Australia passed the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 on 19 August, along with related levy legislation. The package creates a national Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register and tightens rules on betting marketing across television, radio, online services and sporting settings. The federal government says the reforms are meant to protect vulnerable Australians, especially children and young people, from online gambling harms, and they are scheduled to start on 1 January 2027.
As reported on 17 August, Labor and the Coalition had already struck a deal in principle on the opt-out register; Parliament has now passed the legislation that gives it force. The new law stops short of the full advertising ban recommended by a 2023 parliamentary inquiry, opting instead for targeted limits that still allow licensed wagering operators to advertise under tighter rules.
The restrictions are wide-ranging. Wagering ads will be banned during live sports coverage on television and online services between 5am and 8.30pm, with the blackout beginning 15 minutes before an event and ending five minutes after it finishes. Daytime television will be capped at three wagering ads an hour, radio ads will be restricted around school drop-off and pick-up times, and athletes, celebrities and social media influencers will no longer be allowed to promote wagering services.
The legislation also bars betting companies from advertising inside sporting venues, on player and official uniforms or through the broadcasting of sporting odds. Online advertising rules will add stronger age and opt-out requirements, and the reforms target commission-based referral arrangements and inducement marketing, including direct marketing of inducements to new customers and people returning after time on BetStop.
The register is part of the online changes. The Australian Communications and Media Authority will oversee the system, monitor compliance and issue guidance to industry, while the costs of building and promoting it will be recovered from wagering companies through a new levy. ABC reporting has said the mechanism is still expected to be complicated to build, with details on how platforms will interact with the register still limited.
The broader bill amends the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 and the National Self-exclusion Register levy law, and the parliamentary digest says its aim is to break the link between wagering and sport, reduce children’s exposure and curb saturation across the internet, radio and television. That context matters because BetStop, launched in August 2023, had 54,859 registrations by the end of the second quarter of 2025-26 and 35,135 active exclusions on 31 December 2025, and a December review found it to be essential and largely fit for purpose.
