{"id":861298,"date":"2026-08-17T12:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861298\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:16:12","slug":"gambling-changes-senate-committee-hands-down-recommendations-on-labors-gambling-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861298\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambling changes: Senate committee hands down recommendations on Labor\u2019s gambling reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Natassia<\/p>\n

August 17, 2026 \u2014 6:46pm<\/p>\n

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The family of a young gambling addict who died by suicide quoted their son\u2019s final words during a private Senate inquiry session as they pleaded for a ban on betting inducements, which new polling shows has majority support among Australians.<\/p>\n

The parents of the man, who died at 24, used an in-camera session in their evidence asking for stronger action to read his words about feeling \u201cso pathologically addicted to gambling and cannot let myself [sic] stop \u2026 I can\u2019t even get myself to stop to save my own life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe government will move to restrict some forms of betting inducements, having previously ignored the practice in its reforms.iStock<\/p>\n

Their testimony was published for the first time on Monday afternoon in the inquiry\u2019s final report into the government\u2019s legislation. Despite strong objections from the Greens and Senator David Pocock, the Labor-led Senate committee had only one recommendation: that the laws pass.<\/p>\n

But Labor still moved on Monday to introduce some changes to its gambling package, including an \u201copt-out register\u201d for online advertising and a levy on betting companies to cover costs of enforcing the new regime. It will also restrict the use of betting inducements<\/a>, such as free bonus bets and VIP agents, that are used to woo gamblers.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had not planned to take action on gambling inducements, despite full prohibition being recommended by the 2023 report by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy. But Labor\u2019s position shifted after inducements came into focus as the Senate inquiry heard alarming testimony, and the Coalition demanded stronger restrictions.<\/p>\n

Reverend Tim Costello and former professional rugby league player Luke Bateman<\/a> told the hearing about gambling companies luring addicts with drugs, escorts, free hotels, exclusive events and thousands of dollars in free bets.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Luke<\/a><\/p>\n

The family who gave in-camera evidence also spoke of the harm of inducements in their evidence. \u201cWe live with the consequences of that \u2026 Our family now lives half a life,\u201d they said. \u201c[Evidence] says inducements are predatory and need to be banned urgently, and there is no ban on inducements \u2026 I don\u2019t understand what the barrier is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communications Minister Anika Wells on Monday said the government had listened carefully to the evidence presented to this month\u2019s Senate inquiry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are particularly concerned by evidence about wagering inducements and the role these practices can play in encouraging gambling and exacerbating gambling-related harm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s reforms respond to these concerns by introducing new restrictions on inducement-based marketing and establishing the Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CommunicationsCommunications and Sports Minister Anika Wells.Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n

Wells said the register would give Australians a \u201cone-stop shop\u201d to opt out of seeing gambling ads on online platforms.<\/p>\n

The details of restrictions on inducements will be finalised this week as Labor negotiates with the Coalition on gambling, NDIS reforms and the news bargaining code. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on Monday told Labor to expedite its removal of the \u201cwidow\u2019s tax\u201d from its tax changes in exchange for his support.<\/p>\n

The Coalition will take the gambling proposals to its party room on Tuesday, where some backbench MPs have been pushing for stronger action on inducements and streaming services.<\/p>\n

Strong public support for ad crackdown<\/p>\n

This masthead\u2019s Resolve Political Monitor, which surveyed Australians in the past week, found majority public support for any measure that clamped down on gambling advertisements.<\/p>\n

There was strong support for measures the government is already introducing \u2013 limits on radio ads during school pick-up hours (72 per cent support), a phased-in ad ban in stadiums and on jerseys (63 per cent) and a ban on sports stars promoting wagering (62 per cent).<\/p>\n

One key point of debate<\/a> has been whether there should be an opt-out or opt-in default for gambling ads online and on streaming services, or whether streaming services should be subject to the same three-ad-per-hour limit as television.<\/p>\n

The Labor proposal, which has been criticised by advocates<\/a>, allows streaming services to show unlimited ads so long as they verify that registered users are over 18 and are given the option to opt out.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The polling found that voters were not particularly concerned by the difference between opt-in and opt-out: 65 per cent said they supported opt-out ads for streaming platforms, while 61 per cent supported an opt-in approach.<\/p>\n

A strong majority (70 per cent) supported limiting streaming ads to three per hour, while 60 per cent supported banning gambling ads on streaming services altogether.<\/p>\n

There was also 59 per cent support for banning free bonus bets \u2013 another area of contention that the government resisted despite Murphy\u2019s 2023 report, considered to be the gold standard by reform advocates, calling for a total ban on gambling inducements.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Labor\u2019s new levy on betting companies<\/p>\n

Wells introduced a bill on Monday that points to the looming amendment on inducements, which the industry refers to as \u201cpromotions\u201d or \u201cgenerosities\u201d.<\/p>\n

It says Labor\u2019s gambling package will add a new section that prohibits \u201cinducement-based direct marketing and social media advertising to certain customers\u201d as well as commission-based referral arrangements.<\/p>\n

This masthead reported on Friday<\/a> that this could involve a minimum age to receive promotions, and curbing the role of VIP agents and the way they receive commissions.<\/p>\n

But the main purpose of Wells\u2019 bill was to introduce a levy on gambling companies. The money raised will be used to fund fresh costs the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will incur while administering and enforcing the government\u2019s new advertising rules.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Prime<\/a><\/p>\n

Part of ACMA\u2019s new duties will involve establishing a new \u201copt-out register\u201d for gambling ads. This will allow people to opt out of receiving wagering advertising on all online platforms \u2013 so they don\u2019t need to do so on each individual website or subscription.<\/p>\n

ACMA will also be responsible for enforcing new restrictions on betting inducements, which are tools that gambling companies use to encourage customers, such as free bonus bets.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 22 4636.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"NatassiaNatassia Chrysanthos<\/a> is Federal Political Correspondent. She has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 17, 2026 \u2014 6:46pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":["post-861298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}