Majority of Australians want gambling ads banned before 10.30pm
More than half of Australians would support a ban on wagering advertising across broadcast channels before 10.30 pm. That’s according to new research released as the nation is revealed to be the world’s biggest gambling loser per capita.
The research comes from the Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC) at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, which surveyed 1,765 Australian residents aged 18 years and over in July 2022.
It found that three in four Australian adults have gambled in the past 12 months. Australians are the biggest losers per capita when it comes to gambling, with more then $25 billion lost last year.
69% of Australians believed that gambling advertising is ‘too common’, while 60% believe it makes ‘sport less family friendly’ and 46% said it ‘decreases their enjoyment of sport’.
As a response, 53% of respondents backed a ban to all wagering advertising before 10.30 pm on radio, TV, live stream and on-demand, with 19% in opposition to such a ban. 42% backed a ban to sponsorship of sports coverage, with 26% in opposition.
Local TV networks including Seven and Ten deferred comment to Free TV Australia.
CEO of Free TV Australia, Bridget Fair told Mumbrella: “Commercial television is already the most heavily regulated and safest media platform when it comes to gambling advertising, with extensive restrictions in place including a total ban on gambling advertising in live sports before 8.30pm and strict limits at other times. We have recently implemented the new Consistent Gambling messages and continue to engage constructively with the current Committee Inquiry into Online Gambling.”
Foxtel and Nine were contacted in advance of this article, however, are yet to respond at the time of publishing, as well as the minister for communications, Michelle Rowland MP.
Infographic from the report
At the end of 2022, the “gamble responsibly” tagline was replaced with seven new options, including “Chances are you’re about to lose”, “Imagine what you could be buying instead”, and “You win some. You lose more” amongst others.
They came just prior to a report that stated the number of complaints in regards to gambling ads had doubled in the previous financial year, with complaints seeing year-on-year growth since 2018.
Speaking on ABC News this morning, Dr Rebecca Jenkinson, executive manager of the AGRC said “people want to see fewer ads”, and that exposure to ads leads to riskier gambling behaviour and increased chance of harm.
The study comes just weeks after outgoing AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan, told Melbourne radio station 3AW, “I think there is probably too much” gambling on the sport’s broadcast coverage.
“I don’t have a problem that other people do around wagering, I just think the volume is too much. It’s in your face.
“We have a set of restrictions and they are being reviewed at the moment. Probably they will be wound tighter, but we don’t believe in prohibition because all it does is drive it underground or offshore and that has its own set of problems.”
Last year, both Nine and Seven were pulled up by the ACMA for showing gambling promotions during live broadcasts of sporting events. Currently regulations do not allow such promotions between 5am and 8.30pm.
The AFL has a yearly $8 million deal with Sportsbet, while the NRL’s deal is worth $12 million, with Cricket Australia holding a $3.5 million deal with Bet365, too.
The government is currently considering a wider restriction on wagering ads, with 64% of Australians agreeing governments should play the biggest role in deciding how wagering is advertised.
Currently, four in five (78%) respondents reported seeing or hearing wagering advertising at least once a week, with 41% exposed four or more times. Young people were more likely to be exposed through channels such as social media and online, while people above 55 were more likely to be exposed through traditional channels such as TV, radio and print.
One in five young women (19%) and one in seven young men (15%) started betting for the first time after seeing or hearing an ad on TV, while young people most often increased their betting in response to advertising on TV, streamed content, social media, online and direct messages.
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OK, I agree to the sentiment. But what is “before 10:30m” defined as? To midnight? To sunrise? Or until you are pissed out of your mind until you have spent all you have?
It needs to be defined as a ‘Gambling Window’. How about 22:30 to 01:30 as an example.
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Hey JG
The current window is defined as 8.30pm – 5am, so the idea here would be to tighten that from 10.30pm instead of 8.30.
Cheers
Calum – Mumbrella
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