Only a total ban on gambling advertisements will create deep and meaningful change, advocates and experts say.
Late Labor MP Peta Murphy handed down a landmark review in 2023 calling on the government to phase out all gambling ads across three years to allow sporting codes to find replacement revenue.
Reports suggest the federal government won’t adopt the centrepiece measure but will instead impose a limit when gambling ads can be shown.
Australians lose more money gambling per capita than anyone else in the world, with $25 billion lost on legal forms of gambling every year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello likened the watered-down proposal to the partial ban placed on tobacco advertisement during the 1970s.
“Partial bans, as we saw when we tried with tobacco, simply don’t work,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
Ms Murphy’s husband Rod Glover told Nine newspapers the ad ban was her “final game” and urged politicians to “put people first and think about what kind of future you want to create”.
Senior minister Clare O’Neil said the government was taking the issue seriously.
“Peta Murphy was a friend of mine and a dear friend of many people in the caucus, as is her husband,” she told ABC radio.
“She’s a big motivator for us in parliament, and there was no stronger advocate for these reforms than Peta Murphy – so we’ll be thinking of her.
“We’re really concerned about what’s going on with gambling advertising, and we’re looking at this.”
Gambling marketing also sends positive perceptions of the industry to children, Deakin University public health professor Samantha Thomas said.
“We need to government to act in the best interests of children, not in the interests of the corporations who make money from this predatory industry,” Prof Thomas told reporters in Canberra.
“My message to you is from children themselves.
“They want clear, comprehensive bans on gambling advertising: partial bans only lead to partial solutions.”
Independent politicians say a fear of media companies and the major sporting codes have prevented the government from committing to meaningful gambling reform.
Senator Jacqui Lambie has urged the government to “show some goddamn courage”.
“You have a perfect opportunity to make a difference in the future of our children, to not give him another addiction because you did nothing about it today,” she said.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud has called on the government to treat passive advertisements – like sponsorships – differently to push advertisements, where odds are placed in front of sports viewers to encourage them to bet.
“People have the right to be able to gamble, but we’ve got to be careful about that advertising,” he said.