The government is forcing betting companies to use anti-gambling tags in their ads

State and territory governments this week informed online wagering companies of the changes needed to be implemented in their advertising by early next year.

Based on similar mandates introduced for cigarette packets, some of the taglines that will be mandated in advertising of online betting include, "Chances are, you're about to lose", "You win some. You lose more" and "Imagine what you could be buying instead".

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But Mary Bennett, project manager at Anglicare Tasmania's Social Action Research Centre, said the measure wouldn't be enough to prevent harm from the fast-growing online betting sector.

"It's a step in the right direction, however it's a long way short of what we think they need to do," she said.

She said the taglines were not very effective at reaching real problem gamblers, and governments needed to consider total bans like those used to control cigarette advertising.

"We would like them to restrict the advertising of sports online gambling."

Tasmanians per capita are some of the biggest gambling losers in the country - in 2020-2021 they lost $398 million, according to the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission.

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Ms Bennett, who authored a report released this week on gambling harm, said she was particularly concerned about the rapid growth of online betting.

"That's the gambling type that's causing harm in the under-25s ... and as time goes by, that cohort will keep doing that and that will take over as the form of gambling doing the most harm."

A North Melbourne fan, she said betting ads are constantly shown during the game broadcasts.

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