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Australian government to introduce new gambling reforms
Australia has revealed plans to introduce new gambling reforms in response to late Labor MP Peta Murphy’s parliamentary measure to limit gambling advertising and reduce the size of illegal gambling operations.
Murphy made the recommendations back in 2023; however, she shortly passed away in December 2023, and after three years, the government announced a package of gambling reforms based on the recommendations. 31 proposals were made in Murphy’s report, but the government has chosen not to move forward with all of them, resulting in criticism for not adopting the measures fully.
The reforms are set to come into effect from January 1, 2027, with the government having agreed to introduce ad bans on some types of gambling, including in sports venues and on player uniforms, and to work with banks to block transactions from illegal offshore operators.
Anika Wells, the Minister of Sport, previously commented:
“Our reforms will break the connection between wagering and sport, minimise children’s exposure to wagering advertising, and reduce its saturation across the internet, radio and TV channels.”
Additionally, Australia will ban online keno, which was not included in consumer protection measures in the past, and will establish clear guidelines around shadow lotteries, like rewards clubs, to classify them according to gambling laws.
However, one of the biggest issues that caused backlash was the fact that the government did not agree to appoint a national regulator or to federally regulate online gambling, despite the sector being mostly supervised under federal laws.
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