Gambling crackdown exposes broadcast policy gap

This report analyses the Federal Government's proposed crackdown on gambling advertising and its disproportionate impact on the free-to-air (FTA) television sector. With the gambling industry spending approximately $186m on television advertising in 2022, new restrictions including a cap of two ads per hour and bans around live sports could cost broadcasters $40m annually. The brief argues that these piecemeal reforms, coupled with the denial of spectrum tax relief, threaten the long-term sustainability of the Australian broadcasting policy framework.