy between the Commonwealth and state governments to prevent harm caused by online gambling.
It also welcomes a recommendation to provide better help for health practitioners to identify gambling harm when assessing patients.
In March, Professor Robson gave evidence to the parliamentary inquiry where he warned that current regulations and licensing regimes for online gambling were “largely ineffective” in preventing harm and called for immediate action to limit exposure.
Read the AMA’s November 2022 submission to the inquiry.
Media release – Alliance for Gambling Reform, 28 June 2023
Political leaders must support blanket ban on gambling advertising – ‘Watershed’ committee recommendations must get bipartisan backing
The Federal Government and the Opposition must commit to give bipartisan support to the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling that has called for a blanket ban to sports gambling implemented over three years.
The Chief Advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Rev. Tim Costello, said he also welcomed the call for a national strategy to combat gambling harm and the introduction of an online gambling regulator and ombudsman.
The parliamentary committee into online gambling has today released its findings making 31 recommendations on how the industry should be regulated and how to combat gambling harm.
Rev. Costello said Australia was in the grip of a gambling epidemic and the tsunami of sports advertisements was normalising gambling and allowing the industry to groom young people to gamble.
“There is absolutely a need for a national strategy to combat the profound gambling harm that is being wrought in communities across Australia. Each year gambling rips $25 billion in losses out of our communities,” Rev. Costello said.“The harm is profound, individuals, families and communities are devastated. And the harm is not just financial, this is a major public health issue that is a cause devastating harm to people’s health and in many cases it leads to people taking their own lives.”Rev. Costello said the recommendation for the introduction of a national gambling regulator and a gambling ombudsman was ‘absolutely justified’ given the ad hoc, uncoordinated and weak State regulatory regime on gambling that has failed Australia.
“This committee, led by Labour MP Peta Murphy, had done an incredible job to lift the lid on the ugly underbelly of gambling in Australia and delivered a comprehensive raft of recommendations that now must be adopted,” he said.“This is an issue that is too important to become a political football, we urge both major parties to give this bipartisan support to these recommendations today.”Rev. Costello said Australia must put a public health lens to its efforts to combat gambling harm, just as it had done in tackling tobacco.
“The committee has rightly recognised that this is a public health issue and greater government leadership and resourcing must be devoted to introducing stricter regulations as well as funding prevention and public education campaigns and services to help people who are suffering gambling harm,” Rev. Costello said.“The proposed gambling ban is no different to that imposed on tobacco, the major sporting codes cried foul then but they survived. The found other sponsors then.”“It is only more recently that our sporting codes have become addicted to gambling advertising and sponsorship, we must break this addiction for the good of their games and for the greater good of society. We have done it before and we can do it again.”Previously released analysis of online-gambling laws across the world undertaken by the Alliance for Gambling Reform has revealed Australia has one of the weakest regulatory regimes on the planet.
That research underscored why online gambling is the fastest growing form of gambling in Australia with more than $7 billion in losses suffered each year. Research shows people who gamble online are more likely to experience harm (34%) than those who gamble on poker machines (15.6%).
Media release – Public Health Association of Australia, 28 June 2023
Gambling ads inquiry shows action needed now to prevent health harms
Australia’s peak body for Public Health applauds the You Win Some, You Lose More final report from the Parliamentary inquiry into online gambling ads and its recommendations for a Public Health approach to tackling the ads scourge.
“It’s an excellent document that determines the extent of the problem, cites evidence including from people with lived experience and numerous other experts, and lists 31 recommendations,” Public Health Association of Australia CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin, said.
“We welcome its Public Health approach which includes restrictions, regulations and levies, education campaigns, more independent research into gambling and associated harms, and treatment and support programs across all jurisdictions.
“There’s a weight of evidence over decades that shows a suite of actions works to address many other health harms. It’s essential that the Australian Government acts now, despite the fightback which the gambling industry and its associated partners will mount.”
The PHAA appreciates that the committee has accepted the case that online advertising causes multiple preventable harms, but we argue that three years to phase-in restrictions is too long to wait.
“The committee, Prime Minister Albanese, Opposition Leader Dutton, and the wider community all want to see this problem addressed,” Adj Prof Slevin said.
“It’s imperative the Australian Government take this chance for bipartisanship and work quickly to protect people from the proven harms of online gambling advertising.”
The PHAA submission to the inquiry (#125) is available here, and our Gambling and Health policy position statement is here.
“We urge the government outlaw all forms of gambling advertising, despite the financial hits it may cause to government revenues, commercial media companies, and professional sporting bodies,” Adj Prof Slevin added.
“Just like with historic tobacco advertising bans, the health and social costs to people who have been harmed by gambling is too important for the Government to ignore.”
The PHAA submission also outlined the wider case for banning political donations from multiple industries.
“PHAA supports bans on all donations from specific business sectors for which there is clear evidence of association with harmful products, services, or industrial processes (‘unhealthy corporate sectors’), which most certainly includes gambling industries… We know that public opinion in Australia appears to be firmly behind regulatory constraints on unhealthy business sectors making donations to political parties, or political parties accepting such donations.”
“Let’s not pretend, what we’re seeing here is a genuine test of money versus community interests, and we’ll see who wins,” Adj Prof Slevin said.
“This is the start of a fight over billions of dollars with a very wealthy and influential gathering of linked industry groups. They are commercial media, the advertising industry, professional sports as well as the gambling companies both domestic and international, and they will not accept this lying down.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, with gambling harm often decimating the finances of the most vulnerable people in society, we urge the government stands firm, resists push back from the wealthy and powerful vested interests, and makes this reform happen.”
