ACT Greens gambling harm spokeswoman Rebecca Vassarotti has called on the ACT government to take immediate local action on gambling advertising, starting with a ban in sports precincts including GIO Stadium.

Ms Vassarotti said the territory should not wait for the federal government, describing Labor’s proposed national reforms as “weak” and “undercooked”.

She called for a three-point plan before the end of the Assembly term: an immediate ban on gambling advertising in local sports precincts, strict geo-restricting measures on online gambling ads during major sporting events, and stronger ACT advocacy for national advertising reform beyond the federal government’s proposed 8.30pm cut-off.

“Effective today, the Greens are calling for an end to predatory gambling advertising in the Territory,” Ms Vassarotti said.

“If the federal government refuses to protect our kids from predatory gambling corporations, the local government must step up.”

Independent ACT Senator David Pocock has also criticised the federal bill, saying it was “tragic” the government had not implemented a total advertising ban.

“How is it that a Labor-chaired committee gave such strong recommendations, and then the prime minister just buckles to the gambling lobby, induces weak legislation, and now we have the Liberal Party saying that it’s not strong enough,” Senator Pocock told ABC Radio.

“The prime minister is happy for children to see three gambling ads an hour during the day. We would not allow three cigarette ads an hour.”

Senator Pocock has called for a bolstering of the reform through introducing a national regulator and banning inducements such as bonus bets.

“They are the most damaging part of the whole gambling advertising strategy,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the proposed online gambling laws, saying they went beyond recommendations made in a 2023 report by late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which called for a total ban on gambling advertising.

Laws introduced to parliament on Thursday would limit gambling ads on TV to no more than three an hour between 6am and 8.30pm, and completely ban them during live sport within those hours.

Athletes and influencers would also be banned from promoting gambling, while ads would be removed from stadiums and sports jerseys.

“It actually, in some ways, goes further than that report,” Mr Albanese told ABC Radio on Friday.

“It deals with issues, such as particularly online, which has expanded substantially, like in other areas of our lives.

“(It) deals with overseas gambling as well. There’s not much point cutting down sites in Australia and leaving everything open overseas.”

Mr Albanese said the government had struck the right balance.

“I’m not against someone having a punt on a Saturday. What I’m against is problem gambling, which overwhelmingly, by the way, is poker machines, which is of course regulated by the states,” he said.

“What we’ve done is consult over a period of time.”

Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the bill was “undercooked” and did not go far enough.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to interrogate the bill. I am concerned and have a number of concerns that it’s not strong enough,” she told ABC Radio.

The opposition and the crossbench teamed up to send the laws to an inquiry, which will report back on August 17.

-with AAP

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