The NSW government is to ban gambling advertising on public transport.
All internal and external ads on trains, buses, light rail, and the metro will be prohibited. The ban will include all casino, lottery and online betting advertising.
“It’s not something that we think that needs to be on our transport network,” Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said.
Transport for NSW operates one of the largest advertising assets in Australia including 798 billboards at Sydney train stations, 49 road-facing digital billboards, adverts on more than 3,700 buses, 76 trams and across the Tangara train fleet.
“Because of the scale it will take some time to implement this change, but we will be working closely with our contract partners over the next 12 months to get this done,” Haylen said.
Both the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists support the ban and are calling on other state and territory governments to follow New South Wales’ lead.
“Gambling negatively impacts people’s health and wellbeing, and gambling advertising adds fuel to the fire and compounds these harms to individuals, families and the community,” RACP president Jennifer Martin said. “Ultimately, without a ban on all forms of gambling advertising the health of Australians is put at serious risk.”
Increasing rates of gambling-related harm is a significant concern for psychiatrists, given its strong correlation with comorbid mental health disorders, added RANZCP president Dr Elizabeth Moore.
“It can tear apart families, fuelling financial troubles, economic abuse, and intimate partner violence,” she said. “Banning all forms of gambling advertising through legislation is critical to address their pervasive effect on people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
Meanwhile, effective 1 July, junk food advertisements will no longer appear on public transport in South Australia. Images of unhealthy products such as chocolate, desserts, ice creams, soft drinks, and chips will be banned on public buses, trains, and trams. The initiative aims to tackle obesity and promote a healthy diet among the population.
Both the NSW and SA transport ad bans reflect growing concerns about the impact of certain types of advertising on public health and wellbeing, particularly among children. “Gambling advertising has been a common sight on our public transport for a couple of years now,” Haylen said. “Parents are rightly worried about the impact it has on their kids, so it’s not something that we think that needs to be on our transport network.”
Leave a Reply