New South Wales has raised concerns about the “volume of gambling advertising” but declined to endorse an inquiry’s call for a total ban within three years, prompting concerns federal Labor may use state resistance to opt for a cap rather than ban.
State and territory ministers responsible for the regulation of gambling were consulted about the mooted ad ban on Tuesday, with no definitive decisions taken as they are still waiting for the commonwealth to state its position.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who has labelled the ads “annoying”, told the Guardian’s Australian Politics podcast that gambling ads “have become more obtrusive now”.
“But that’s a good thing – deliberately – because we’ve changed the tag on the ads,” Albanese said in an episode to be released on Saturday. “So instead of a benign message there’s a very explicit message which is there.
“So that they’re more noticeable, that, you know: ‘you’re going to lose’. That’s the basis of the business, that you’re going to lose and saying that rather than just, you know, ‘gambling responsibly’ at the end of ads.”
In June the social policy and legal affairs committee recommended a three-year phase-in period for a total ban on advertisements for online gambling, along with a ban on inducements and trailing commissions.
Although the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, agrees that the “status quo isn’t good enough”, the Albanese government has never said whether it will pursue a total ban or a softer option such as opposition leader Peter Dutton’s policy for a ban during game time and an hour either side.
Free TV Australia has called instead for caps on the frequency of ads, warning that a “total ban would ultimately hurt viewers and the television services they love”.
A spokesperson for the NSW gaming minister, David Harris, said the Minns government “recognises that current advertising restrictions do not go far enough to meet community expectations”.
“The volume of gambling advertising is consistently raised by the community as an area of concern.”
Pressed on whether NSW supports the ban, the spokesperson said: “The NSW government is committed to minimising all forms of gambling-related harm and is supportive of actions to restrict the current level of advertising.”
Noting that the commonwealth is the “primary regulator of media” including restrictions on ads, the spokesperson said the NSW government “looks forward” to its response to the report.
The chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, who has previously accused gambling advertisers of “grooming” kids, said that a cap on ads was “absolutely” not good enough.
“It needs to be what the bipartisan [committee] recommended – a total ban, phased in over three years,” he said, citing the “clear” public mood.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, has noted that 27 of the report’s 31 recommendations “involve or impact states and territories so we’ve got to work through that”.
Costello said he feared the Albanese government is “looking for a reason to say ‘look we need broad support’” for reforms and resistance from the states could be an excuse to “kick the ad ban recommendation into the long grass”.
The South Australian consumer affairs minister, Andrea Michaels, said her government is committed to working “to address harms associated with online wagering and to examine the viability of the recommendations of the report”.
Most online gambling companies are registered in the Northern Territory, which could present a further hurdle for a nationwide policy if the Fyles government disapproves of a total ban.
That’s because in August the Australian Labor’s party’s national conference adopted a motion promising to “follow a policy of non-intervention in decision-making of the self-governing territories” and to respect “the rights of self-governing territories to make their own laws”.
A spokesperson for the Northern Territory gaming minister, Chansey Paech, said the NT government “continues to work in close consultation with other states, the ACT, and the commonwealth government” in response to the report.
Albanese said federal Labor had “already done a range of things” on harm minimisation, including the self-exclusion register BetStop, and had acknowledged “there needs to be more done”.
“We’ve considered the report, we’re out there consulting about that through Michelle Rowland.
“We recognise there’s more to do … We want to make sure that it’s right and that’s appropriate that we’re consulting.”
A spokesperson for the acting communications minister, Mark Dreyfus, said the government “is committed to protecting vulnerable Australians from gambling harms, and we’ve been clear that the status quo for gambling advertising in Australia cannot continue”.
“The government is carefully considering the recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry into online gambling that will inform future reforms to help reduce gambling harms.”
