Green Party Files Gambling Ads Ban Bill to Australia’s Senate

On October 9, the Green Party in Australia sent a bill asking for a full ban on gambling ads in the country to the Senate. 

The move represented the latest development in the heated talks on the way the Labor government should go around the undeniable gambling ad proliferation. 

At the start of September, news broke about the possibility that the government would place a TV gambling ad ban in two years along with an immediate ban on online ads. 

In August, the Australia Institute proposed a 2% levy on gambling operators’ revenue to compensate for the $240 million loss advertising companies would suffer in case of a full ban on their ads. 

“Time Is Up”

The Greens successfully introduced their bill today in a Senate test for Labor and Liberal, proposing a total ban on TV, radio, online, and print gambling ads, in accordance with the recommendations resulting from a multi-party parliamentary inquiry called “You Win Some, You Lose Most” chaired by the late Peta Murphy. 

In the context of seven in 10 Australians expressing support for a gambling ad ban, more public pressure is building up for the government to deliver on the inquiry recommendations.

According to Greens’ spokesperson for communications and senator Sarah Hanson-Young, “Time is up and the public is sick of the excuses and the delays.” The senator argued that, since the government was lacking “the guts to stand up to the bookies and ban gambling ads,” the Green Party would do it instead.

Ads “Fuel the Human Misery of Problem Gambling”

Hanson-Young was blunt about the effects of problem gambling on the lives of Australians. “Problem gambling ruins lives and Australians lose more per capita to gambling than anywhere else in the world,” she said while reiterating the existence of solid proof from experts and Australian gamblers themselves that shows gambling ads “cause significant harm and they must be banned, just like tobacco ads.”

The senator called on Labor and Liberal to support their bill while explaining the ads are “crucial” to sportsbooks “as they fuel the human misery of problem gambling.”

“People are sick of having gambling ads rammed down their throats during family time when we are watching the footy,” she added. The bill also read the ban “has been recommended time and time again by experts, arguing “it is what the community expects.”

Inquiry Into the Effects of Gambling Ads on Communities 

Hanson-Young also asked for an inquiry into the effects of gambling and gambling ads on Aussie families, children, and communities as a whole. 

The inquiry would be completed under the close supervision of the Environment and Communications References Committee and would also look into the government’s response to the Murphy Report and what the senator describes as a lack of action in protecting groups that are more susceptible to gambling harm.  

It’s time for all recommendations received by the government “to stop sitting on a shelf in the minister’s office not being acted upon,” the senator further pointed out. 

Communications Minister, Ready to Announce Her Plans 

In an interview for ABC TV on Friday, communications minister Michelle Rowland said that she was prepared to make her plan to handle gambling advertisements public by the end of the year. 

The parliament only has three sitting weeks left prior to rising for the year at the end of next month.

Rowland explained they were busy searching for “the most robust way” to make their plan effective while making sure the “harms are minimized.”  

Next up, provided the Greens’ bill passes the senate committee phase, it could be potentially referred to a committee for inquiry. 

Then, the wider senate will discuss the policy and vote on the final form. After that, it will await royal assent from the Sovereign to turn into law.