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Gambling reforms will fail to protect Australian families
18 Aug 2026
The two major parties have failed to seize the opportunity to protect Australian families from predatory gambling companies, by striking a deal to pass ‘weak’ and ‘timid’ gambling reforms.
The Chief Advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, said the deal struck between the Albanese Government and the Opposition has blown a golden opportunity for real reforms and instead families and children will still be exposed to harrowing gambling harm.
“The Senate Inquiry into these reforms highlighted shocking cases in which gambling companies were abusing their power, offering illicit drugs, escorts and free luxury accommodation in order to keep people betting – even when their betting was completely out of control,” Rev. Costello said.
“The reforms that will now go through the Federal Parliament are cosmetic over substance and reflect the major party's intent to prioritise power, money and vested interests over the welfare of Australians who lose more to gambling than any other country on the planet on a per capita basis.”
The key reform amendments announced yesterday include:
Restrictions on gambling inducement advertising: limits on inducement-based direct marketing and social media advertising to at-risk customers, new obligations for wagering providers to identify customers at risk of harm, a ban on certain commission-based referral arrangements, and new record-keeping and compliance requirements.
A Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register: a single register, administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), that will let individuals opt out of receiving wagering advertising from online content service providers, once it becomes operational.
“Inducements are causing enormous harm by encouraging people to start gambling, gamble more, or return to gambling when they may be trying to stop,” Rev. Costello said.
"Throughout the hearings we heard story after story of predatory inducements. The evidence has shown that these companies cannot be trusted to identify those experiencing harm. These are their biggest customers.
A partial ban on inducements marketing is not enough. These measures do not go far enough to address the scale of predatory inducements the gambling industry is using."
The reforms as a whole, do nowhere near what the Murphy Report into online gambling recommended back in 2023 – these included a full gambling ad ban, the banning of inducements, the creation of a national gambling regulator and to treat gambling as a public health issue.
If the government did anything near this then there would be overwhelming support within the community and the parliament for these changes – but what is proposed is a mere shadow or smokescreen.
The government’s proposed reforms will not protect children, will not delink sport and wagering and will not end the saturation of media ads that Australians are being exposed to every day.
On the new opt-out register, Rev. Costello said the evidence shows opt-out models simply don't work.
"2.86 million Australians are experiencing gambling harm, but only 60,000 people have signed up to BetStop. Only 0.01 per cent of users opted out of gambling ads on SBS. Meanwhile 79 per cent of Australians support a total ad ban. An opt-out register will not be effective in preventing harm, and it is not what Australians are calling for."
The CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Martin Thomas, said new technology is allowing the gambling sector to target underage kids in a way no other generation has been targeted.
“The evidence shows that underage kids as young as 14 are being targeted through social media to download gambling apps, and betting ads are appearing in children’s games and increasingly popular online games are including gambling-type functions. Our kids are also exposed to a tsunami of gambling ads on television and through the sports broadcasts,” Mr Thomas said.
“Tragically this targeting of our children is working with research by the Australia Institute showing more than 600,000 underaged kids (aged 12-17) are betting more than $18 million a year.”
This was a golden opportunity to lock in stronger laws to regulate the gambling industry and the damage it causes our communities. But this opportunity is now lost.
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Tim Costello is available for interview.
Martin Thomas is available for interview.