Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has secured lower-house approval for his government’s gambling reform bill after negotiations with the Liberal-National Coalition.
The legislation has been under development for some time and required support from either the Coalition or the Greens to progress. Opposition parties and independents had pushed Labor to strengthen several provisions before the vote.
Negotiations with Coalition leader Angus Taylor ultimately provided the support Albanese needed. One of the most significant additions is a national register allowing consumers to opt out of online gambling advertising.
The system will be funded through an industry levy, which will also support enforcement against illegal inducement practices.
Broadcast advertising restrictions are tightened around live sport
The bill already included limits on gambling advertising across radio and television. Operators will now be restricted to three advertisements between 5am and 8.30pm, after Taylor successfully pushed for the restricted window to begin one hour earlier than originally planned.
The rules around live sport have also been strengthened. Gambling advertising will be prohibited from 15 minutes before a match begins until five minutes after it ends. The original proposal would have started the restriction only five minutes before play.
Inducements are another major focus after several high-profile cases involving unlawful promotional practices in Australia. The levy funding the advertising opt-out system will now also help finance enforcement against operators that breach inducement rules.
Critics still argue the reforms do not go far enough
The amendments were not enough to win over every Coalition member. MPs Pat Conaghan and Andrew Wallace voted against the bill, arguing that the measures remained too weak.
The Greens and several independents have also criticised the legislation for stopping short of the phased total advertising ban recommended by the 2023 Murphy Review. Independent senator David Pocock described the Labor-Coalition agreement as a “betrayal of all Australians.”
He intends to vote against the bill when it moves to the Senate. However, if Labor and Coalition members continue supporting the amended package, opposition from the Greens, independents and dissenting Coalition MPs is unlikely to stop its passage.
The Senate will now determine whether the compromise survives intact, but the lower-house vote shows that Labor has secured enough cross-party backing to keep the reform process moving. That support makes Senate passage increasingly likely despite continuing political criticism.
The bill shows Australia is moving toward tighter gambling advertising controls without adopting the total ban pushed by some reform advocates. The bigger test will be whether measures like the national opt-out register and stricter live sport restrictions reduce exposure while keeping regulation workable for licensed operators.
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