Senate debates

Tuesday, 10 August 2021

Statements

Tokyo Olympic Games, Gambling Advertising

1:42 pm

Photo of Stirling GriffStirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | | Hansard source

[by video link] I'd like to begin by congratulating our Olympic squad on their fantastic performance in Tokyo. One thing that makes the Olympics special is its power to bring us together in one moment to share in the glory and achievements of fellow Australians. We have indeed been fortunate to experience many of these moments in the last two weeks.

But, for a great number of us, those triumphant and inspiring moments were marred by the barrage of gambling ads shown during ad breaks. Under Australian law, gambling ads cannot be shown between 4 pm and 7 pm on any broadcast and on children's programming between 5 am and 8.30 pm. But so many of our Olympic achievements, moments many Australians shared with their children, were broadcast outside of these hours and totally escaped the restrictions. It is absolutely time for us to reconsider those limited restrictions.

A report published by the Australian Gambling Research Centre showed that one in three Australians opened a new online betting account during the pandemic last year—one in three—and this led them to gamble more often and for larger amounts. No doubt many of these people were influenced by advertising, the same type of advertising seen by our children during the Olympics. Tragically, some new gamblers will soon find themselves in financial difficulty, setting off a chain reaction that can ruin—and has ruined—lives and families. It is well and truly time for this government to act to permanently remove gambling ads from television and radio and from online platforms. This is needed to help protect our young and to protect future generations.