Australia faces a dramatic overhaul of its gambling advertising laws. But is this a case of the Prime Minister looking good for the media, while his actions do more economic harm than good for the country?
As with any territory where gambling is legalised, there is a significant rise in gambling advertising. This is known as the land-grab phase, where online casinos, sportsbooks, and any other approved gambling entities push the limits of above-the-line media, social media and search engine optimisation to establish themselves as the go-to site for their segment.
The problem with this comes down to legislation and regulation. In many cases, there is little insight into the impact of advertising on the broader community and where ads might be allowed to run that can be viewed by vulnerable groups.
What tends to come next is a government-enforced clampdown, which can have its own set of negative repercussions on legitimate businesses and the players themselves.
After years of unchecked market expansion, the Australian government has finally woken up to the need for regulation in the advertising space - and as expected, their response has been a massive overcorrection.
On the surface, no one will argue with the stated intent of the proposed advertising reformation, especially when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese couches it as “getting the balance right” and “letting adults have punt” while “making sure our children don’t see betting ads”.
However, a breakdown of the proposal looks like this:
While these items seem innocuous enough on their own, the reality is that this will have a marked impact on the Australian economy as a whole, not just the gambling sector, which supports 30,000 jobs by itself.
The impact will be felt downstream through media and advertising layoffs, a reduced demand for office space, and in simple things like less business for grocery stores and restaurants. It has not only been the online gambling industry that has grown over the years, but every market sector has also expanded to support the people in it.
In search of support for the plan to restrict gambling-related advertising, the Albanese government commissioned a report. The Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) shared that the proposed ban would only reduce advertising spend in real terms by 0.8% while potentially costing thousands of jobs. Even a full ban would only impact the top-line spend number by 1.4%.
The question we’re left to ask is if such a small “win” justifies the scale of grassroots economic upheaval it will cost to attain.
Responsible Wagering Australia, Australia’s leading independent peak body for locally licensed gambling operators. Not only do they, and their participating operators, believe it is a short-sighted economic decision, but it also runs the risk of emboldening unlicensed sites to focus on luring in disenfranchised Aussie punters.
The frustration of these operators is clear when listening to them speak on the topic. An industry spokesperson said that some of them had already begun looking for ways to address the “changing community sentiment on gambling advertising” and had “already taken proactive steps” to limit unwanted engagement.
Everyone agrees that the market is ready for updated regulation, especially in the area of unfettered access to gambling ads. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that this is not an illegal business anymore.
Regulators need to consider the broader impact of their decisions on the job market, taxable revenue streams, grassroots sports initiatives, and even the funding of gambling addiction centres. All of these and more benefit substantially from licensed gambling.
Pushing licensed operators out of the market will only expose those they’re trying to protect to welcome bonuses from unregulated gambling sites. When that happens, not only does all the revenue flow offshore, but the players themselves are left to the whims of black market operators.
Operators and industry watchdogs like Responsible Wagering Australia are urging the local government to work with them rather than against them, but at the moment, it appears the Prime Minister is more interested in looking like he's doing good than actually doing good.
Slots
Poker
Blackjack
Video Poker
Baccarat
Roulette
