Coalition MPs cross floor over ‘weak’ gambling crackdown as major parties strike deal

Labor’s bill to restrict gambling ads is set to pass this week, with the Greens calling the agreement ‘cowardly’

Two Coalition MPs have crossed the floor after a deal between the major parties to pass Labor’s new restrictions on betting advertising and inducements, which the MPs say are too “weak” and place “too much faith in the hands of the gambling companies”.

Anthony Albanese and the communications minister, Anika Wells, secured the support of the opposition to pass the bill, with amendments including tweaks to ad timing rules and some restrictions on inducements .

The reforms are set pass on Thursday, 1,149 days after late Labor MP Peta Murphy handed down her landmark report on gambling harms, which recommended a total ban on inducements and wagering ads.

Labor’s final version of the bill, with amendments agreed by the Coalition, will not meet either of those recommendations. Instead, the communications regulator will set up a one-stop “opt-out register” – the details and design of which is yet to be made clear – to allow Australians to elect against receiving gambling ads, while inducements will only be limited in some circumstances.

Gambling industry sources questioned how the opt-out register would operate whether it could be operational by 1 January 2027 when other reforms commence, as well as privacy issues around handling of user data.

Wells said all inducement ads would be banned for any customer “identified as at risk of gambling-related harm”, for 14 days after someone had signed up with a wagering service, and for three months after someone had deregistered from the self-exclusion register Betstop.

Tuesday’s amendments would also ban commissions on customer losses for gambling staff or affiliates.

“We have listened to the range of views across the community and the Parliament, which showed us the most toxic version of inducements – and we are taking action to address this,” Wells said.

Other tweaks to the original bill include extending the “blackout period” on ads before live sport from five minutes to 15 minutes, the three-per-hour restriction on TV ads beginning at 5am instead of 6am, and restrictions on advertising during children’s programming.

The changes include previously-announced reforms like banning gambling ads on player jerseys and in stadiums, banning celebrities and players from promoting gambling, and a “triple lock” system for online ads requiring users to be over 18, logged-in and provided with an opt-out option.

Liberal backbencher Andrew Wallace joined colleague Pat Conaghan to cross the floor and vote against some of the amendments which he claimed were inadequate.

Wallace said the parliament should have extended advertising blackout periods, and an opt-in approach for inducements.

“These reforms don’t go anywhere near enough to correcting those bad elements. We’re putting too much faith in the hands of the gambling companies. And quite frankly, they have not demonstrated that they deserve that faith,” he told ABC TV.