More than 35,000 people have signed a petition created by the Alliance for Gambling Reform calling for the Federal Government to ban all gambling advertising.
The petition has 35,243 signatures and the Alliance is now urgently calling for more people to sign up in order to pressure the Federal Government to adopt all 31 recommendations of the Murphy Report which include a phased-in, 3-year ban on all gambling advertising.
The Government received the report of the parliamentary inquiry, headed by their own Peta Murphy MP, more than a year ago and has yet to respond to it. Ms Murphy was fighting for gambling reform even in her last days before losing her fight to cancer.
“Gambling ads make gambling look exciting and risk-free, but gambling is addictive and harms millions of Australians. Gambling ads are often placed when and where children and teenagers will see them the most,” the Alliance’s Interim CEO, Martin Thomas, said.
“Australians should be able to enjoy their favourite sports, gambling ad-free. Instead, sporting bosses exploit the trust of fans by selling sponsorship and advertising to the gambling industry, turning stadiums into gambling billboards and spruiking gambling odds to kids.”
The Alliance recently released figures showing sports betting in Australia has doubled in just five years with more than one third of all spending on sports betting now coming from people with a gambling problem.
The research by Roy Morgan found that more than a quarter of all men aged 18-24 and a third of men aged 25-34 now bet on sport. Young men are most at risk of falling into problem gambling – with close to 1 in 5 (17.5%) 18-24 year-olds who bet on sports, already defined as having a gambling problem.
“These are huge numbers and they highlight how a predatory online gambling industry is ensnaring a whole new generation into gambling,” Mr Thomas said.
“We know that last year there were over a million gambling ads bombarding our screens. We have to stop this. The Federal Government must move to ban all gambling advertising and adopt all 31 recommendations of the parliamentary report into online gambling.”
Australians lose over $25 billion each year to gambling, the highest per capita spend in the world.
Studies show that 7 in 10 Australians believe there are too many betting advertisements, and that gambling advertising on television should be banned; and parents in particular are concerned about their children’s vulnerability to gambling advertising.
“The parliamentary inquiry found that the “inescapable torrent” of gambling advertising is normalising online gambling and its links with sport, grooming children and young people to gamble, and encouraging riskier behaviour,” Mr Thomas said.
Martin Thomas is available for interview on 0477 340 704
About us:
The Alliance is a national advocacy organisation which works to prevent and minimise the harm from gambling. Our aim is to remove the shame that surrounds gambling addiction, have the problem treated as a public health issue, and achieve the legislative changes needed to protect our communities. We bring together well over 60 organisations who share the objectives of preventing harm from gambling.
Contact details:
Media contact: Martin Thomas – 0477 340 704