Major parties poised to pass gambling reforms despite criticism from minor parties

Parliament is moving toward a significant overhaul of how Australians encounter gambling advertising, with Labor and the coalition preparing to vote on sweeping restrictions as early as Tuesday. The deal, hammered out through negotiations between the two major parties, would reshape the landscape of betting promotions across television, sports venues, and digital platforms—though it has already drawn sharp criticism from minor parties who say it does not go nearly far enough.

Under the proposed framework, television betting advertisements would be prohibited between 6 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., effectively removing them from prime viewing hours when children are most likely to be watching. Betting ads would vanish entirely from stadiums and sports jerseys, and would be banned during live sporting events themselves. For online users, the reforms would establish a centralized opt-out system, allowing people to remove themselves from betting advertising across digital platforms. The government would also tighten rules around inducements—the free bets and promotional offers that betting companies use to draw in new customers—and cap commissions paid to betting agents.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers framed the changes as a meaningful step forward, telling the ABC that the reforms would make it substantially easier for people to escape betting advertising while simultaneously giving regulators stronger tools to police the industry's use of incentives. He emphasized that the gambling industry itself, not taxpayers, would bear the cost of implementing these new measures. Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston signaled that the coalition would likely support the package when it reaches the party room, noting that the reforms would protect vulnerable Australians and children from what she described as predatory behavior by gambling companies. She acknowledged that the government was not attempting to prevent people from betting altogether, but rather to curtail aggressive marketing tactics.

The deal, however, falls short of recommendations made in a 2023 report by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who had called for a complete phase-out of gambling advertising. A Senate report released Monday noted that many of its own recommendations had not made it into the final package. The Greens, whose support or that of the coalition is necessary to pass the bill, have rejected the compromise. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called the agreement "weak, piecemeal, pathetic," arguing that an opt-out system is unworkable and that the government should instead impose a total ban on online gambling advertising and establish a national gambling regulator. Independent MP David Pocock has similarly criticized Labor for failing to fully extract sport from the gambling ecosystem.

The human stakes underlying the debate are substantial. According to figures cited by Hanson-Young, more than 400 Australians die by suicide each year in connection with gambling addiction. Australians, she noted, experience gambling losses at rates higher than people in other developed nations. The reforms represent an attempt to reduce harm by limiting the volume and reach of marketing that encourages betting, particularly among young people and those already vulnerable to addiction. Whether the measures will prove effective, or whether they represent merely a partial response to a deeper problem, will likely become clear only after implementation. The vote is expected to proceed this week.