Survey Shows 7 in 10 Australians Support Gambling Ad Ban
Australia – A study conducted by The Australia Institute shows that more than 70% of Australians agree that gambling related advertisements should be banned from TV. In total, 1,003 people took part in the survey, which was conducted between 13 and 16 August 2022. Out of the respondents, 71% support a gambling ad ban.
Respondents were asked whether they agreed with 5 statements, which addressed bans on gambling advertising, tobacco advertising, junk food advertising during children’s viewing hours, alcohol advertising and advertising that promotes fossil fuels. According to The Australia Institute the results show that Australians have had enough of gambling ads.
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Five Statements
Participants of the study that was held by The Australia Institute were asked whether they agreed with five statements related to bans on gambling advertising, tobacco advertising, junk food advertising, alcohol advertising and advertising that promotes fossil fuels. Respondents of the survey were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the following 5 statements about different types of advertising on television:
- Ads for junk food should be banned during children’s viewing hours.
- Gambling advertisements should be banned on Australian TV.
- TV advertisements promoting alcohol should be banned in Australia.
- Advertising of fossil fuels on Australian TV should be banned.
- Advertisements for tobacco on Australian TV should stay banned.
Data Segmentation in the Survey Process
The results do not only show that most respondents support a gambling ad ban, they also segment different groups. Closer analysing the responses to the gambling survey by age, people of 60 years or older had the highest number of participants that “strongly agreed” with a full ban on gambling advertising, with around 50% of the group.
- People aged between 50 and 59 were most likely to “strongly disagree” with a gambling ad ban, with 6% from the group disagreeing on the statement.
- Only 2% of people between 40 and 49 year old and those over the age of 60 also strongly disagreed.
- Relatively more women than men – 40% vs. 35% – strongly agreed with a gambling ad ban.
- One Nation supporters showed the highest level of approval for a gambling ad ban, with 41% of the group in strong agreement with such a prohibition. This group also had the highest number of respondents that strongly disagreed with the statements, at 14%.
- Participants from Western Australia showed the highest agreement of a ban on betting products, taking up 41% in total agreement. This was followed by the states of New South Wales at 35 per cent, Queensland at 31 per cent and Victoria at 27%.
Dr. Richard Denniss, executive director of The Australia Institute, confirms that the data showed strong support for a total ban on gambling related advertisements.
Results show that most Australians have had enough of the gambling industry trying to entice us to bet with real money. The majority view of the study was very clear on both junk food and gambling, virtually across all voting intentions.
Dr. Richard Denniss, executive director of the Australia Institute
Gambling Related Ads Already Limited
In Australia, gambling ads aren’t allowed during TV programmes that are labelled as G or lower between 6am and 8.30am and 4pm and 7 pm, or in children’s programmes between 5am and 8.30pm. Until 2018, these limitations didn’t include sports shows. Despite the limitations, in May 2022, a study by the Nielsen institute revealed that gambling ads shown on TV in Victoria had increased by 253% since 2016. In 2021, 948 daily gambling ads were broadcasted on average on public TV in Victoria. In April of this year, Dr Aino Suomi, director of the Centre for Gambling Research at the Australian National University published a study about gambling behaviour that found that approximately 200,000 Australian children were exposed to harmful gambling by at least one parent.
