The Teen Social Media Ban Campaign Linked to Gambling Ad Firm has raised major controversy after an investigation revealed that the powerful lobby group behind Australia’s proposed teen social media ban, 36 Months, was both funded and staffed by FINCH, a major advertising production company known for creating gambling commercials.
According to Crikey’s report, the 36 Months campaign — which has been central to pressuring the Albanese government to restrict social media use among minors — originated in the boardroom of FINCH, an advertising production company known for high-profile campaigns for gambling giants including TAB, Sportsbet, and Ladbrokes.
36 Months’ managing director Greg Attwells told Crikey that the group was founded during a single meeting in May 2024 between himself, FINCH founder Rob Galluzzo, and radio host Michael “Wippa” Wipfli. Corporate filings show that the organisation’s two shareholders are Kawaii Media (Wipfli’s company) and FINCH.
While 36 Months presented itself as a grassroots, youth-focused mental-health initiative, Crikey reports that FINCH not only funded the group but also provided staff, with Attwells himself listed on LinkedIn as both FINCH’s head of communications and 36 Months’ managing director between May and December 2024.
At the same time, FINCH was running campaigns for TAB’s “Get Your Bet On”, one of New Zealand’s most-complained-about adverts in 2024 — one of at least five gambling-related promotions the company has produced since 2017.
The revelations place renewed scrutiny on the federal government’s priorities. Under sustained lobbying from 36 Months and News Corp, the government has advanced a teen social media ban, while stalling on gambling-advertising reform, despite recommendations from a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
Leaked documents obtained by Crikey further expose 36 Months’ commercial ambitions, showing plans to sell sponsorship packages for up to $150,000 in exchange for “influence” and “access” to world leaders at United Nations events.
Attwells confirmed to Crikey that FINCH had been the primary financial backer of 36 Months, saying in an email that “FINCH has supported 36 Months financially more than any other brand to date.”
Neither FINCH, 36 Months, nor government officials responded to Crikey’s questions about whether the organisation had ever raised gambling-advertising reform — or whether its dual interests in social-media policy and gambling promotion represented a conflict of interest.
While Crikey does not allege direct lobbying to block gambling reforms, its reporting underscores a troubling irony: a campaign urging a ban on social media for teenagers was built and financed by a firm profiting from gambling advertisements — one of the very industries fuelling Australia’s youth-addiction crisis.
