Labor’s gambling ‘AdStop’ regime fails to quell fresh anger of critics

Labor will introduce a new “AdStop” regime where Australians can choose not to receive gambling advertising online, but advocates are arguing that its promised crackdown on betting promotions used to woo gamblers will do little to change the damaging practice.Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a deal on gambling reform on Tuesday, which also guarantees the Coalition’s support for Labor’s NDIS overhaul in exchange for the government expediting moves to rid a “widow’s tax” from the tax changes announced in the May budget.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese puts the Gambling Reform Bill 2026 to the House of Representatives, as Communications Minister Anika Wells looks on.Dominic LorrimerLabor’s caucus signed off on changes that would create the opt-out register for gambling advertising, and betting companies will pay for its implementation with a levy. The laws will be reviewed after three years.Advertising during live sport will be further restricted, as viewers won’t see gambling ads for 15 minutes before a game, and the three-ad-per-hour limit will start an hour earlier, at 5am.People will also see the same restrictions on both television and online streaming services, after the Coalition pushed Labor to reverse its plans for giving streaming services carte blanche on gambling ads if they required users to register and prove they were over 18.But gambling reform advocates and crossbenchers were dismayed by the amendments on the use of betting inducements, such as bonus bets and VIP agents, after Albanese last week promised to wind them back.Gambling companies will have a 14-day wait time between someone opening an account and being able to offer them inducements, while there will be a 90-day wait time for people attempting to move off the self-exclusion platform BetStop. Wagering companies will also have to look for risk indicators in customers, and will not be able to offer inducements to risky gamblers.However, reform advocates argue the industry cannot be trusted to make that determination, given evidence to a Senate inquiry about gamblers being lured with thousands of dollars of free bets despite showing signs of problem behaviour.Liberal MP Andrew Wallace said he would cross the floor for the first time in his 10-year parliamentary history to vote against the Coalition position of supporting the package, saying the amendments “don’t go anywhere near” fixing problem gambling.“I can’t in good conscience vote for [the bill],” he said.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the revised package was “the most significant gambling advertising reform by any Australian government ever”.Viewers will only see up to three gambling ads per hour on television under the new laws. In addition to Tuesday’s amendments, the original package also includes a phased-in ad ban for stadiums and jerseys, ban sports stars from promoting wagering, tighter limits on radio ads in school pick-up hours, as well as an opt-out model for online ads.“I want to thank the parliament for coming together to deal with this issue and get a result that will work,” Albanese told the chamber.Independent MP Zali Steggall took issue with the way the amendments were introduced to the House on Tuesday afternoon and sent immediately to a vote.“This is procedurally incredibly unfair,” Steggall said. “We have no visibility on what the effect of these amendments are, and after five minutes of speech, we are being asked to vote on them.”Independent MP Monique Ryan then accused the government of pushing through “half-hearted, friendless” reforms.“Today’s collusion between Labor and the Liberals shows yet again that the major political parties in this country care more about the media interests, sporting codes, and gambling companies than they do about their constituents,” she told the House.Crossbenchers and reforms advocates wanted the government to implement recommendations of the bipartisan 2023 report by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which called for a total ban on gambling advertising and inducements, as well as a national regulator.Gambling agreement part of broader dealLabor crunched the parliamentary timetable to push through proposed laws on gambling advertising, reducing spending on the NDIS, and forcing tech giants to pay for news.Taylor will support Labor’s NDIS cuts, which save the budget more than $35 billion over four years but have been fiercely resisted by the disability sector.In exchange, Labor will act more quickly on its pledge to clean up unintended consequences from its property tax changes, that could have caused divorcees or spouses of deceased people to lose grandfathered negative gearing and capital gains concessions. Labor previously argued the change would take months, until Taylor demanded a quicker resolution on Monday.The major parties agreed to condense debate on a gambling crackdown and push the bill to the Senate by Wednesday morning, allowing it to pass parliament this week.Some Coalition MPs want the clampdown on ads to go further. Backbenchers Wallace, Paul Scarr and Nationals frontbencher Pat Conaghan all reserved their right to vote against the bill, which Taylor has negotiated with Albanese for a week.If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners