Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Daniel James and you're listening to 7am.
Chapter 2: What is the impact of gambling advertising on Australian sports and media?
For years, gambling advertising has spread far beyond the outbreak, becoming a familiar part of how Australians watch sport, follow news about sport, and spend time online. Three years after the Murphy Review called for a comprehensive ban, the Albanese government has finally responded.
But the government's plan to rein in online gambling advertising has drawn sharp criticism, with campaigners and crossbenchers arguing it falls well short of what was recommended. And in that gap, a bigger fight has opened up about how deeply betting has worked its way into Australian media and Australians' lives.
Today, crikey media reporter Dani Saeed on the government's plan to reduce gambling ads and why its long-awaited response is already under fire.
Chapter 3: What was the government's response to the Murphy Review on gambling ads?
It's Friday, April 17th. Darnie, gambling ads are everywhere. It's impossible to listen to a sports podcast in Australia that isn't sponsored by a sports betting company. But it's not just sports podcasts. A lot of other podcasts and videos on YouTube serve an absurd amount of gambling ads. Even Karl Stefanovic's new YouTube show is sponsored by a sports betting company.
Being a man that may well fit into the target demographic for this, I'm sure you've noticed the same thing.
Chapter 4: How are gambling ads affecting Australian youth and families?
Yeah, absolutely, Daniel. It kind of blows my mind a little bit that even people who I've spoken to in the gambling industry who make their living off of this, who are absolutely incentivised in the most literal sense to continue the bombardment of gambling ads that we do have, have come out and said, and gone on the record and said, okay, it's a bit much.
Chapter 5: What specific reforms did the Albanese government announce for gambling ads?
And I can't think of a single other industry where we've reached a level of saturation where people employed by the industry say the advertising for their livelihood is a bit much. Invested interest is a powerful thing. It's extraordinary when you go too far.
So to address this torrent of gambling ads that we see on every screen we look at, just before the Easter break, the federal government finally announced its plan around gambling ad restrictions, something that advocates and campaigners have been waiting three years for.
We are getting the balance right, letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure that our children don't see betting ads everywhere they look.
So remind me and those listening to this, what was actually announced by the Albanese government on this front?
Yeah, so there's a couple of top line reforms and we're going to get a better idea of them sort of in the next sitting week. Conveniently, that'll also get overshadowed by the federal budget. But we're looking at a restriction on gambling advertising on broadcast television to no more than three ads an hour between 6am and 8.30pm.
We will ban all gambling ads on radio during school pickup and drop off.
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Chapter 6: Why are some critics calling the government's reforms insufficient?
We're going to see a banning of gambling ads on online platforms unless you have a logged-in account over 18 and have the option to opt out of gambling advertising. So that sounds, it's a little bit in the weeds, but there's probably some bits and pieces to work through there and some moving parts there. We will ban cross-promotion content that mixes commentary with odds.
We'll end advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums. And we'll ban... But there was a report that came out in the last couple of days that said that NRL clubs will be allowed to sort of see out the duration of those deals. So these reforms are going to kick in from the 1st of January 2027.
A lot of those gambling deals relating to uniforms and so on sort of extend beyond that and they'll be allowed to sort of see those out.
So while it sounds like there's a fair bit going on with these reforms, it's still a pretty watered down version of what Peter Murphy in her inquiry was recommending.
If the status quo on online gambling regulation, including but certainly not limited to advertising, was to continue, Australians will continue to lose more. More money, more relationships, more love of sport for the game rather than for the odds.
It's been really widely criticised. It's been criticised by all sides of politics and noting that Peter Murphy's sort of committee that put this report together back in June 2023 was a bipartisan committee and had people from both sides of politics. But the Murphy report said that partial bans on advertising don't work. It's really clear about that.
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Chapter 7: How have gambling companies reacted to the proposed advertising restrictions?
It cites a fair deal of research on that. We know that this is a partial ban. We know that the Murphy Report called for a national regulator, and there's no mention of that. There might well still be a response to that, but this announcement so far doesn't mention it. There's also no mention of inducements.
So things like bonus bets and bet returns, things that sort of keep gamblers' or customers' money cycling through betting apps and betting platforms, those were recommended to be outright banned by the Murphy Report. There's no mention of that in this suite of reforms that the government's announced.
The fact that it's taken so long, Darnie, and it's so watered down from what the Murphy Review recommended, does that show how influential the gambling lobby is in Australia? I mean, just how hard has the campaigning against these reforms been?
It's been really, really hard. I think it does. That's the criticism that has been put to me by advocates, by MPs, by the crossbench, by members of the Labor Party, both sort of in the parliament and outside it, within the rank and file, that are pushing for reform. This has been a really consistent criticism that the government has a really close relationship with the gambling lobby.
And not just the gambling lobby, there are other stakeholders too that the government has close relationships with that it doesn't want to jeopardise.
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Chapter 8: What role does the gambling lobby play in shaping advertising regulations?
So things like broadcasters that rely on the advertising revenue, things like the sporting codes themselves.
Broadcasters are hooked on this revenue now, aren't they?
Yes, broadcasters are hooked on this as well and they've sort of flagged that there might be changes to revenue models and so on or warned or threatened that there might be changes to staff or to revenue models or to programming. I think that's a bit of an empty threat. A lot of these broadcasters are doing very well for themselves.
And as we speak, Peter Volandes, as the chair of the Rugby League Commission, has been giving quotes to the News Corp papers about the massive, you know, multi-billion dollar deal, the broadcast deal that he's ready to sign and has many, many suits for. So cynically, I would say they'll do just fine.
You mentioned that there's been some voluntary action from some of the betting agencies because during that long delay in the response to these proposed reforms, these recommendations, have the gambling companies built ways to potentially get around these bans and reach customers?
Because it seems like, as you said, already most of the sports gambling companies have their own podcasts, their own content channels with subscribers and followers. Would those things be defined as advertisements? in relation to these reforms?
We're not entirely clear on that yet. The short answer is, yes, they'll probably try to get around them in some form. This is part of the reason why a partial ban doesn't work. And this is why experts say partial bans don't work. It's because gambling companies find new and creative ways to get around them.
The gambling companies have already lobbied really, really hard on this over the last three years. In August 2024, it was reported that the then communications minister, now the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, had sort of met with a number of stakeholders, including the big wagering companies. And the proposal at the time was something to the effect of two gambling ads an hour.
It was then reported in January that Anthony Albanese had come over the top and made a captain's call and vetoed gambling advertising reform before the 2025 election. Now we're in early 2026 or a year on from that election. We've seen a new minister and the proposal now is three gambling ads. So it's an additional ad per hour on what gambling companies were sort of already exposed to.
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