Labor’s new gambling laws will remove the current blackout on gambling ads during sports matches on streaming services. Source: The Age.
The laws will allow online platforms to start showing registered adult users unlimited wagering ads in half-time and quarter-time breaks unless subscribers explicitly opt out.
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the government’s contentious legislation, some MPs across the Parliament were incredulous, saying the carve-out had been poorly communicated and appeared to allow more gambling advertising rather than less.
Critics are warning this will mean streaming services are flooded with gambling ads because digital platforms – where a growing number of Australians watch sport – will for the first time have looser restrictions than television channels showing the same game between the hours of 6am and 8.30pm.
Under current settings, both broadcast and streaming services are prohibited from airing gambling ads for five minutes before and after games, as well as during half-time or quarter-time breaks, between 5am and 8.30pm.
The new laws keep those rules for television, although the start time is pushed back to 6am.
But Labor’s proposal will override the existing blackout for streaming services, government sources confirmed. Instead, streaming platforms will be able to show gambling ads during breaks, and up to the start of play, at any time of day provided users are registered, over 18 and have the option of opting out of ads.
Liberal MP Simon Kennedy, who last week argued in the Coalition party room that the opposition should take a hard line on the issue and strengthen Labor’s bill in negotiations, said the government had “taken a bad problem and made it worse”.
“Australians will be stunned to learn that Labor’s bill creates a new right for streaming services to show gambling ads during every break in live sport. If you’re streaming online, a gambling ad can appear after every quarter or during half-time or during weather breaks,” he said.
“That’s not reform. It’s a retreat. Instead of reducing gambling advertising, the prime minister has created more opportunities for gambling companies to target Australians.”
Communications Minister Anika Wells argued the proposed laws for streaming were stronger than current settings as they could protect children from seeing gambling ads at all times of the day, describing the new requirement for registration, age-assurance and opt-outs as a “triple-lock function”.
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Streaming platforms to show unlimited gambling ads under Labor’s new laws (By Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
