\n Posted on: August 12, 2024, 01:53h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on: August 12, 2024, 01:53h.\n <\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe Parliament of Australia convened today for its spring session. A contentious matter set for deliberation by the legislature in the coming weeks is a proposed ban on gambling advertisements.<\/span><\/p>\n With problem gambling rates continuing to hover at rates deemed unacceptable by mental health experts and many in the public, government officials on both sides of the bench have suggested limiting or banning advertisements promoting the country\u2019s vast gaming industry. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s government is expected to push for a cap on gambling-related television advertising, while crossbench parties are campaigning for a complete ban.<\/span><\/p>\n Under Labor\u2019s proposal, gambling ads<\/a> would be prohibited online as well as on television during children\u2019s programming. Gambling marketing<\/a> would also be limited to running outside of live sports broadcasts and an hour on either side of the game\u2019s start and finish.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gambling firms would continue to be allowed to sponsor jerseys, however, and on-field and in-stadium signage would remain. The Albanese government favors gambling advert restrictions over a complete ban, which is endorsed by the Greens.<\/span><\/p>\n Recognizing that this is a complex issue, we\u2019re taking a comprehensive approach,\u201d said Albanese.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Labor controls 78 of the 151 House seats and 25 of the 76 Senate seats.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Australia is notorious for having some of the highest per capita annual gambling losses in the world<\/a>. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says nearly four in 10 Aussies gamble at least weekly, with nearly 50% of men reporting playing each week.<\/span><\/p>\n Popular gambling mediums include sports betting, horse racing, lottery games, and pokies, or slot machines, at casinos<\/a> and in pubs and clubs. Australians lose about A$30 billion (US$20 billion) a year gambling.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Green Party has the support of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, which wrote Parliament ahead of its spring convening urging the government to outlaw all gambling ads. The alliance is an independent, not-for-profit committee that seeks to reduce gambling harms Down Under<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n There is strong evidence that gambling companies are now grooming our kids by targeting children as young as 14 through social media,\u201d the Alliance for Gambling Reform\u2019s letter to Parliament read. \u201cOur children are also being targeted by the tsunami of gambling ads that assault our screens, especially around coverage of our major sporting codes. It is ensnaring a whole new generation of gamblers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The letter calls on the government and opposition \u201cto publicly commit to the swift adoption and implementation\u201d of all recommendations made in the 2023 Murphy Report. The report, led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who died in December 2023 from breast cancer, recommended a blanket ban on gambling adverts.<\/span><\/p>\n The alliance letter is signed by 74 current or former lawmakers along with health experts. Among the signees are former Prime Ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Australian Institute of Family Studies in 2023 commissioned a poll to gauge how the public feels about gambling ads continuing to clog television commercial breaks.<\/span><\/p>\n A majority of the 1,765 adults surveyed said \u201cseeing or hearing wagering advertising\u201d influenced their betting participation. A majority also reasoned that such marketing puts young people at elevated risk of gambling harm.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AP22141551687998-858x571.jpg\")
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Lawmakers Divided<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Public United<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n