Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the deputy chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Gambling Reform, it is a great pleasure to speak on the tabling of the committee's fifth report today. This report covered the area of advertising and promotion of gambling services in sport and a related bill.

Although the committee heard that children are not directly targeted, the committee is concerned about children being exposed to the advertising for an adult product, the messages being consumed and what effect this may have on future behaviour. It is also concerned about other vulnerable people, such as problem gamblers.

The government is well aware of the level of community concern regarding the promotion of live odds. In May 2011, the government announced that it would work with the sporting and betting industries to reduce and control the promotion of live odds during sports coverage through amendments to existing industry codes. On 29 June 2012, the minister announced an agreement had been reached with the commercial and subscription broadcasters to reduce and control the promotion of live odds during sports. Free TV and ASTRA released the proposed amendments to their codes on 22 April 2013 for public comment before 20 May. During this process, the government took additional action to respond to a level of concern in the community, and on 26 May the Prime Minister announced that live odds would be banned. In addition, all generic gambling advertisements will be banned during play. Generic advertising will only be allowed during scheduled commercial breaks, such as quarter or half time and before or after the game.

The government has indicated that it will monitor the intensity of generic gambling advertisements and, if it is found to be beyond reasonable levels, will impose a total advertising ban. The industry is on notice to respond appropriately to the level of community concern and to reflect community expectations. In case further steps become necessary, the committee noted the exemption for gambling advertising for sporting programs and recommended that this exemption be reviewed. This process will provide for appropriate consultation with the community and stakeholders and should also serve to articulate and provide greater clarity around the reasons for this exemption and whether it is meeting its intended purpose.

The committee noted the need for the industry to be part of the solution. There are other industry codes that could potentially cover this issue, and the committee recommended that government review the self-regulatory action being taken by industry with a view to legislating in this area if industry does not make appropriate changes regarding the promotion of gambling products in an environment that includes children.

The link with betting raises issues for the integrity of sport. The committee received a comprehensive briefing from the Australian Crime Commission about the infiltration of sport by organised crime. While the ACC has not conducted specific in-depth analysis of the relationship between organised crime and online gambling, it has nonetheless identified vulnerabilities for the sector, through its broader work on methodologies used by organised crime. The committee was pleased to hear general acknowledgement that the integrity of sport is the overriding concern and that action is underway by the stakeholders to put in place processes to strengthen the environment against organised crime. The committee acknowledges the role of the betting agencies here to alert authorities to irregular betting. I note that in October 2012 the government established the National Integrity of Sport Unit, and it is currently working with sporting codes, the betting industry, state and territory regulators, and justice and law enforcement agencies to ensure that sports have the systems in place to monitor and report on players' and officials' activities; that sporting codes have education programs in place to prevent match fixing; that a betting industry standard for information exchange is developed; that there is a national approach to regulation; that there is consistent criminal legislation being implemented; and that a rapid, nationally coordinated response is available, assisting sports codes experiencing integrity issues. Safeguarding the integrity of sport in Australia is of utmost importance, and the committee supports the current work underway. The committee also noted the importance of ensuring that amateur sport has the resources and tools available to increase awareness by participants of the risks and threats to the integrity of their sport.

It has again been a privilege to be the deputy chair of this committee and to see the tabling of its fifth report. I want to thank the member for Denison for very capably chairing the committee and for running the inquiry very smoothly. I would also take the opportunity to thank the secretariat for their exceptional work. I also thank all those who contributed to the inquiry and I commend the report to the House.

Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaker, on behalf of the Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform, I present the committee's report, incorporating dissenting reports, entitled Fifth report: the advertising and promotion of gambling services in sport: Broadcasting Services Amendment (Advertising for Sports Betting) Bill 2013, together with evidence received by the committee.

It is clear that there is considerable concern in the community about the proliferation of advertising for sports-betting services, and I share that concern. Children in particular are being constantly bombarded with advertising for gambling, just about every time they watch sport, even though the wagering organisations say children are not being directly targeted. Targeted or not, our children sure are being exposed, which is normalising gambling for them and resulting in stories like the one the committee heard about young people now not talking about their team's form but, instead, their team's odds.

The committee welcomed the announcement on 26 May about the so-called ban on live odds. It is a step forward, but I would quickly add that this is one of the areas where I diverge from the committee report, because I believe that the government's move does not go nearly far enough and has come much too late, given the obvious concerns in the community. In fact, from the time of the first announcement about reform in May 2011 to an industry code amendment being in place, it is likely to take over two years, and that is clearly way too long.

The committee's second report concluded that a total ban on the promotion of live odds should be underpinned by legislation. I maintain this position, not least because it was only overwhelming community concern that forced the government to act to ban live odds. This so-called ban is really only the threat of legislation and, in any case, the industry simply cannot be counted on to limit any reform to any more than the minimum that it can get away with. Furthermore, live odds is really only a subset of gambling advertising.

Generic advertising will still be allowed during sports broadcasts during the day, even though the current broadcasting restrictions were developed to ensure that gambling and sports-betting advertisements would not be placed in programs likely to have an audience of children. The research shows that it is difficult for children to clearly distinguish commentators and bookmakers, that children are consuming brand messaging and that the brands are becoming part of the way they talk about sport. In line with the public health approach to gambling, we should not wait for more problems to occur but, instead, we should take a cautious approach, particularly as research shows children are so vulnerable to advertising. To the same end, gambling promotion on the uniforms of senior teams should also be banned. The players are, after all, role models to children and the messages on their jumpers are on the screen all of the time, and the net effect on children is mightily powerful.

More broadly, the association of sport and gambling draws attention to the need to ensure the integrity of sport, so the committee was pleased to learn that a considerable effort is in fact being expended to ensure that the threat to integrity in sport is being addressed before the problem escalates further. In particular, the committee commends the initiatives being implemented by sporting codes in relation to the threats and vulnerabilities identified by the Australian Crime Commission.

The committee was not pleased to hear of the introduction of online gambling on amateur sporting events. For example, there were reports of betting agencies offering live odds on amateur competitions here in Canberra. Clearly, amateur sports are not adequately resourced to address the integrity risks that this brings, so the committee has recommended drawing on the integrity tools and resources being developed by the National Integrity of Sport Unit for professional sporting codes and has recommended resources be, in fact, developed for amateur sport.

In closing, I add that the committee's work on sports betting has been a valuable opportunity to learn about the new forms of gambling, which are growing rapidly. Now is the time to reduce the harm before it becomes unassailable. The committee received 52 submissions and heard from a variety of interested stakeholders. I sincerely thank all of those who contributed. I would also like to thank the committee members for their involvement and the deputy chair in particular during this inquiry. I also thank the secretariat who once again provided invaluable support of the highest standard. I commend the report to the House.

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the honourable member for Denison wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a future occasion?

Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 39(d), the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.