{"id":280124,"date":"2026-02-04T11:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/280124\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:13:07","slug":"how-albaneses-gambling-rhetoric-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/280124\/","title":{"rendered":"how Albanese\u2019s gambling rhetoric falls short"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a new parliamentary year resumes, politicians such as the ACT\u2019s David Pocock have renewed their calls for legislation<\/a> to tackle Australia\u2019s gambling losses<\/a>, which are the worst in the world per capita. <\/p>\n

When questioned about its lack of action on gambling reform, the government frequently responds with: <\/p>\n

We have taken more action on problem gambling than any government since Federation \u2013 in history. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a line<\/a> heard repeatedly from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in defence of his government\u2019s record.<\/p>\n

But how much has actually been done? And how does this government\u2019s gambling legislation record stack up against its predecessors?<\/p>\n

Albanese\u2019s efforts to curb gambling harm<\/p>\n

When Albanese refers to the action his government has taken on gambling harm<\/a>, two key measures are mostly mentioned.<\/p>\n

The June 2024 credit ban<\/a> forbids online wagering companies from accepting credit cards and other digital currencies (like crypto) as payment methods.<\/p>\n

But recent research<\/a> found the credit ban has the \u201cleast impact\u201d among reforms on Australia\u2019s highest-spending gamblers, with most swapping to transaction accounts following the ban.<\/p>\n

The other key action Albanese mentions is the August 2023 introduction of BetStop<\/a>, which allows online wagerers in Australia to add their names to a digital exclusion register. <\/p>\n

This self-restriction from all forms of regulated online wagering is for a timeframe of the gambler\u2019s choosing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a significant piece of legislation, with more than 32,000 Australians now registered<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But concerns<\/a> remain over its effectiveness, with active exclusions comprising less than 8% of approximately 400,000 high-risk gamblers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There are also reports<\/a> of betting companies contacting Australians who have self-excluded via the register. In 2026, the Australian Communications and Media Authority announced<\/a> a further six licensed wagering providers breached BetStop rules.<\/p>\n

Additionally, gambling researchers have criticised measures like BetStop for placing the responsibility<\/a> for harm reduction on people rather than the wagering industry.<\/p>\n

Who can claim credit for BetStop?<\/p>\n

BetStop is the centrepiece of Albanese\u2019s ambitious case for action on gambling harm, but is this a fair claim?<\/p>\n

The Coalition government under then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull initiated the 2015 review of illegal offshore wagering<\/a>, which led to the eventual launch of the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering<\/a> under the Morrison government in late 2018.<\/p>\n

BetStop is the last of ten harm-reduction measures designed and implemented as part of this framework<\/a>, delivered in stages from 2018 to 2024.<\/p>\n

Among these were new gambling advertising taglines such as \u201cchances are you\u2019re about to lose<\/a>\u201d and prohibition of betting companies offering lines of credit to consumers.<\/p>\n

BetStop was launched a year after the incumbent Coalition government was defeated by Albanese\u2019s Labor. But along with the wider National Consumer Protection Framework, it was designed and scheduled by former governments. <\/p>\n

These are matters of timing rather than Labor initiative.<\/p>\n

What have other governments done?<\/p>\n

Even if BetStop was a solely Albanese\/Labor-led initiative, the claim that this government has done more than any other in addressing gambling harm remains shaky.<\/p>\n

In the past decade, the Coalition government made wagering providers offer deposit limits to customers and mandated more stringent customer verification processes<\/a>, among a suite of other measures.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the Julia Gillard-led Labor government banned the promotion of live betting odds<\/a> on television and prohibited in-play generic gambling advertising for sports broadcasts. <\/p>\n

Gambling ads, though, were allowed in breaks in play and either side of matches.<\/p>\n

Gillard also came close to introducing mandatory pre-commitment<\/a> at poker machine venues but eventually backed down<\/a>, blaming lack of parliamentary support.<\/p>\n

Looking further back, several state governments passed significant legislation in the early 20th century. <\/p>\n

A series of reforms<\/a> in the early 1900s restricted most legal betting to racecourses and sports grounds and imposed new age restrictions on gambling.<\/p>\n

But since those pre-digital times, gambling in Australia has exploded, with most governments having done relatively little in tackling gambling harm. <\/p>\n

The claim Albanese\u2019s reforms are more significant than any others is a weak one, given so little has been done at federal level. <\/p>\n

A way forward<\/p>\n

Omnipresent advertising by online sport gambling companies and cross-border gambling flows have placed the federal government under increasing pressure to combat Australia\u2019s chronic gambling habit.<\/p>\n

In June 2023, the Labor government was handed a prime opportunity to cement its legacy in tackling gambling harm. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou win some, you lose more<\/a>\u201d \u2013 the report of an inquiry into online wagering led by Labor\u2019s late Peta Murphy \u2013 contained 31 cross-party supported recommendations.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s most conspicuous proposal was a phased, complete ban on online wagering advertising. <\/p>\n

But widespread political and popular support has come a distant second to the influence<\/a> of professional sports, commercial television companies and gambling corporations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A diversionary tactic of industry body Responsible Wagering Australia is to refocus the collective gaze onto illegal offshore bookmakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, ALP backbenchers<\/a>, party members and independent parliamentarians<\/a> are loudly demanding meaningful action on gambling harm. <\/p>\n

The impetus will have to come from them.<\/p>\n

More than two years since former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called aggressively<\/a> for banning wagering ads during sporting broadcasts, and the Coalition\u2019s inquiry members supporting the Murphy report\u2019s recommendations, the Coalition has gone quiet<\/a> on the subject.<\/p>\n

Despite frequent promises<\/a> that a full response to the Murphy report and ensuing action were imminent, Albanese continues to stall. <\/p>\n

With each day he delays, his claim to unprecedented gambling reform looks increasingly disingenuous and overly influenced by vested interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a new parliamentary year resumes, politicians such as the ACT\u2019s David Pocock have renewed their calls for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-280124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}