This week we urged the federal government to implement a complete ban on online gambling ads within three years, in line with the unanimous recommendations contained in the landmark ‘You win some, you lose more’ parliamentary inquiry report.

Reports in recent weeks have suggested the government is considering implementing a partial ban, with caveats for various platforms and at certain times — an approach AMA President Professor Steve Robson labelled extremely disappointing.

“Anything less than a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising will do nothing to protect Australians falling into the grips of gambling addiction,” Professor Robson said.

“If you give these betting companies any kind of wriggle room with advertisements, they will exploit it. We saw this with the vaping industry, and similar scenes are now playing out with gambling.”

Australians lose approximately $25 billion on gambling each year, the largest gambling losses in the world per capita.

Professor Robson spoke with ABC Radio this week about why a ban on online gambling advertising is important and the problematic linking of gambling products with sports.

“What we want to make sure is people who are vulnerable don’t have advertising rammed down their throats, particularly vulnerable and very impressionable young Australians,” he told the ABC audience.

“The advertising during sporting events is so insidious because you have that capacity to link online gambling to something that ought to be healthy.