Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports this bill, the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, which does two things. It amends the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 and it amends the Sport Australia Integrity Act 2020. 2021.

The Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 provides protection for major sporting events against ambush marketing, which is when unauthorised businesses associate their names, brands, products or services with a major sporting event. The act needs to be updated because it currently includes schedules for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games—a great event which is now in the past—and the postponed ICC T20 World Cup 2020. Specifically, the bill, if passed, will remove references to the ITC T20 World Cup 2020, which has been postponed due to COVID-19, and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and add references to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and the rescheduled ICC T20 World Cup in 2022. The amendments make the FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup and ICC T20 World Cup 2022 'major sporting events' under the legislation; insert information required to protect related intellectual property, that is, name, logo, branding et cetera; and set a period of protection.

In addition, this bill amends the Sport Integrity Australia Bill 2020. The government has tacked the amendment to the Sport Integrity Australia Act 2020 onto this bill because it is the first sport related bill before the parliament since the last amendment to the act. This bill amends the Sporting Integrity Australia Act 2020 by correcting references to articles of the World Anti-Doping Code. As a signatory to the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport, Australia is required to implement anti-doping arrangements in accordance with the principles of the wider code. Revisions to the code earlier this year resulted in changes to the numbering of articles within the code. The amendments proposed in this bill simply update the Sport Integrity Australia Bill 2020 to reflect the current article numbering.

Amendments circulated by the government respond to feedback from the Scrutiny of Bills Committee, and Labor also supports those amendments.

Finally, I refer to the proposed second reading amendment circulated by Senator Griff. Labor does not support this second reading amendment. We share and acknowledge concerns about the impact of gambling in our communities; however, holistic consideration of this important issue is needed, particularly in light of the impact of COVID-19. In 2017, Labor moved an amendment calling on the government to work with the sector on a transition plan to phase out gambling ads during live sports broadcasts. The government is running late and must implement urgent consumer protections as part of the national consumer protection framework for wagering. Labour opposes Senator Griff's second reading amendment. We support the bill and the amendments circulated by the government. I commend the bill and the amendments to the Senate.