The Australian Gambling Industry Lobbies for Age Verification Over Ad Ban

The Australian federal government continues to face mounting pressure to make reforms that will ban minors from accessing online sports betting content. A blanket gambling ban was proposed last year, but the Prime Minister has been reluctant to implement it, seeking alternatives. Opponents of the gambling ban are lobbying for the implementation of age verification in gambling sites instead. This proposal comes after the federal government announced plans to use such technology to limit children's access to social media.

The Root of Concern

A study by the Australian Gambling Research Center underscored the extent of the gambling harm exposed to minors. The study revealed that about 1/3 of young adults who indulged in the pastime in the past year started before they were 18. The younger they begin gambling, the more severe the gambling-related issues they have later in life, underscoring the criticalness of implementing strict advertising regulations.

Advocacy for gambling ad reform was popularized by Peta Murphy's report released 15 months ago, which recommended a ban on all online gambling advertisements. Tim Costello, the Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate, argues that the government is neglecting the high gambling losses in the country in favor of minor adjustments that do not benefit minors.

"They continue to fail to explain why we've got the greatest gambling losses in the world, but keep fiddling at the edges to keep the sporting codes and media outlets onside," he said.

Proposed alternatives

Still, gambling industry representatives continue to push for alternative measures to the ad ban. Kai Cantwell, CEO of Responsible Gambling Australia, has highlighted the need for options like age verification requirements and self-exclusion tools. These provisions would allow players to avoid exposure to gambling ads while restricting gambling content for minors.

Cantwell expressed that adopting such "sensible, evidence-based alternatives" to deal with underage and problem gambling while ensuring financial support for sports leagues and broadcasters is important.

Government's Stand on Gambling Reforms

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese doesn't appear on board with a blanket gambling ad ban and wants more limited restrictions. The Albanese government has shown interest in banning ads during kids' programming and live sports broadcasts instead, as well as limiting the number of ads during regular TV programming.

Albanese also proposed stricter rules around BetStop, Australia's self-exclusion scheme, after reports that registered gambling addicts were exploiting its loopholes to continue accessing betting sites. The government intends to perform a statutory review to determine whether the platform performs as intended.

Anti-gambling advocates and industry representatives have indicated frustration over the government dragging its feet in finalizing the matter. Expectations are high for a proposal during the next federal parliamentary session in October, before the AFL and NRL finals.