MEDIA STATEMENT
6 August 2026
Reports that the Albanese Labor Government could abandon its gambling reform legislation rather than accept stronger protections for children and vulnerable Australians are deeply disturbing.
The ABC reports that Labor “would consider shelving its proposed crackdown on gambling advertising rather than agree to substantially change the bill”, leaving the existing rules in place.
Shelving this bill would have nothing to do with caution and everything to do with surrendering to the Australian Gambling Lobby.
If Labor believes this threat will frighten the Coalition, the Greens or the crossbench into dropping demands for stronger protections, it has badly miscalculated.
Between March 2025 and March 2026, Australians lost $36 billion to gambling. Since the Murphy Report was handed to the Government three years ago, the total has exceeded $104 billion, averaging about $666 million every week.
At the current rate, roughly $95 million is being lost every day reform is delayed.
Every dollar came from an Australian household.
Behind those figures are failed mortgages, broken marriages, family violence, mental illness and funerals. The Alliance for Gambling Reform has described the consequences as social harm on an industrial scale.
Almost one in three Australian children aged between 12 and 17 have gambled, while almost one million teenagers aged between 12 and 19 gambled during the past year.
Gambling companies are also estimated to take $18.4 million each year in illegal bets from Australians too young to legally place them.
That did not happen by accident.
It is the predictable result of allowing gambling companies to saturate the screens children use, embed betting into the sports they watch and bombard vulnerable Australians with bonus bets, odds boosts, deposit matches and cashbacks.
Labor’s bill is friendless in the Parliament, not because it goes too far, but because it does not go remotely far enough.
The Coalition has made clear that the legislation is riddled with deficiencies and must be significantly amended. The Greens, crossbench and gambling harm advocates are also demanding stronger protections.
When every corner of the Parliament tells the Government its legislation is too weak, the answer is to make it stronger.
Instead, Labor is reportedly considering withdrawing it and leaving the status quo in place.
But the status quo is not neutral ground.
The status quo results in $95 million lost every day, hundreds of thousands of children already gambling, and vulnerable Australians being targeted with advertising and inducements.
I have put forward practical amendments to ban gambling advertising during live and replayed sport, including for one hour before and after coverage.
We are also proposing an explicit opt-in system for gambling advertising on streaming platforms and connected devices, stronger controls on inducements, a two-year limit on grandfathered sponsorship arrangements, a national gambling data vault and an independent review after 12 months.
I have fought gambling harm since entering Parliament, from stopping the construction of a casino on the Sunshine Coast to helping drive stronger age-verification laws and reforms banning the use of credit cards for online gambling.
My position has not changed: adults can make their own choices, but children and vulnerable Australians must be protected.
I did not back down then, and I will not back down now.
These amendments are not about banning gambling. Consenting adults would remain free to gamble and receive gambling promotions if that is their choice.
They are about stopping children and vulnerable Australians being targeted by an industry that has profited from weak laws for far too long.
The Australian public has made its position clear. Three in four Australians support a total phased ban on gambling advertising, while four in five support removing gambling advertising from stadiums and uniforms.
Anthony Albanese must explain why his Government is threatening to abandon stronger reform while the gambling lobby continues to enjoy extraordinary access and influence to his Government.
The pressure to strengthen this bill will not go quietly into the night.
If Labor walks away from this golden opportunity, it will be choosing the gambling industry over Australian children, families and lives.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au