What the media earns from gambling — and what it costs the rest of us

This article is an instalment in a new series, Punted, on the government’s failure to reform gambling advertising.

It seems Australia’s TV networks will continue to access hundreds of millions in revenue from gambling companies for the foreseeable future. As reported by the Nine papers over the weekend, the Albanese government is expected to considerably water down the recommendation of a parliamentary inquiry, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, to ban gambling ads across television, radio, newspapers and online within three years.

Labor will reportedly announce a blanket ban across social media and a cap on TV advertising — a max of two gambling ads per hour on each channel until 10pm, and no ads for an hour before and after live matches.