The Gambling Ad Laws Just Passed — Here's What They Actually Do
Former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has called out her own party for backing Labor's gambling laws, saying "vulnerable Australians have been let down" because parliament did not ban gambling advertising altogether (The Guardian).
The new law passed on Wednesday night. It limits TV gambling ads to three per hour between 5am and 8.30pm. Online gambling ads will only be shown to users over 18, and people will be able to opt out of seeing them. Ads will eventually be banned on players' jerseys and inside sporting stadiums. The law also cracks down on sign-up bonuses, celebrity endorsements, and staff commissions linked to gambling losses (The Guardian; APH Bills).
What the law does not do is what a parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended back in 2023. That inquiry said the government should end gambling advertising and inducements entirely. Its key finding was that partial bans do not work (PMC; APH Committee). Ware sat on that inquiry and says the "full suite" of Murphy's recommendations should have become law, including a national gambling regulator and a complete ad ban (The Guardian).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells say the reforms protect vulnerable people while respecting Australians' right to gamble. That is exactly the kind of thing a government can say when it passes a partial ban. It does not deal with the Murphy Report's finding that partial restrictions do not actually reduce harm (The Guardian).
The opt-out register — a system letting people block gambling ads online — was announced only on the Monday before the bill passed. Industry sources said they were caught off guard, and gambling companies have to pay for building it. Labor and the Coalition agreed on this single-register approach together (The Guardian; ABC News).
The crossbench — the independent and minor party MPs who sit outside Labor and the Coalition — was scathing. The Greens called the deal "cowardly." Senator David Pocock condemned it (The Guardian). Ware praised two Liberal MPs, Andrew Wallace and Pat Conaghan, who voted against their own party to oppose the bill. She said the Coalition voted with the government to block stronger protections put forward by crossbenchers (The Guardian).
The Coalition's own policy calls for banning gambling ads during live sport, including an hour before and after, starting January 2027 (APH Bills). That is narrower than what Murphy wanted. So the Coalition voted for Labor's bill while holding a policy that covers only part of what the inquiry said should be fully curbed.
Rod Glover, Peta Murphy's husband, said he had "mixed emotions" about the law passing. He praised some of the reforms but said the package was "far from everything that is needed" (The Guardian).
This has been a long fight for people who want a full ban. In January 2025, Labor MPs worried the government's focus on cost-of-living would leave no room to act on gambling ads (The Guardian). In April 2025, Ware said she planned to run campaign ads on the issue (The Guardian). In October 2024 she wrote that online gambling "can now be conducted with a couple of taps on a mobile phone" (The Guardian).
There is a familiar pattern at work here. An inquiry hands down a clear, evidence-based recommendation. The government adopts the politically easy bits and shelves the rest. The opposition complains about the outcome, then votes for the bill anyway. The crossbench pushes for the full recommendation and gets voted down by both major parties. The industry gets almost no warning, and everyone ends up with a law they can call "action."
The evidence in this case is unusually strong. The Murphy Report's finding that partial bans do not work is not a political opinion — it is the inquiry's documented conclusion. The law that passed this week is a partial ban. The government and opposition have agreed on a regime that the parliament's own expert inquiry said would not do the job.
What is left is a set of reforms that do real things: fewer ads on TV, age checks online, an opt-out register, bans on jersey and stadium ads, and limits on bonuses and celebrity endorsements. These are not nothing. But they are not what Murphy recommended, and the parliament that asked for her report knew it.
