The Albanese government has seemingly backed away from a recommendation by a bipartisan committee for a blanket ban on gambling advertising on television, resulting in disillusion from advocates.

In June 2023, the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs made 31 recommendations including “a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling’’.

They were ‘‘to be introduced in four phases, over three years, commencing immediately” after hearings into gambling in Australia.

The committee included Labor’s Peta Murphy, Mary Doyle, Shayne Neumann, Louise Miller-Frost and Sam Lim; Liberal Party members Jenny Ware and Keith Wolahan, Pat Conaghan from the Nationals, and independent Kate Chaney.

The proposed changes

Nine Newspapers reported on Sunday that instead of a blanket ban within three years, as the committee had recommended, the Albanese government would instead propose legislation to cap gambling ads to two per hour on each channel until 10pm and ban ads before and after live sport.

Nine said that the plans were still subject to change and an announcement is expected “within weeks”.

Michelle Rowland, the Communications Minister in charge of gambling regulation, said last year that she would no longer accept donations from gambling companies after she received $19,000 from Sportsbet before the 2022 federal election.

The reaction:

Zoe Daniel, community independent member for Goldstein, said “what the government has in mind is half-hearted, half-arsed, won’t work and is a betrayal of Peta Murphy’s legacy”.

“A total ban on gambling advertising was the priority and unanimous recommendation of the multipartisan committee she chaired,” she said.

“Once again the gambling giants have been given the inside running on the government’s plan while gambling harm experts have been frozen out, complete with confidential briefings and non-disclosure agreements.”

Murphy, the former member for Dunkley, died earlier this year.

Peta Murphy, the former member of Dunkley who died from cancer earlier in the year, chaired the committee that recommended a blanket ban on gambling advertising. Photo: AAP

Martin Thomas, chief executive of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, said the proposed cap, as reported, was doomed to fail.

“Perversely, this move to put limited restrictions on gambling advertising could actually make the situation worse,” he said.

“We know this is a real risk after similar rule changes in 2017 saw the total volume of gambling advertising in prime-time spots on metro television increased by 40 per cent.”

The future

About 38 per cent of Australians gamble at least weekly and almost half of gamblers are classified as being at risk of gambling harm, according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Although frustration was raised about the backflip on the blanket ban, advocates have welcomed a potential ban on betting ads across digital platforms and social media.

Thomas said that “a proposed ban on social media gambling advertising is a step in the right direction”.

“We hope these reports are not true,” he said.

“The government still has time to do the right thing to ban all gambling ads.”