A leading public health academic employed by the AFL Players Association to change the gambling culture endemic among AFL clubs has criticised the game's failure at head office level to follow suit.
Samantha Thomas, who has worked over the past year with players from Geelong, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and St Kilda and educated footballers as to how they are groomed by betting agencies, said clubs had shown more responsibility in addressing problem gambling than the AFL.
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Despite Gillon McLachlan's stated belief this week that betting advertising at AFL venues had struck "the right balance", Thomas said: "As CEO of the AFL he has a responsibility to understand the impact these agencies is having upon young people.
"There's an ethical tension when you promote your game as being family friendly and then at the same time you're heavily promoting an adult product. We've found that 75 percent of young people we've researched think gambling is a normal part of sport.
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"It's interesting that in clubland the clubs and now the players are moving away from gambling sponsorship and yet at the code level we are not seeing any shift in terms of backing away from sponsorship deals with these companies."
Thomas's criticism comes as the game is establishing its first responsible gambling policy following strong pressure from the AFL commission led by board member Kim Williams who has voiced strong concerns at the level and nature of gambling advertising during match broadcasts.
Williams, with the support of several commissioners including Simone Wilke, is understood to have put together a paper addressing his concerns.
However Thomas added she was disappointed the AFL had not consulted with the peak industry bodies before rolling the new policy which is understood to have addressed but not solved the Victorian clubs reliance upon gaming machines.
"Gillon McLachlan has a responsibility to sit down and listen carefully to the evidence these studies have shown," said Thomas. "I'm very surprised that he hasn't.
"If they're developing a responsible gambling policy they should be listening to experts in the field. If they're not then you'd have to question whether they're coming up with best practice."
With a long history of private punters' clubs being run through a number of AFL teams and head office, the AFL like most prime time sports benefits from a government exemption upon gambling advertisements in family friendly hours. The AFL receives a percentage of football gambling revenue from punters and in 2015 struck a five-year $50 million deal with CrownBet.
With AFL games on television and radio swamped by gambling advertising and former leading players such as Chris Judd promoting gambling in prime time, signage at league venues is also heavily represented by gambling despite no longer featuring on the MCG or Etihad Stadium scoreboards.
Gillon McLachlan has a responsibility to sit down and listen carefully to the evidence these studies have shown. I'm very surprised that he has hasn't
McLachlan on Tuesday did not elaborate upon details of the level of gambling promotion at the AFL's recently purchased Docklands venue but said: "We are comfortable where it's at at the moment. We believe we have the right balance."
The Victorian Government on Tuesday gazetted changes to the Gambling Regulation Act to allow betting on the AFL Women's league and all AFLW awards.
The Cats, the Suns, Port and the Saints last season signed up to a pilot education program which saw some players privately address serious gambling problems. Thomas said all those involved had received a wake-up call regarding the impact of the game's gambling culture upon children and the manner in which betting agencies lured young footballers through promotional offers gambling-related social events.
While the AFL funded the pilot program to the tune of $30,000 Thomas insisted upon distancing herself from the AFL and has been employed as a consultant by the AFLPA.
It is understood Thomas and her education program were chosen ahead of former player and gambling addict David Schwarz.
A further $30,000 has been made available to the players' union with Adelaide, Brisbane, Essendon, Fremantle, GWS and Hawthorn signing up to the program for 2017.
Thomas, a public health researcher and associate professor at Deakin, said the aim of the program which also involved coaches and football bosses was to "de-normalise" the gambling culture among league players.