Australians favor gambling ad restrictions over bans
Freshwater Strategy revealed that the majority of Australians support restrictions on online gambling advertising over a complete ban.
In August 2024, Australia had several...
Campaigns rise in support of sports betting ad bans in Australia
The Alliance for Gambling Reform has launched a new campaign in support of a ban on sports betting advertisements across Australia as a massive increase in revenue is recorded for offshore bookmakers operating in the country since last year.
The Reverend Tim Costello, who is the chief advocate for the alliance, claims that the government has not done enough to protect the country’s population, stating that sports betting has become the most rapidly-growing type of gambling across Australia. Allegedly, it has doubled in the few years leading up to 2018, and now yearly losses have grown to over US$765.5 million.
Many foreign operators including the likes of Flutter Entertainment and Entain are taking advantage of the low-tax regime in the Northern Territory, where betting tax is capped at $575,000 yearly. The alliance is now calling upon the government of Australia to follow in the footsteps of many other countries who have set bans on advertising for sports betting and gambling.
Costello stated:
“We must nip this in the bud right now, and the quickest and easiest way to do so is to end gambling advertising. Other countries have done so, including Italy, because they recognise the harm gambling does, and that it is completely inappropriate to promote it. It’s time Australia did the right thing too.”
Costello and the campaign have been condemned by Brent Jackson, who is the chief executive of Responsible Wagering Australia, who in turn states that the problem here does not even exist.
Jackson further added:
“While sports betting is growing in popularity, problem gambling rates continue to fall, and wagering advertising complaints are at all-time lows, comprising only 0.31 per cent of all advertising complaints. The evidence shows clearly that Australia’s wagering companies are doing the right thing. Reverend Costello is pointing to a problem that doesn’t exist.”
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Australia records the highest gambling losses
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