Add your name: Senate Submission into gambling advertising
The government recently introduced a bill to restrict gambling advertising. It sounds like progress, until you read what's actually in it.
Streaming services, where more than half of Australians now watch sport, will be allowed to run unlimited gambling ads during every break, any time of day. Television keeps the current rules. Streaming doesn't. It also does nothing about sign-up bonuses like "bet $10, get $50 in bonus bets," which researchers say are among the most effective ways to hook people into compulsive gambling.
Three years ago, an all-party parliamentary inquiry recommended something much simpler: phase out gambling advertising altogether. That recommendation was unanimous. This bill doesn't deliver it.
The Greens and the Coalition, who agree on almost nothing, have sent the bill to a Senate inquiry rather than wave it through. That inquiry is taking public submissions right now.
We're building a GetUp submission made up of members' names and comments, calling on the inquiry to recommend the full ban Murphy proposed. Add your name, and if you want to say why this matters to you, there's space for that too.
Streaming services, where more than half of Australians now watch sport, will be allowed to run unlimited gambling ads during every break, any time of day. Television keeps the current rules. Streaming doesn't. It also does nothing about sign-up bonuses like "bet $10, get $50 in bonus bets," which researchers say are among the most effective ways to hook people into compulsive gambling.
Three years ago, an all-party parliamentary inquiry recommended something much simpler: phase out gambling advertising altogether. That recommendation was unanimous. This bill doesn't deliver it.
The Greens and the Coalition, who agree on almost nothing, have sent the bill to a Senate inquiry rather than wave it through. That inquiry is taking public submissions right now.
We're building a GetUp submission made up of members' names and comments, calling on the inquiry to recommend the full ban Murphy proposed. Add your name, and if you want to say why this matters to you, there's space for that too.
We're calling on the Senate inquiry to recommend:
- A full, phased ban on gambling advertising — not the partial restrictions in the current bill, but what Peta Murphy's 2023 inquiry actually recommended, backed unanimously by every party.
- The same rules for streaming as TV. Right now, streaming services get a loophole to run unlimited gambling ads during breaks, any time of day. TV doesn't get that carve-out. Streaming shouldn't either.
- A ban on sign-up bonuses and bonus bets. Offers like “bet $10, get $50 in bonus bets” aren't touched by this bill, despite being one of the things researchers say most effectively hooks people into compulsive gambling.
- Protection that doesn't rely on families opting out. The current bill puts the burden on parents to find and use an opt-out setting. We're calling for gambling ads to be switched off by default, not on unless you go looking for the switch.
Every name and comment added here becomes part of GetUp's formal submission to the Senate committee, lodged before the inquiry reports back.
You can read the full submission here: GetUp Gambling Advertising SubmissionADD YOUR NAME
Your name and comment (if you add one) will be included in GetUp's submission to the Senate inquiry, alongside thousands of others calling for a full ban on gambling advertising.
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