Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie says after more than a year of government inaction it is time to take the lead on online gambling.

She says the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs handed down its ‘You win some, you lose more’ report on the impact of online gambling on those experiencing gambling harm on 28 June 2023.

Ms Sharkie and independent Member for Clark Andrew Wilkie MP are frustrated and dismayed that the federal government has failed to respond in any meaningful way.

They say the committee, chaired by late Government MP Peta Murphy, recognised the great harm being done by online gambling and gambling advertising to children, young people and those experiencing gambling addiction. 

It acknowledged that ‘Australians demand an end to saturation advertising of gambling products’ and recommended the phasing in over three years of a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising on all media.

The MPs say In the intervening twelve months they understand the government has undertaken consultation regarding online gambling advertising restrictions but so far has remained silent.

Research conducted in the 12 months to March 2024 by Roy Morgan shows the number of people betting on sports has more than doubled in the past five years. 

Almost a million Australians (881,000) who sports bet are now considered 'problem' or moderate risk gamblers under the 'Problem Gambling Severity Index' and more than one third of all spending on sports betting is from people experiencing gambling harm.

“Addiction, guilt and shame, financial hardship, poor mental and physical health, relationship breakdown, homelessness, childhood poverty, family violence, elder abuse, criminal activity and suicide. These are the products the gambling industry is selling, and many Australians are buying," Ms Sharkie says.

"The big sporting codes are addicted to the cut they get from every bet laid, and their sponsorships from gambling companies, with additional benefits linked to the amounts gambled. The Government accepts the political donations. And the regulation is patently inadequate to manage the risks.

"The Government has sat on its hands on the issue of an advertising ban for over a year since the 'You win some, you lose more' report was handed down. This delay is unconscionable."

“That is why I have re-introduced my Bill to ban all advertising of online gambling. The 'inescapable torrent' of advertising was causing harm a year ago, and it is causing harm now, and the community is fed up with the Government's inaction."

The Interim CEO of The Alliance for Gambling Reform, Martin Thomas, says there is an opportunity still for the government to do the right thing and to honour the legacy of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.

“The 31 recommendations of the Murphy Report provide a gold standard to protect Australians and especially our children from the insidious harms of online gambling,” he said.

“Australians lose $25 billion every year to gambling and those losses cause social harm on an industrial scale. Online gambling is now the fastest growing form of gambling in Australia today.

“The government must heed the deep public anger at the proliferation of gambling ads, including those grooming our children, and resist the lobbying of the gambling industry and its allies.”