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The Federal Government has been urged to restrict advertising for betting in sport, with anti-gambling advocates and public health experts awaiting the outcome of a parliamentary inquiry that is expected to issue policy recommendations this week.

The head of the inquiry, Labor MP Peta Murphy, has already cited powerful evidence of community harm, and the recommendations are expected to call for further restrictions to gambling advertisements before and after live sport broadcasts.

This notion now has bipartisan political support with Federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton using his budget reply speech to lobby for change and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese having expressed his personal dislike of gambling advertising in sport.

While critics of the advertisements cite children being able to identify companies by their brand colours, sporting groups are warning of cuts to grassroots sport or to free coverage of sport if advertising revenue drops.

However, community opposition to gambling advertising was evidenced by a recent survey of 3,000 AFL fans which found gambling advertising was their most common concern, with a majority supporting an outright ban.

Tim Costello, a prominent anti-gambling campaigner, said “a chance of bipartisanship is possible to break the grip of the saturation gambling advertising”, noting “like tobacco advertising, which is now banned, a prohibition on gambling advertising should be the goal.

“Just as it is unacceptable for children to know the brands Peter Stuyvesant and Marlboro cigarettes, why should they know Sportsbet or Bet365?

“It is a terrible policy failure and Australia has per capita 20% higher online losses than others because of the tsunami of sports betting advertising.”

As reported by Guardian Australia, Charles Livingstone, a gambling researcher who appeared before the inquiry, said advertising should be phased out over time and the government could offer support to codes and broadcasters to ease their financial concerns.

Livingston advised “the overwhelming tone of submissions has been that we need to act on gambling advertising at the very least.

“Another thing that could be done quickly is require anyone who gambles to set a limit, that’s voluntary at this stage.”

Samantha Thomas, a gambling and health researcher at Deakin University, urged the government to consider wagering as a public health issue and increase the health department’s role.

Thomas noted that “anything less than a comprehensive ban on all forms of marketing will leave us with measures that still give the gambling industry scope to expose young people to its promotions.

“Just like we did with tobacco, we must ensure that gambling harm prevention policies are protected from the vested interests of the gambling industry and those who profit from it.”

ABC’s Four Corners
An investigation by the ABC’s Four Corners program that aired last night has revealed ‘secret’ commercial deals signed by major Australian sporting organisations with bookmakers that are encouraging the massive increase in gambling advertising.

The episode, ‘Football’s secret gambling deal exposed’, revealed deals signed by the AFL, NRL and Football Australia and the percentage the sports bodies earned on every bet made on their events.

Hunter Fujak, a sports management researcher at Deakin University and an Australasian Leisure Management contributor, Dr Hunter Fujak told Four Corners “when we look at the annual reports of our major codes, they really do a good job trying to blur the boundaries to hide the exact elements of how involved they are or how integrated gambling is.”

Pointing to the codes generating revenue from an increase in punters betting on games, leading to an even greater interest in promoting gambling through advertising in the sport, Dr Fujak advised that the gambling industry’s influence even reached amateur levels.

He advised “sport gambling advertising is very much for attracting new gamblers (and) our sport leagues stand to benefit the more there are new gamblers encouraged to gamble and existing punters gambling more.”

Independent Senator David Pocock, who has been advocating for gambling advertising reform in the parliament, told Four Corners gambling companies were sponsoring sports to get “primetime access” into lounge rooms across Australia.

Senator Pocock commented “just the sheer number of betting ads that young people are seeing. They turn on the TVs, they’re seeing gambling. They scroll their Twitter or Facebook feed, they’re seeing gambling.”

Senator Pocock also conceded major codes won’t easily give up their gambling windfall, adding “my sense is that people have had enough and that they want this dealt with, not with some of the tinkering that we see suggested, but really well thought out broad reform.

“These sorts of changes are hard and there’s no doubt about that. But I think it’s really having these honest conversations and doing what’s best for Australians, for our communities.”

Image credit: Shutterstock.

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