An Australian research group carried out a study that revealed a significant majority of Australians, 71%, favor prohibiting gambling commercials on television.
The study was conducted over a four-day period, from August 13th to 16th, 2022, and included 1003 individuals.
Participants were asked to express their agreement or disagreement with five statements about prohibiting advertisements, specifically focusing on gambling, tobacco, unhealthy food during children’s viewing time, alcohol, and fossil fuels.
When analyzing the results by age group, the highest proportion of individuals who “strongly agree” with a complete ban on gambling advertisements were those aged 60 and older, with 50% of this demographic supporting the ban.
In contrast, those aged 50 to 59 were most likely to “strongly disagree” with the ban, with 6% of this group holding this view.
Furthermore, 2% of those aged 40-49 and 2% of those aged 60 and over also strongly disagreed.
Women demonstrated greater support for banning gambling advertisements than men, with 40% of women strongly agreeing compared to 35% of men.
Supporters of the One Nation party exhibited the highest level of support for the ban, with 41% of this group strongly agreeing.
Nevertheless, this demographic also exhibited the largest percentage of staunch dissenters, reaching 14 percent.
Victoria displayed the least amount of concurrence with the prohibition, registering a mere 27 percent overall. Following closely behind was Queensland at 31 percent, then New South Wales at 35 percent, and finally Western Australia at 41 percent.
Dr. Richard Dennis, the Executive Director of the Australia Institute, asserted that the findings indicated robust backing for a comprehensive ban on gambling promotions.
“The data also reveals that Australians are weary of the gambling sector relentlessly bombarding them with messages that entice individuals to wager,” Dennis remarked.
“Across all voting inclinations, there exists a clear majority of individuals who share a similar sentiment regarding junk food and gambling – eliminate these advertisements.”
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