Had a gutful of
gambling?
Had a gutful of gambling?
Let’s take action to get ALL sportsgambling ads banned
Write to the Prime Minister now, to act to keep our children safe
It is not possible to filter out gambling ads in our modern world – the only safe way to deal with this harmful industry is to stop the advertising at the source.
The Prime Minister will decide within days – please write to him to urge him to do the right thing and agree to a sportsgambling ad ban in the same way that tobacco advertising is banned.
The Prime Minister received a report called “You Win Some, You Lose More” from a parliamentary committee which unanimously made 31 recommendations. One of those (nr 26) is to introduce over three years “a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling”.
Anthony Albanese is being lobbied hard by the broadcast TV and radio industry, and by sporting codes, to abandon this recommendation. Because their profits will fall, not because they care about keeping the community safe.
To write, you need to fill in the form and paste your comments, or attach a document, at this address:
There’s no direct email address, but we are urging you to take the time to fill in the details because this issue is so important.
Listen to Rev Stu Cameron, CEO of Wesley Mission, in this short video to get some more inspiration by clicking here.
Our tips on points to include are here, but your own words are more powerful, so feel free to rewrite, and you don’t need to include every fact here:
- 55% of children aged 11-16 years can remember seeing gambling ads on social media1
- 75% of Victorian children aged 8-16 can name at least one sportsgambling company2
- It isn’t possible to set filters on social media to keep children and others safe – the only feasible option is to ban gambling ads at their source
- We have laws around seatbelts, smoking indoors, age limits on gambling – all to keep children and others safe; this is a public health and safety issue
- Children have a right to safe access to digital platforms3
- 30% of 6-13 year olds own a smartphone
- 94% of 14-17 year olds who have a phone have a smartphone
- 98% of 15-17 year olds access the internet
- Has the Prime Minister consulted young people to see what they think adults should do to keep them safe?
- Young people know about embedding gambling in sport and they don’t like it4
- Young people think gambling ads should be banned
- Between May 2022 and April 2023 more than a million gambling ads appeared on free to air TV and radio alone ~ that’s over 114 ads per hour, around the clock.5
- Broadcasters won’t go broke if gambling ads stop6:
- For the financial year 2022/2023, the top six online advertising sectors (general display) were retail, automotive, finance, entertainment, supermarkets and travel
- Gambling came 9th with 4.4% of the market (outspent by Health & Beauty)
- Italy banned gambling advertising, including sports sponsorship, on January 1 2019. Sport survived.
1 Thomas, SL, Bestman, A, Pitt, H, Cassidy, R, McCarthy, S, Nyemcsok, C, Cowlishaw, S and Daube, M 2018, ‘Young people’s awareness of the timing and placement of gambling advertising on traditional and social media platforms: a study of 11-16-year-olds in Australia’, Harm Reduction Journal, vol. 15, no. 51, pp. 1–13. http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30114740/thomas-youngpeoples-2018.pdf
2 Freund, M, Noble, N, Hill, D, White, V, Evans, T, Oldmeadow, C and Sanson-Fisher, R 2019, The Prevalence and Correlates of Gambling in Secondary School Students in Victoria, Australia, 2017, Melbourne: Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. https:// responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-prevalence-and-correlates-of-gambling-in-secondary-school-studentsin-victoria-australia-2017-680/
3 2020 Under the radar: Harmful industries’ digital marketing to Austrlaian children, VicHealth, p. 7
4 Pitt, H. et al 2022 “Young people in Australia discuss strategies for preventing the normalisation of gambling and reducing gambling harm”, BMC Health 22:956
6 Australian Online Advertising Expenditure Report, iab.australia/PwC, June 2022
