The Federal Government has chosen to ignore most of the 31 recommendations in a public health inquiry into online gambling harm – including a ban on gambling advertising.
ACT Independent Senator David Pocock described the response as “cowardly” and “deeply disrespectful” to gambling victims and the “vast majority” of Australians who want gambling advertising banned.
According to Nielsen Ad Intel, the gambling and gaming industry spent an estimated $187.75 million on advertising in 2024.
Senator Pocock said the Government had tried to “bury” its response to the Murphy Review recommendations yesterday by releasing it during the Federal Budget lock-up.
“This is a cowardly attempt to avoid scrutiny of a deeply inadequate response to one of the most significant public health inquiries this Parliament has seen – which produced a report that had the unanimous backing of the entire parliament,” Senator Pocock said in a statement.
The Government appears to be partially implementing just three of the Murphy Review’s recommendations:
- A partial gambling advertising restriction
- A national public education campaign
- Increased enforcement against illegal offshore gambling services
“Even the Government’s own regulator has previously warned that partial advertising bans don’t work and can lead to more gambling advertising,” Senator Pocock said.
“Yet the Government is still refusing to implement the phased, comprehensive ban recommended by the Murphy Review.
“Meanwhile, critical recommendations have simply gone unanswered, including a ban on gambling inducements, increased funding for gambling research, nationally consistent data collection on gambling harm and suicide, and the establishment of a national gambling regulator.
“Apparently none of these warranted a response by the Government.”
Senator Pocock said at a time when reports suggested hundreds of BetStop breaches were unable to be penalised because investigations took too long, it was outrageous the Government had failed to establish a strong national regulator for online gambling.
“When even recommendations like appointing a dedicated Minister for gambling harm are deemed too difficult, Australians are right to question whether this Government is serious about reducing harm,” he said.
“These were not radical recommendations.
“They were basic measures aimed at improving coordination, accountability, and public awareness.
“Instead of treating gambling as the public health issue that it is and implementing evidence-based policy, the Government has yet again put vested interests ahead of Australians.”
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reported that in the year to 30 April 2023:
- the majority of gambling advertising spend was in free-to-air (FTA) TV markets (68%)
- over one million estimated gambling advertisements aired on FTA TV and metro radio
- 50 percent of spots from gambling providers on FTA TV and metro radio were advertising online gambling services
- online gambling providers’ spending (including social media) amounted to 64 percent of all gambling advertising.
