Labor is weighing whether to pull its gambling advertising crackdown entirely rather than accept Senate amendments that would reshape the bill. The Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers are all pushing for a tough new ban on financial inducements — the free bets, bonus offers and loyalty rewards that betting companies use to keep people gambling. The industry says it will not accept further restrictions.

Communications minister Anika Wells says she is prepared to negotiate, but the Prime Minister's office is signalling a harder line. Anthony Albanese could insist the bill be passed in full or withdrawn, raising the prospect that months of work on the government's signature gambling harm-minimisation package produces nothing at all (The Guardian; ABC News).

The stakes sharpened this week with a two-day parliamentary inquiry that heard extraordinary allegations about industry conduct. Former NRL player Luke Bateman and anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello gave evidence that gambling company VIP managers supplied problem gamblers with cocaine, alcohol and sex workers to keep them betting. Betting giants who appeared before the same inquiry said there was no evidence to support the claims (The Guardian).

The allegations land against a backdrop of policy momentum building since the late MP Peta Murphy delivered her landmark inquiry report in June 2023. Murphy's committee recommended the government prohibit all online gambling inducements and inducement advertising without delay. Opponents of Labor's current bill point to that report as the benchmark the government is failing to meet (The Guardian).

So what does Labor's bill actually do? It amends the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and would limit gambling ads on TV to three per hour between 6am and 8:30pm, restrict radio ads during school pick-up and drop-off times, and ban gambling logos. In April the government added further measures: a ban on gambling ads featuring celebrities and a limit on online gambling advertisements to users over 18 (ABC News; Reuters).

That is not enough for the Senate. The Greens say Labor's bill is weaker than current laws and note it is currently not illegal to expose minors to gambling ads in Australia (ABC News). Their own gambling bill, introduced in February 2025, would implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of online gambling advertising across television, radio and online (Senate Hansard). Proposed amendments circulating in the Senate include a comprehensive ban on gambling ads across all platforms within three years and a ban on inducements (ABC News).

Acting opposition leader Jane Hume said shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson is negotiating for new controls over inducements, arguing gambling companies use them to entice people to maintain their problem gambling addiction. Labor backbencher Jerome Laxale challenged the opposition to bring forward constructive amendments and said he welcomed the draft laws being strengthened in the Senate (The Guardian). Pauline Hanson, for her part, said she "doesn't care" if businesses are impacted by gambling advertising restrictions (ABC News).

The industry is not budging. Kai Cantwell, chief executive of lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, said further bans on inducements were a "non-starter" (The Guardian). Wells has framed the bill's two pillars as phasing out advertising and stopping inducements, calling them the keystone of addressing gambling harms (Minister Wells doorstop).

Wells is waiting on amendments from the Coalition, due to be finalised in party room meetings next week. Last month, Labor's national conference agreed to explore how to better prevent online gaming and social media platforms from offering embedded inducements designed to incentivise and normalise gambling among children and young people (The Guardian).

A Parliamentary Library policy brief from February 2026 describes Phase Two of gambling advertising reform as the prohibition of all online gambling advertising and commentary on odds during and an hour either side of a sports broadcast (Parliamentary Library). Labor Senators' additional comments on the related Communications and Online Content bill described a platform-neutral approach to restricting gambling promotions during live sports coverage (Senate committee report).

The broader context here is a government caught between an industry that rejects further regulation and a Senate that regards the government's own proposals as inadequate. If Albanese draws the line at full passage or withdrawal, the question becomes whether the Coalition and Greens call that bluff or fold their demands into something Wells can accept. The Peta Murphy report sits over the entire debate like a ghost. It recommended prohibition of inducements without delay; the government is still negotiating whether to prohibit them at all.