There are renewed calls to ban all alcohol advertising across all Australian sporting codes after new data revealed how exposed viewers are to alcohol ads during games.
Rugby league great Steve Ella, AFL coaching legend Mick Malthouse, former cricketer John Inverarity and dual Olympic gold medalist Clover Maitland are among those launching the End Alcohol Advertising in Sport campaign that calls for a total ban on alcohol advertising in Australian sport.
The call comes after data by The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education found that viewers of this year’s NRL grand final were exposed to 365 alcohol ads during the coverage, or a staggering three ads every minute. While the AFL grand final showed 118 alcohol ads or one every minute.
Foundation chief executive Michael Thorn said that despite laws governing alcohol advertising there was a “nonsensical exemption” in the Australian Commercial Television Code of Practice exposed children to the ads during the two grand finals.
“The evidence is very clear that children’s exposure to alcohol advertising encourages them to start drinking earlier, to binge drink more often, and to start a journey toward alcohol-related harm,” he said.
“It’s time for regulators to put an end to the alcohol industry’s deliberate efforts to encourage systematic alcohol harm and abuse in its customers of tomorrow.”
The campaign hopes legislation will be put into place to ban the all alcohol advertising in sport, similarly to the laws prohibiting tobacco advertising that came into effect in 1992.
As well as banning alcohol advertising, it’s also hoped an independent system of regulation will be put in place around alcohol advertisements which appear outside of sports broadcasts.
