Australian government under fire for delays to gambling ads ban reform

The Australian government is facing criticism for not tackling gambling ads fast enough, with fears of young people being exposed to harmful messaging.

Former Tabcorp and ASX chief Elmer Funke Kupper has an op-ed in the Australian Financial Review that calls for a crackdown on gambling ads in Australia, following what he describes as “an invasion” of gambling ads during the AFL Grand Final on September 27. It was the most-watched game of 2025, attracting more than four million viewers across the country.

Kupper claims that around 750,000 of them were under the age of 20, exposing young people to a high proportion of gambling ads. This has renewed calls for the Australian government to speed up progress on a gambling ads ban.

“I was surprised to be confronted with several sports betting ads in the thirty minutes before the centre bounce,” Kupper wrote. “I thought that the AFL and the government had dealt with this, and banned gambling advertising close to the games.

“The government and AFL Commission should reconsider their stance. Implementing stricter gambling advertising controls should be one of the simplest acts of leadership. Let’s not have gambling ads at next year’s AFL Grand Final”.

Gambling ads in Australia

The conversation around gambling ads in Australia has been ongoing for several years now. The government was slammed back in February 2025 when it made a perceived U-turn on the topic, following on from a delay to potential reform at the end of 2024. In the summer, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that an outright ban on gambling advertising would be difficult to enforce.

Critics like Kupper speculate that the Australian government is reticent to give up the  hundreds of millions in ad revenue that come from gambling ads. Gambling companies account for an estimated $180 million a year into TV advertising, or around six per cent of total free-to-air revenue.

However, proponents of an outright ban continue to argue that this is a matter of public health. Indeed, Australia wouldn’t be the only country to pursue such a measure, with the UK recently passing gambling ad reform and Japan cracking down casino ads.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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