Pressure is building on the government to totally ban all online gambling advertising, with John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull and former state premiers joining the push.
Earlier this week, crossbenchers revealed their fury at reports the federal government planned to propose a cap on television advertisements instead of a total ban, alongside a prohibition on advertising on social media and digital platforms.
“Don’t believe everything you read in the paper,” the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said in response.
Now two former prime ministers, Howard and Turnbull, have joined prominent Australians – including family violence prevention advocate Rosie Batty, Jesuit priest and academic Frank Brennan, and former state premiers Dominic Perrottet and Steve Bracks – in signing an open letter to demand both the government and the opposition publicly commit to implementing all 31 recommendations in the Murphy report.
The late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who died from breast cancer in December 2023, chaired a committee that recommended a blanket ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling, phased in over three years.
The letter, from the Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR), warns that Australia’s “gambling addiction” is “escalating devastating social harm including financial loss, health and mental health issues, partner violence, family break up and suicide”.
“There is strong evidence that gambling companies are now grooming our kids by targeting children as young as 14 through social media,” it says.
“Our children are also being targeted by the tsunami of gambling ads that assault our screens, especially around coverage of our major sporting codes. It is ensnaring a whole new generation of gamblers.”
AGR’s chief advocate, Tim Costello, said the alliance would ramp up the pressure on the government as the election approaches. He said the government was “terrified” of the reaction from not just gambling companies, but media organisations that profit from their advertising. That includes News Corp and Nine, he said, but particularly Seven West.
“The west, they think, is where the election will be won or lost,” he said.
Costello said while he was not optimistic that the government would commit to a total ban, the alliance would apply mounting pressure.
“That’s why we went and got two ex-prime ministers and three ex-premiers … we’ll just have more and more people coming out.
“We know there’s a lot of feeling in the Labor caucus because Peta Murphy was loved. She had great moral clarity and political courage. And Labor people know that Labor has a gambling problem.”
AGR’s chief executive officer, Martin Thomas, said a limited ban would “be a win for vested interests and [would] leave Australians exposed to significant harm”.
“A total ban on all gambling advertising is essential to stop gambling companies targeting our children,” he said.
“Australians lose $25bn a year to gambling. But the real cost of inaction is financial ruin, mental health problems, suicide, and the family and domestic violence that gambling can exacerbate.”
Howard said many Australians were alarmed at the “proliferation of gambling advertising on our screens and the mounting losses through gambling”.
“I believe gambling losses are responsible for enormous harm across the community,” he said.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has said he understood the “angst” of the gambling companies at the situation and that the Coalition was waiting to see the government’s proposal.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the government was “firmly committed to minimising harms from online wagering” and had already taken some measures, including launching BetStop and banning the use of credit cards.
“The government is engaging with stakeholders, including harm reduction advocates, health experts and industry, as we develop further reforms,” she said.
“The status quo of online wagering advertising is untenable and the government will announce a comprehensive response to the parliamentary inquiry in due course.”
In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In the US, the National Council on Problem Gambling is on 800-522-4700
