Labor and the Coalition Strike a Deal on Gambling Ad Reform — But It's Not the Ban Many Wanted
The Albanese government and the Coalition have cut a deal to pass the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, which tightens the rules around betting advertising and inducements (the free bets, bonus offers and other sweeteners wagering companies use to pull in customers). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells secured the agreement. The bill is set to pass on a Thursday — 1,149 days after the late Labor MP Peta Murphy delivered her landmark report calling for a total ban on inducements and wagering ads. The Guardian
The final bill does not deliver the total ban Murphy recommended. The government frames its approach as reducing children's exposure to gambling ads, cutting the saturation of online advertising, and breaking the link between gambling and sport. Parliament of Australia
The Coalition signed on to a suite of amendments. The blackout period for ads around live sport extends from five minutes to 15 minutes either side of play. The cap of three TV ads per hour now starts at 5am instead of 6am, and restrictions apply during children's programming. Gambling ads will be banned on player jerseys and inside stadiums, celebrities and players can't promote betting, and a 'triple lock' system for online ads requires users to be over 18, logged in, and given an opt-out option. The Guardian
The communications regulator will set up a one-stop 'opt-out register' — think of it like the Do Not Call register, but for gambling ads — letting Australians choose not to receive them. How the register will actually work, whether it can be running by 1 January 2027 when the other reforms kick in, and how user data will be handled are all still unclear. Industry sources have flagged those gaps and raised privacy concerns. The Guardian
Wells said all inducement ads would be banned for any customer flagged as at risk of gambling-related harm, for 14 days after someone signs up with a betting service, and for three months after they deregister from Betstop (the national self-exclusion register that allows people to voluntarily block themselves from gambling). The amendments also ban commissions on customer losses for gambling staff or affiliates. The Guardian
Two Liberal backbenchers, Andrew Wallace and Pat Conaghan, crossed the floor to vote against some amendments, arguing the reforms don't go far enough. Wallace said the parliament should have extended the blackout periods and used an opt-in system for inducements, telling ABC TV the reforms put too much faith in gambling companies. Conaghan, who was deputy chair of the Murphy-led review in 2023, said the reforms were weak because they don't implement the review's findings. The Guardian
Guardian Australia reported that at least two more Liberal senators — moderates Andrew McLachlan and Paul Scarr — may cross the floor when the bill reaches the Senate. Independent MP Zali Steggall complained during debate that crossbenchers hadn't been given any time to consider the amendments. The Guardian
The broader context here is the gap between what Murphy's review recommended and what parliament is actually prepared to pass. Her 2023 report called for a total ban on inducements and wagering ads, with online gambling advertising phased out over three years to curb growing addiction. Advocacy group GetUp has argued the bill should be strengthened to deliver the full, phased ban the inquiry recommended. Parliament of Australia
What the deal does is split the difference. It regulates the timing and placement of ads rather than removing them, and it puts the onus on consumers to opt out instead of requiring betting companies to get opt-in consent. The opt-out register is the government's answer to saturation advertising, but whether it works depends entirely on implementation details that haven't been made clear. The industry's privacy concerns are worth noting, but they also serve as a reminder that wagering companies have a commercial interest in keeping the register as frictionless as possible for their own marketing.
The floor crossings from Wallace and Conaghan matter because they come from the Coalition side, not the crossbench. Conaghan's position carries particular weight given his role as deputy chair of the Murphy review. His argument that the reforms fall short of the inquiry's findings is a direct criticism from inside the parliamentary process that produced the original recommendations. Steggall's complaint about amendment consideration time is the kind of procedural grievance that often surfaces when major bills are rushed through with bipartisan backing, limiting the crossbench's ability to shape the outcome.
Looking at the Senate, potential floor crossings from McLachlan and Scarr could test the government's numbers in the upper house. The deal with the Coalition gives Labor the numbers to pass the bill, but dissent within Coalition ranks suggests the political consensus is thinner than the bipartisanship implies. The reforms commence on 1 January 2027, with the exception of the opt-out register, whose operational readiness remains an open question.
