Proposed Gambling Levy Aims to Reduce Australian Media’s Dependence on Betting Ads

A 2% levy on gambling companies’ revenue would help compensate for the $240m in advertising income that media companies would lose if the Albanese government adopted a total ban.

That is the conclusion of the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute, which will lobby along with the Greens for the levy as part of a broader push for a total ad ban, as recommended by the bipartisan Murphy inquiry, instead of Labor’s proposal for caps during general TV programming.

Based on the fact that gambling company revenues in Australia were $17.2bn in 2022-23, the Australia Institute claims a levy of 1.4% could replace the $240m spent on free-to-air TV, metropolitan radio and online advertising.

Stephen Long, a senior fellow at the Australia Institute, said “a 2% levy on the gambling industry, which represents a tiny fraction of the money lost on wagering, could compensate the media for any lost revenue resulting from a gambling ads ban”.

Richard Denniss, the executive director of the Australia Institute, said in estimating the revenue “we haven’t assumed there will be any reduction in gambling” as a result of the ad ban but “it would obviously be good news” if that were the case.

Long described it as “a rare win-win scenario” because the policy “would reduce the harm to the community that gambling advertising causes, while simultaneously guaranteeing a revenue stream for public interest broadcasting”.

“The free-to-air networks could then sell the advertising slots the gambling companies occupied to other businesses while pocketing the levy as well.”