MEDIA RELEASE



Sunday May 26, 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed the Prime Minister’s crackdown on the promotion of betting odds during sports broadcasts.



ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton said the television industry’s proposed curbs to live odds promotion should be extended to include a total ban on all gambling advertising before, during and after sporting broadcasts.



This was the main recommendation in ACL’s submissions last week to Free TV Australia and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA).



“It is not healthy for children to be socialised into gambling through sports betting advertising,” Mr Shelton said.



“So many parents are keen for their kids to be active in sport because it has always been a teacher of positive character values such as perseverance and teamwork. The encroachment of gambling into sports broadcasting undermines this.”



Mr Shelton noted that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott had earlier this month said if the Coalition was elected it would ban live odds promotion during sports broadcasts.



“It is great to see bi-partisan support for the option of legislation as the television industry does not have a good track record in enforcing its voluntary codes.”



ENDS

MEDIA RELEASE



Tuesday 21st May 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby has made a submission to the self-regulated TV bodies calling for both live odds and betting advertising to be prohibited during a broadcast of a game on free to air and subscription television.



Managing Director Lyle Shelton said proposed changes to the Free TV Australia and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) codes to ban live odd promotion during play and by commentators doesn’t go far enough.



“ACL would like to see sports commentators prohibited from promoting betting altogether and not just limited to live odds but also preventing advertisements like we see from Tom Waterhouse being aired in ad breaks,” he said.



While ACL welcomed changes to the code, he was concerned it would be effectively toothless as television industry self-regulation did not have a good track record.



“Watching sport is often a family affair and mum and dad shouldn’t have to worry about their kids being socialised into gambling in the form of gambling advertisements,” he said.



“Gambling is a serious issue and one that affects many Australians. There are enormous social and economic costs on families and children are the ones who suffer most.



“Sports gambling has the potential to encourage sportsmen and women to take bribes and be corrupted. Sport would be better off without a gambling industry attached to it,” he said.



Submissions to the Free TV Australia and Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) codes closed yesterday, Monday May 20.



ENDS



You can find read more about the Free TV Australia codes here and Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association here.



Read ACL's Submission here.