Report: Australian communications minister apologises for gambling ad reform delay 

The office of Australia’s communications minister Michelle Rowland has apologised for the ongoing delays to gambling ad reform. 

As per emails seen by Guardian Australia, Rowland’s office was reluctant to issue any sort of concrete update on when a response to the late Labor MP Peta Murphy’s You Win Some, You Lose Some report can be expected. 

Murphy’s report encouraged a blanket ban on all gambling adverts around 18 months ago, yet there has been no change to the rules in place. Meanwhile speculation that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in favour of a cap system that does not remove gambling adverts entirely continues to linger. 

The email exchange began after Mark Kempster, who is a member of the Alliance for Gambling Reform’s Voices of Lived Experiences programme, submitted a query to Rowland’s office expressing his frustation over further delays to the report’s recommendations being implemented. 

A staffer for the minister replied: “I acknowledge the ongoing toll this is taking on you and others, and I’m personally very sorry that we have not been able to secure an outcome thus far. 

“As a general observation though, I would note that decisions of this type require the support of the PM and cabinet – ie, it’s not enough for a minister to have formed a view.” 

Kempster’s email came just days after the Albanese government publicly conceded that there will be no updates on gambling ad reform before the new year, even though Rowland had previously vowed to outline Labor’s plans by the end of 2024, when speaking to ABC earlier this month. 

Kempster’s email detailed the impact delays are having on those who gave evidence as part of Murphy’s inquiry, with the gambling reform advocate insisting the length of time taken with no action “surely cannot be acceptable”. 

The staff member acknowledged the minister had pledged to make a public announcement on gambling ad reform by the end of the year but is now no longer able to do so, agreeing the lack of progress was “really frustrating and hard to understand”. 

The response from Rowland’s office to Kempster did not provide any reasons for the delay, but insisted the focus of the Albanese government was on “ensuring that reforms are effective and comprehensive”. 

Guardian Australia’s report noted that a near identical email was sent from the minister’s office to another gambling reform advocate, who likewise expressed agitation over the delay. 

At a Parliament House press conference on Monday, 25 November, minister for sport Anika Wells raised concerns over the impact online gambling ad reform could have on the financial models of national sporting organisations, as well as potential repercussions surrounding sporting integrity.  

Wells said: “On both sides that I need to look at, I think it needs more nuanced work. And I’m looking forward to continuing to work with minister Rowland on the 31 recommendations of the Murphy Report.

“There has been a lot of consultation on this, but it wasn’t ready to go. More work is needed to be done.  

“We hadn’t landed on a model where all different people and all different stakeholders from all different parts of the sporting sphere were able to accept it and able to enact it as quickly as I think what you’re looking for,” she added. 

When approached for comment by EGR Global, Rowland’s office stated: “The Australian Government will not be introducing legislation this year. The Australian Government takes seriously its responsibility to protect Australians, particularly young people, from the harms of online gambling.

“We continue to work through the 31 recommendations of the Murphy inquiry into online gambling, including in relation to advertisements. We recognise that this is taking longer than hoped, but it’s critical that we get this right to ensure that future reforms are effective and comprehensive.

“Since coming to Government, we have already delivered the most significant online gambling harm reduction initiatives of the past decade. This includes banning the use of credit cards, establishing mandatory customer ID verification and launching the National Self Exclusion Register (BetStop).

“Gambling advertising reform is a whole of government consideration. The need for meaningful action is clear and we continue the important work of developing further reforms to build on those already implemented. As part of this process, we also continue to engage with relevant stakeholders.

“As we have seen in the past, bad policy design leads to bad outcomes, which is why it’s important that we take the time to get future reforms right.”