Partial ban on online gambling ads would fail to protect Australians from addiction
Anything less than a total ban on all advertisements for online gambling would be a public health policy failure that would allow betting companies to continue causing harm to Australians.
The Australian Medical Association is urging the federal government to implement a complete ban on online gambling ads within three years, in line with the unanimous recommendations contained in the landmark ‘You win some, you lose more’ parliamentary inquiry report.
Media reports in recent weeks have suggested the government is considering implementing a partial ban, with caveats for various platforms and at certain times — an approach AMA President Professor Steve Robson labelled extremely disappointing.
“Anything less than a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising will do nothing to protect Australians falling into the grips of gambling addiction,” Professor Robson said.
“If you give these betting companies any kind of wriggle room with advertisements, they will exploit it. We saw this with the vaping industry, and similar scenes are now playing out with gambling.”
Australians lose approximately $25 billion on gambling each year, the largest gambling losses in the world per capita.
Professor Robson said gambling addiction is a health issue that is linked to high levels of comorbid mental health disorders, substance abuse, family breakdowns and severe financial stress.
“The government cannot afford to place the profits of large corporations ahead of Australian communities, particularly socially and economically disadvantaged communities, where the impacts of problem gambling are most pronounced,” Professor Robson said.
“Australians have a very special connection with sport, but with every bounce of a ball, every blow of a whistle, there are numerous online gambling ads bombarding viewers, many of whom are young and easily influenced.
“We are urging the federal government to resist industry pressure and listen to the unanimous recommendations of the inquiry commissioned by the parliament.”
The committee called for a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising on all media that “leaves no room for circumvention”, specifically adding that partial bans would not work.
“We have waited more than 12 months for a response to the 31 recommendations contained in the ‘You win some, you lose more’ parliamentary inquiry report and it is now time for the government to take the same principled approach it took with vaping and agree to implement these recommendations in full,” Professor Robson said.
