In Brief
- The government released its response to the Murphy report nearly three years after it called for urgent gambling reform.
- Senator David Pocock has accused the government of trying to bury its response.
Independent senator David Pocock has accused the government of cowardice after the Albanese government published what he's called a "disrespectful" response to a 2023 parliamentary inquiry into gambling harms on the same day as the national budget.
The review, led by late MP Peta Murphy and first published nearly three years ago, made 31 recommendations, including the urgent phasing out of all gambling advertising.
Australians are the world's biggest gambling losers per capita, and are estimated to lose up to $31.5 billion dollars a year to gambling.
The government's response to the so-called Murphy review was made public on Tuesday, while most of the nation's political journalists were tasked with covering the federal budget announcement.
The government's response "notes" the original report's 31 recommendations but does not directly respond to them or implement any in full.
"These reforms get the balance right," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the parliament.
"So that children don't grow up thinking sport and gambling are inextricably linked but that we let adults have a punt if they want to."
It was the first parliamentary sitting day — and therefore, the first available day to table the documents — after Albanese addressed the issue at the National Press Club on 2 April, but the move has nonetheless drawn condemnation from gambling reform advocates who say the response was not only buried but "disrespectful."
"If the government was proud of this response, it wouldn't be trying to bury it on Budget day," Pocock said in a statement on Tuesday.
"This is a cowardly attempt to avoid scrutiny of a deeply inadequate response to one of the most significant public health inquiries this Parliament has seen."
Recommendations unanswered
Albanese announced several restrictions on gambling advertising at the National Press Club in April.
He said his government would ban celebrities and sports players in gambling ads, ban gambling ads on the radio during school pick up and drop off times and ban gambling ads in sports venues and on players' uniforms.
Critics say these reforms fall well short of the Murphy review's key recommendations, which included a total ban on gambling advertising, a national regulator for the industry and a ban on betting incentives.
Pocock said these "critical recommendations have simply gone unanswered".
"These were not radical recommendations ... Rather than treating gambling as the public health issue that it is and implementing evidence-based policy, the Albanese government has yet again put vested interests ahead of Australians."
Martin Thomas from the Alliance for Gambling Reform said the government had "half adopted" only a "handful" of the bipartisan report's recommendations.
"Overall the Murphy report had a huge focus on treating gambling harm as a public health issue because it costs the nation a huge amount in health and social costs, and there's no indication the governments going down this track," he told SBS News on Wednesday.
Albanese has told parliament the changes got the balance right between allowing adults to gamble and shielding young people.
"They will make a meaningful difference," Albanese said, with the changes to take effect by January.
The legislation still needs to pass parliament, which means it will have to be voted in by the Senate, where the Labor government does not have a majority.
Thomas was hopeful this would be an opportunity to strengthen the government's gambling reforms.
"They're going to have to negotiate, and I hope that the opposition and the minor parties and the crossbenchers would all help put much more rigour to these reforms so they're much stronger when they do pass the parliament," he said.
"After that time, hopefully we get a really strengthened package of reforms much closer to the Murphy report."
Responsible Wagering Australia, the gambling industry's peak body, said more time was needed to implement the changes.
"These are major, costly reforms that require significant operational changes and wagering, racing, sport, broadcasters and online platforms urgently need clarity ahead of the 1 January 2027 start date," chief executive Kai Cantwell told AAP.
Cantwell said "overregulation" risked Australians taking their gambling to "illegal offshore sites with no consumer protections, no safeguards and no contribution to Australian sport, racing or taxpayers".
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