Anthony Albanese announces gambling reform in major crackdown
Updated ,first published
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced restrictions on gambling advertising, including banning betting companies from appearing on sports jerseys and stadiums.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday, Albanese announced the government would limit the number of TV ads for betting agencies to no more than three per hour between 6am and 8.30pm and ban all gambling advertising on radio during drop-off and pick-up times.
The new restrictions will also include banning cross-promotions that mix sports commentary with betting odds, ending advertising on jerseys and stadiums, banning online advertising aimed at people under 18 and blocking illegal gaming sites. Online Keno-type “pocket slots” would also be banned under Labour’s proposal, which has not yet been introduced to parliament.
Albanese told the Press Club: “We get the balance right. We allow adults to gamble if they want, but we make sure our children don’t see betting adverts everywhere they look. Because we don’t want children growing up thinking football and gambling are inextricably linked.”
But the government has failed to prevent a complete ban on online gambling advertising, which was recommended in a report published by former Labor MP Peta Murphy in her last political action 1,000 days ago.
Asked whether the government had gone far enough in agreeing to a full ban, Albanese said: “This is, quite frankly, the most significant reform to gambling that has ever been implemented.”
This imprint revealed on Wednesday that Albanese will soon unveil his long-delayed crackdown on gambling advertising and that the reforms will include a phased ban on advertising in stadiums and on jerseys.
Kai Cantwell, chief executive of Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents many gambling companies, said its members supported evidence-based reform and had already reduced the volume of advertising during broadcasts.
“But this announcement, made without any warning and without any real consultation, is a real blow to the industry,” Cantwell said. “This sector contributes almost $6 billion to the Australian economy, supports nearly 30,000 jobs and provides critical funding to the sports, racing and broadcast industries across the country.”
Before the Murphy report was published in 2023, between $30 million and $40 million a year in gambling advertising revenue was flowing from betting firms to the country’s free-to-air TV broadcasters Seven West Media, Channel Ten and Nine Entertainment, this imprint’s publisher.
In the years since, that revenue has fallen by nearly 60 percent, according to media industry estimates. Free TV, the lobby group representing Australia’s leading TV companies, said the Albanian government’s reforms “risk undermining” the free news and sport these companies provide.
Free TV chief executive Bridget Fair called on the government to consider “mitigation” measures. These include scrapping the commercial publishing tax, accelerating the rollout of the News Bargaining Incentive and a charging and offset scheme aimed at forcing big tech firms Meta and Google to pay publishers for news.
“We are concerned about the revenue impact these restrictions will have on advertiser-funded services,” Fair said in a statement Thursday. “The government has consistently acknowledged that mitigation is part of this equation and we call on it to act on this commitment without delay.”
One of the biggest buyers of gambling advertising in the Australian market is Irish online betting company SportsBet. A spokesman for the company described Labor’s headline reforms as “serious and far-reaching” in a statement on Thursday.
“Sportsbet recognizes the changing sentiment of the community towards gambling advertising and has already taken proactive steps, including significantly reducing advertising volumes and removing odds-style advertising from live sports events,” the spokesperson said.
“We are concerned that overly explicit restrictions could have serious unintended consequences, particularly by driving more Australians towards illegal offshore operators who do not offer consumer protection, pay no taxes and contribute nothing to Australian sport or racing. We would like to see more detail from the government, particularly on how it plans to tackle illegal offshore gambling.”
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Kishor Napier-Raman is senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He previously worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliament press gallery.Connect with: X or email.
John Buckley is the CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
