The Australian federal government’s efforts to enforce new and more rigorous measures that will regulate the advertisement of gambling products have been thrown into disarray as the planned changes are not likely to be enforced before next month. This setback comes as the government faces opposition from within its own ranks as well as crossbench MPs, which shows that the political environment surrounding gambling reform in Australia is rather precarious.
The Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has made it known that the government is planning to make fundamental changes to gambling advertisement, particularly on the increased concentration of betting commercials during football matches and other sports as well as social media networks. However, the implementation of these reforms has not been as smooth as expected, with the various stakeholders raising concerns over the effects of the reforms on the revenues and the overall sports environment.
Critics of the government, including anti-gambling campaigners and some MPs, have accused the authorities of delaying action which is needed to tackle the problem of gambling addiction in Australia. Some of the critics argue that the Australian population spends about AU$25 billion on gambling every year and many of these are due to the online betting sites.
Another area which has given a lot of trouble during the reform process is the ban on in-play betting advertisements during the live sports events. Although several public health practitioners and gambling control advocates have called for the total prohibition of such adverts, the sports and gambling sectors have put up a robust fight against such measures, claiming that they will affect their revenue and their capacity to support grassroots sports.
This can be seen by the slow and calculated manner in which the government has implemented these reforms, in light of the fact that gambling has a positive economic impact on the country while at the same time being a major factor in the deterioration of the public’s health. In particular, the sports betting industry has grown very close to the professional sports in Australia which contributes significant sponsorship and advertising money to leagues and clubs.
Compounding the problem is the fact that gambling laws in Australia are a tangled mess of state and federal laws. Here, the federal government has the authority over online gambling and the national broadcasting standards while the individual states have the power over the land-based gambling operations and the approaches to regulation differ.
The delay has also brought back into the limelight the issue of the influence of the gambling industry on the Australian politics. Opponents of gambling have argued that the industry has been able to influence the policy-makers through contributions and lobbying. The gambling industry on its part has come out to defend itself stating that it is a responsible industry that plays a vital role in the Australian economy in terms of revenue and employment.
However, there are voices that suggest that the government should consider more significant changes to the gambling policies than the ban on ads. Others recommend that all electronic gaming machines should have pre-commitment features, persons engaging in online betting should be subjected to more stringent age checks, and that more resources should be devoted to the treatment and prevention of gambling disorders.
The result of this policy debate will significantly impact the future of gambling in Australia in a big way. As one of the most gambling addicted nations in the world, it has one of the highest per capita spending on gambling, the country struggles with the problem of how to reap the rewards of the gambling business while minimizing the impact of pathological gambling.
As the debate goes on, the focus will shift to the federal government to determine how it will manage these conflicting interests and whether it will be able to come up with policies that will effectively regulate the industry while at the same ensuring that the public’s health is protected. The next few months will be interesting as to how the gambling advertising in Australia will be in the future and may even influence other countries with similar problems.
