Rearrangement

Andrew Wilkie

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent:

(1) private Members' business order of the day No. 32 relating to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Ban on Gambling Advertisements) Bill 2024 being called on immediately;

(2) debate on the second reading of the bill continuing for a period of no longer than one hour, with the time for each speech limited to 10 minutes;

(3) questions then being immediately put on any amendments moved to the motion for the second reading and on the second reading of the bill;

(4) if required, a consideration in detail stage of the bill, with any detail amendments to be moved together, with:

(a) one question to be put on all government amendments;

(b) one question to be put on all opposition amendments;

(c) separate questions then to be put on any sets of amendments moved by crossbench Members; and

(d) one question to be put that the bill [as amended] be agreed to;

(5) when the bill has been agreed to, the question being put immediately on the third reading of the bill; and

(6) any variation to this arrangement being made only on a motion moved by the Member for Clark or the Member for Mayo.

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Ban on Gambling Advertisements) Bill 2024 introduced to the House on Monday amends the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to ban advertising of a licensed, interactive wagering service—that is, a gambling service. This will prohibit television, print, radio and online advertising of interactive gambling services such as telephone and online gambling.

There is a real urgency to deal with this bill today because the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, chaired by the late Peta Murphy, released its report _Y ou win some, you lose more : o nline gambling and its impacts on those experiencing__gambling harm_ almost exactly one year ago. The bipartisan report included 31 important recommendations including banning gambling advertising. With it being a year since that very important report was released, the government is still yet to even formally respond to the recommendations, let alone implement any of the recommendations. This is despite the fact that there is such widespread concern, even outrage, in the community about the incessant advertising of gambling services, in particular, before and after high-profile sporting events on the weekends or at night when children are watching.

The harm caused by gambling addiction cannot be overstated. It causes poverty, loss of jobs, relationship breakdowns, homelessness, ill-health and even suicide. A report in Victoria even found that gambling addiction is the second most prevalent motivation for crime in that state. This is no small matter. Hence, there is an urgent need to deal with this. Australians lose more than $25 billion per year to gambling, making it the highest per capita spend by the people in any nation in the world.

Almost half of Australian adults who do gamble are at risk of or are already experiencing gambling harm according to research conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Online and sports betting has become especially problematic. It's very telling that the Australian Communications and Media Authority reports that more than a million advertisements bombarded Australians between 2022 and 2023 alone. No wonder we're all sick of the ads. Roy Morgan Research shows that the number of people betting on sports has more doubled in the last five years. It has become a real issue. The Australian Institute of Family Studies found that the link between gambling advertising is not only strong but strongest amongst our young people. One in five young women and one in seven young men began gambling because of an advertisement. It also found that 40 per cent of those already at risk of gambling related harm gamble impulsively after seeing or hearing promotional material. Recent polling by Roy Morgan shows that gambling addicts make up 20 per cent of some sports betting companies' entire company base.

There is an urgent need to deal with this. This is what the community is calling out for. This would be us responding to a genuine and very significant community concern, so I ask that we deal with this matter urgently. I commend the member for Mayo for bringing the bill to the House on Monday. It's the second time the member for Mayo has done that and the second time I have seconded it. I'll end there because I would like to allow five minutes for a contribution from an opposition member.

Milton Dick

Is the motion seconded?

Rebekha Sharkie

I certainly second this motion. We need to deal with this today because we have a duty as members of parliament to take the leadership and create a better Australia. We know that gambling advertising causes enormous harm. We need to debate this now. We can no longer sit and do nothing.

It has been a year—a year!—since the report was handed down by the late Peta Murphy. She had such courage in putting together that report, and I think it's such a great shame that nothing of any substance has happened in this place in a year. We know from that report by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs that online gambling and gambling advertising to children, young people and those experiencing gambling addiction causes enormous and recognised harm. We know from that report that Australians demand an end to the saturation of the advertising of gambling products.

That report had another key recommendation, and that is a phasing out of advertising of online gambling over three years. We've lost a year due to the minister's inaction. A year has gone—31 recommendations and nothing is being done in this place. And that makes Australians incredibly frustrated—I would say even angry—that their children are being bombarded, as the member for Clark said. We are talking about 948 gambling advertisements broadcast each day in 2021 in Victoria on free-to-air television alone. This has grown exponentially. If you go back to 2016, it was just 374. I say 'just', but that is still an incredibly large amount.

What has happened is that our children now see this as normal. When they're watching a game of football, our children see it as incredibly normal that they're seeing gambling advertising; or that when they open up social media, they're seeing gambling advertising. They're being told to bet with their mates—there is a proliferation of online apps—and this is causing enormous harm. Roy Morgan Research, in the 12 months to March 2024, and the Alliance for Gambling Reform showed the number of people betting on sport has more than doubled in the last five years, and yet we do nothing in this place. That is why this motion must be supported. We need to debate this and we need to have some action in this place, and we haven't seen action.

I'm sure the minister's going get up and talk about BetStop. That was actually started by the previous government, and that is one small thing that we need to fix. But we must address the proliferation and the saturation of gambling advertising like we did in the 1980s and 1990s with respect to cigarette advertising. This is a public health issue; this is actually a public health emergency. We have people who are taking their lives, who have horrendous health issues, who are losing their homes, who are becoming homeless and who are having family breakdowns. We know that this is very much affecting young people, particularly young men, and we are providing no protections in this place—no protections at all. It's like it's just not an issue that anyone in here really wants to deal with, and we need to. It is our duty as members of parliament; we are elected in this place to help create a better Australia, and we are not doing that when we are not addressing this issue.

So I would urge all members in this place, let us at least have a debate on this. We can no longer allow the government to do nothing in this place when the harm is so real—the harm to young Australians in particular. I urge the minister: you have 31 recommendations which you have not even responded to formally in the parliament. Please, I beg you—and Australian mums and dads beg you—to do the right thing and act on those recommendations. Let's discuss this bill and end gambling advertising now.

Long debate text truncated.