Gambling companies get new advertising tag

Unlimited access to online gambling has the potential to cause real harm if not properly addressed. Photo: AAP
Australian TV viewers will no longer hear the hastily uttered âgamble responsiblyâ tagline.
From March 2023, betting companies like Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and TAB must ditch the well-known slogan in favour of seven new and government-approved ones.
âEvidence and research clearly shows the âgamble responsiblyâ message doesnât do the job of getting people to think and to minimise harm,â Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth told ABC radio on Wednesday.
âSo the new taglines, which were agreed with all state territories and the Commonwealth, are evidence-based and they actually have been shown to work.â
The new mottos include âChances are youâre about to loseâ, âYou win some. You lose moreâ, âWhatâs gambling really costing you?â and âWhat are you really gambling with?â
When on screen, they must accompany information about gambling addiction resources and appear in the largest font possible to take up a third of the on-screen space.
If the taglines are spoken, they have to be read slowly and calmly.
Online gambling firms must rotate through each of slogans over a 12-month period to stop viewers becoming acclimatised to a message.
While gambling critics welcome the changes, some want them to go further.
Theyâre âwelcome and a good start to the widespread reform urgently neededâ, according to Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie.
âDoing away with the âgamble responsiblyâ message is appropriate because the problems in the online and sports betting industry are more about the predatory behaviour of that industry than the behaviour of gamblers.
âOf course there are many bigger reforms that remain unaddressed.â
Mr Wilkie is calling for a ban on television gambling ads during G-rated viewing hours and the implementation daily limits on betting companies.
In NSW, parliamentary crossbenchers have pushed for a mandatory cashless gaming card to provide harm reduction benefits for problem gamblers and crackdown on money laundering.
A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found Australians lost around $25 billion on legal forms of gambling from 2018-2019, one of the biggest per capita losses in the world.
Beyond the financial costs, the report also revealed for every person who experienced problem gambling, up to six people around them were negatively affected.
â AAP








