New study reveals increase in gambling ads on Victorian TV

The Nielsen institute has published a new report that reveals gambling ads have increased by 253 per cent since 2016.

Australia.- A new report by the Nielsen institute has revealed that gambling ads shown on TV in the state of Victoria have increased by 253 per cent since 2016. An average of 948 gambling ads were broadcast daily on free-to-air TV in Victoria in 2021.

The report was commissioned by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation as it calls for stricter controls on gambling ads. The foundation’s CEO Shane Lucas said there should be a discussion about the risks associated.

Hawthorn AFL player Mitch Lewis, who support the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s campaign on gambling ads, said: “Gambling and sports betting play such a massive part in terms of influencing the younger generation.”

A month ago, Dr Aino Suomi, director of the Centre for Gambling Research at the Australian National University released a study about gambling behaviours that found almost 200,000 Australian children are exposed to moderate or serious levels of harmful gambling by a parent each year.

Nearly 60,000 children face the highest levels of parental gambling problems, which can lead to significant harm. At the other end of the scale, nearly half a million children were exposed to lower-risk parental gambling, the study found.

In South Australia, Nick Xenophon, a former South Australian senator who is running again for the Senate, also said that gambling ads should be more tightly controlled and the sponsorship of sporting clubs banned.

Xenophon wants sports betting ads on TV limited to the same hours as alcohol ads: from 12pm to 3pm Monday to Friday only and 8.30pm to 5am every day. Currently, sports betting ads can be shown at all times except during children’s programming. However, news, current affairs and sports programs are exceptions to this rule.