Australia’s federal Parliament has passed major gambling reform legislation following more than three years of debate. The legislation passed the Senate with bipartisan support from Labor and the Coalition.
The reforms amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2026 and introduce new restrictions covering wagering advertising, inducements, self-exclusion and online gambling promotions. The Government intends for the new measures to take effect from 1 January 2027.
Under the new rules, wagering advertising will be prohibited during live sports broadcasts and streaming services from 15 minutes before an event begins until five minutes after it concludes between 5am and 8:30pm. Television advertising will face the same limitations, while radio ads will face restrictions during school drop-off and pick-up periods.
Advertising will also be prohibited at sporting venues and on the uniforms of players and officials. The legislation bans athletes, celebrities and social media influencers from appearing in promotions, although the full implications of the restriction are yet to be clarified.
The promotion of sporting odds during broadcasts will be prohibited. Furthermore, racing-related media will be exempt from the advertising restrictions.
Online wagering advertising will only be permitted where users are logged into an account, are aged 18 or over and have the ability to opt out of receiving gambling advertising. Closely related to this, the reform establishes a national Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register, allowing consumers to opt out of gambling advertising across multiple services.
The reforms also target illegal offshore gambling operators. Banks and payment providers will be given greater ability to block transactions involving unlicensed gambling operators, while the Australian Communications and Media Authority will receive expanded powers to block unlawful gambling websites more quickly.
Finally, legislation includes changes to BetStop, Australia's National Self-Exclusion Register, following a statutory review of the scheme.
NSW’s casino regulator recently fined Crown Sydney AU$1.75m (US$1.24m) and The Star Sydney AU$500,000 after a minor repeatedly entered both using a fraudulent licence
