Now lawHealth & Care Introduced in the House of Representatives, 02 Jul 2026

Betting ads now face new limits around live sport

A big gambling law cuts betting ads during live sport and caps them on daytime TV. It makes banks and internet companies block illegal gambling sites. It makes BetStop, the list where you can ban yourself from betting, stronger. It touches sports fans, broadcasters, betting companies, banks and anyone who bets online.

Official name: Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Sports fans: You will see far fewer betting ads and no odds ads during live sport on TV, radio and streaming. Odds are the prices a betting firm offers on a result.
• TV, radio and streaming services: They must follow new limits on when and to whom they show betting ads, with fines of up to $1.8 million for companies.
• Online betting companies: They lose ads on sports uniforms and grounds, ads with famous people, and the right to send bonus offers to people at risk.
• Sports clubs and leagues: They must drop betting sponsors from jerseys and grounds, though deals signed before 2 July 2026 can run until 31 December 2031.
• Banks and internet companies: They must take sensible steps to block payments to, and access to, illegal gambling services.
• People on BetStop: Betting firms cannot contact them at all except for legal matters, and leaving the list takes more steps.

Australians lost $32.2 billion gambling

Australians lost about $32.2 billion on legal gambling in 2023-24. That is about $1,521 per person, the highest in the world. Losses have grown by about 26 per cent since 2018-19.

In 2023 a group of MPs put out a report called You win some, you lose more. Its key idea was a full ban on online gambling ads, brought in step by step over three years.

On 2 April 2026, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the government's own plan. The government says it wants to break the link between betting and sport. It wants to keep betting ads away from children and cut how many ads people see.

This law changes the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, the main law for online gambling. It also changes a few other laws, including the Privacy Act, the main federal privacy law.

The media watchdog makes sure people follow most of it. Its full name is the Australian Communications and Media Authority. It looks after TV, radio and online gambling.

What counts as betting ads

The new rules apply to betting ads. That means any ad, sponsor deal or promotion for an online betting company with an Australian licence. It covers ad breaks, banner ads, sponsored parts of a show and mentions inside a show.

Some things do not count. A chat between friends about a bet does not count. Nor does a post on a forum with no link to a betting company. Nor do political messages, or job ads from a betting firm.

News, current affairs and documentaries can also show betting ads as part of a story.

Ads meant only to stop people gambling are allowed. Ads that push safer betting, like setting a limit on deposits, still count as betting ads.

Racing gets special treatment. Some channels, shows and online services are all or mostly about horse, harness or greyhound racing, or betting. In harness racing, horses pull a small cart. Several of the limits do not apply to them.

Ads during live sport

Between 5am and 8.30pm, no betting ads can be shown during live sport. The ban starts 15 minutes before the planned start. It ends 5 minutes after the game finishes. It also covers breaks in play, such as half-time.

Between 8.30pm and 5am, betting ads are banned while play is on. They are allowed in planned breaks, like between quarters. They are still banned in short pauses, such as after a goal or between overs in cricket.

Say a footy match starts at 7.50pm. The full daytime ban applies until 8.30pm. After that, the night rules apply.

These rules were already in codes the industry wrote for itself. Now they are in the law itself, with bigger fines.

Daytime TV and radio limits

Free TV, pay TV and community TV can show no more than 3 betting ads in any 60 minutes between 5am and 8.30pm.

On school days, radio cannot play any betting ads from 8am to 9am or from 3pm to 4pm. Those are the school drop-off and pick-up times.

This covers commercial radio, community radio, and the ABC and SBS. It also covers some small stations for special audiences.

The same cap and the same school-run ban apply to TV and radio stations streamed live online at the same time.

Streaming and social media ads

Online services include streaming apps, social media and video sites. They can only show betting ads if they take sensible steps on three fronts. The government calls this the triple lock.

First, they must check users are adults. Second, the user must be logged in to an account. Third, users must be able to say no to betting ads. The way to do this must be clear, simple and easy to find.

Some users must not see betting ads. These are people under 18, people whose age is not confirmed, people not logged in, and people who said no. Showing them a betting ad can bring a fine.

A service cannot force you to hand over a driver licence or use a government digital ID, such as myID, to prove your age. It must offer another fair way, such as tools that guess your age.

Online services must also follow the live sport ban. They have daytime and night rules like those for TV.

Ads during children's shows

From 5am to 8.30pm, betting ads are banned during shows made mainly for children. This applies on TV and on free and paid streaming services.

Betting ads are also banned during G, C and P rated shows. These ratings mean shows for general viewers, children and preschoolers. The ban runs from 6am to 8.30am and from 4pm to 7pm. News and sport are not rated. So this rule does not cover them.

Jerseys, grounds and celebrities

Betting ads cannot appear on uniforms or at sports grounds in connection with a game. This covers every level of sport, from pro leagues to local clubs.

It covers players, coaches, umpires and staff. It covers signs on the field, around the ground and in private boxes.

The ban runs from when the gates open until they close. It does not cover a concert at the same stadium, or a pub showing the game. It does not cover racing.

Some deals were signed before the bill came into Parliament on 2 July 2026. They can keep going until 31 December 2031. This gives clubs time to find new sponsors.

Betting companies cannot use well-known people in their ads. That means current or former athletes, celebrities, social media influencers and other famous people. Racing ads on racing channels are the exception.

TV and radio cannot push betting odds, except on channels just for betting. Odds for horse, harness and greyhound races are not covered.

During live sport, betting company staff cannot act as commentators or appear at the ground in ads.

Betting ads cannot target children or show children betting. They cannot link betting with alcohol or make over-the-top claims.

Fines and loopholes

Most cases of breaking the rules can bring a fine of up to 1,000 penalty units for a person. That is about $364,000. For a company the top fine is 5,000 penalty units, about $1.8 million.

The government says this is over five times the highest ad fine in the old law.

Setting up a scheme to dodge the rules can cost far more. The top fine is about $2.7 million for a person and about $13.7 million for a company.

Companies covered by the rules must keep records so the media watchdog can check they follow them.

The law also replaces a 2018 set of rules for online services. Those rules held some of the old online limits.

Illegal gambling sites blocked

Some online gambling is illegal in Australia. The law names these illegal services.

Banks, credit unions, which are small member-owned banks, and other payment companies must now block money going from Australian accounts to these illegal operators. The media watchdog can share bank account details and other things it finds to help them.

Internet providers, app stores and search engines must take sensible steps to stop their services being used to reach illegal gambling sites. So must the companies that run the internet's address books.

The media watchdog can order illegal gambling ads to be taken down. It can order hosting companies, which store websites, to stop hosting illegal gambling. It can ask search engines to delete links and ask app stores to remove apps.

Ads for illegal gambling on social media can bring fines of up to about $9.1 million for a company.

The law also makes it easier for the media watchdog to prove a service has no licence.

A stronger BetStop

BetStop is the national list where you can block yourself from betting. Its full name is the National Self-Exclusion Register. You can sign up to block yourself from all licensed online and phone betting companies. The block can last from 3 months to life.

Between August 2023 and 2 June 2026 it had over 63,000 sign-ups. Over 39,000 were still on the list.

Betting companies already could not send ads to people on BetStop. Now they cannot contact them at all. That covers any app, message or phone alert. The only exceptions are court cases or what another law needs.

Everyone who signs up must stay on for at least 3 months. This includes people who signed up before.

To leave, a person must wait 7 days and then confirm they really want to go. Their support person, if they have one, is told.

When someone joins BetStop, betting companies must close their accounts within 7 days and pay back any credit. The person might later open a new account. Then the company must link it to the old ones, so it can see their full betting history.

More kinds of gambling counsellors can now be recognised under BetStop rules. Fines for breaking BetStop rules go up by more than four times.

Online keno and lotteries banned

Online keno is now banned. Keno is a lottery game with fast, repeated draws. You pick numbers and win if they match. Keno played in person, such as in casinos, can go on.

Bets on overseas lotteries through a middleman are also banned. These let you bet on the result of an overseas draw without buying a real ticket.

The law also tightens what counts as a trade promotion. That is something like a free-entry contest run to sell a product. It must be mainly to sell things. It must be free to enter, apart from buying the product at a fair price. And it must not run all the time.

No bonuses for at-risk people

An inducement is a bonus or reward that could get someone to bet. Examples are credit, a free bet, a gift, money back or a voucher.

Betting companies cannot send these by email, text or phone to some customers. They also cannot target them with these on social media.

These customers are people who left BetStop in the last 90 days, and people whose account is 14 days old or less. They also include people the company has flagged as at risk. People who left BetStop more than 90 days ago are covered too, unless they agree again.

Companies must watch what customers do for signs of harm. Signs include spending more and more, and many deposits in one go. Others are betting at odd hours, failed deposits, and removing safety limits.

Companies cannot pay staff or outside partners a cut based on how much customers bet.

For these rules, the media watchdog cannot just give a warning. Breaking them again and again can cost a company more.

Opting out of betting ads

The law sets up a new list called the Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register. Wagering means betting. It will give you one place to say no to betting ads from online services that show them.

The media watchdog will run it or hire a company to run it. That company cannot be linked to gambling or to groups that push governments on behalf of gambling.

You can join once the list opens on a date set later. You can leave whenever you like, and join again.

Your details are protected. Online services can only check whether you are on the list. A separate law makes betting companies pay the watchdog's costs for this list and for the bonus offer rules.

A review in three years

Three years after the new rules start, the minister must order a review of the rules on betting ads, bonus offers and the opt-out list. The public must be able to have a say. The report is due within 18 months and must be shown to Parliament.

Start date

The government brought the bill to the House of Representatives on 2 July 2026. On 18 August the House agreed to 26 changes from the government. It also agreed to 45 changes from the Liberal and National parties, the main group not in government. Then it passed the bill.

The Senate passed it on 19 August 2026. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 26 August 2026. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. It became Act No. 72 of 2026.

Most of the new rules start on 1 January 2027. The rules for moving to the new system started the next day after it became law.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

Open the full interactive page