70% of Australians say TV gambling adverts should be banned
A new poll from The Australia Institute think tank found that 70% of Australians agreed with the suggestion that gambling adverts on TV should be banned.
The online survey asked a nationally weighted sample of over 1,000 people whether they agreed or disagreed with five statements about banning certain types of TV advertising. A total of 11% disagreed that gambling ads should be banned.
When broken down by gender, the survey found that 70% of males agreed that there should be a ban, compared to 72% of females.
And when considering age, the results showed that 69% of those aged 18-29 agreed, with figures of 64% and 70% for those aged 30-39 and 40-49 respectively. And the totals for respondents aged 50-59 and 60+ were 69% and 78% respectively.
Australian broadcasters have to follow strict rules on when and where they can advertise gambling or betting odds, with the effectiveness of such rules often entering the political debate at this time of year as more Australians watch Aussie Rules finals.
Victorian MP Zoe Daniel is pushing for more restrictions on advertising, and has called for a fresh parliamentary inquiry into the promotion of sports gambling.
“I am deeply concerned about the normalisation of sports gambling and the proximity of gambling advertising to broadcast sport, particularly AFL and ARL football codes,” said Daniel.
“When children are having conversations about sports betting “multis”, wanting to set up sports betting apps on their phones and even betting on the federal election, we have an issue.”
According to Nielsen, the gambling industry spent around AU$287.2m (US$196.9m) on advertising in Australia in 2021.
The survey also focused on ads promoting tobacco, junk food, alcohol and fossil fuels.
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