Australia just went all-in on gambling ad reform
They decided to compromise on gambling ads. Okay, but there’s a problem. Almost nobody thinks it goes far enough.
Labor and the Coalition have agreed on reforms that will:
- Create a national opt-out register for online ads.
- Require age verification and logged-in accounts.
- Limit TV advertising to three ads per hour.
- Extend the pre-match blackout to 15 minutes.
- Remove betting ads from stadiums and uniforms.
- Ban athletes and celebrities from promoting gambling.
- Ban commissions linked to customer losses.
These rules will be reviewed after three years.
Yet the deal rejects the 2023 Murphy report’s central recommendations to ban gambling completely.
As we look at it, this deal pleases almost nobody.
Then there are critics. They say that the opt-out system asks vulnerable people to protect themselves. But licensed operators see a different kind of risk: people will now favor offshore sites over regulated platforms.
And yes, both sides have a point, a strong one.
In this case, good regulation should protect players and keep them within the licensed market. But what happens when regulated sites are harder to find? Yes, people will go for offshore sites, and these rules will just redirect the problem, not solve it.
The real challenge now is proving that these rules will reduce gambling harm.
But has the government found the right balance?
Time will tell.
