Before ParliamentCrime & Courts Introduced in the House of Representatives, 20 Aug 2026

Match fixing would carry up to 10 years in jail

Fixing a game, taking a bribe to throw it, or betting on secret team news would become federal crimes. The rules would cover pro sport, esports and Australians playing overseas. Esports are video games played as a sport.

Official name: Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Players, coaches, referees and officials: Playing badly on purpose, bending the rules or throwing a game for an outside reward could be a federal crime.
• People who bet on sport: Betting with secret team news, such as an injury not yet made public, could be a crime.
• Club staff and anyone close to a team: Passing on inside news so someone can bet could be a crime.
• Companies, including betting businesses: A company found guilty could be fined up to $36.4 million, three times its gain, or 10% of a year's sales.
• Esports players: Esports events run by a sporting body would be covered too.

States handle match fixing differently

Match-fixing is when someone rigs a sporting game, or a moment inside it, so the result is no longer fair. It is often done to win bets. Sometimes it is done to win prizes, rankings or an easier draw.

In 2018 a former judge, James Wood, led a review of how Australia keeps sport safe from cheating. It is called the Wood Review. It found the risk from match-fixing and organised crime was real and growing. It said world online betting had made rigging sport low-risk and high-profit.

Each state handles match-fixing in its own way. Western Australia and Tasmania have no crime made just for match-fixing. They use general laws against cheating people out of money. The other states and territories have different rules. The Wood Review said this makes cases across state lines and overseas hard to take to court.

It called for national match-fixing crimes. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, the minister for the law, brought in this bill to do that. In 2019 Australia signed an agreement between countries against match-fixing called the Macolin Convention. But it has not yet formally joined it.

Which sports are covered

The bill covers any event run or approved by a sporting body. That includes online and esports events. It includes national sporting groups listed by the Australian Sports Commission. That is the government agency that funds and backs sport. The Minister can also add an event or body by a written notice.

An event includes any moment inside it. A single ball in a cricket match counts.

An act corrupts an event if it changes the result, or is likely to. It must also break the honesty a fair person would expect. Examples are playing badly on purpose and an official not trying their best. Others are tampering with gear, or pulling out with no good reason.

Normal rewards from playing do not count. A player's wage, prize money and a trophy are left to the sport to deal with. So is a better draft pick, meaning first choice of new young players, for finishing last.

Three match fixing crimes

The first crime is corrupting a sporting event. It covers anyone who does something that may corrupt an event, to gain something or to hurt someone else. The top punishment is 10 years in jail, a fine of $3.64 million, or both.

The second crime is offering someone a reward that would tend to make them fix an event. The third is asking for or taking such a reward. Each one carries up to 5 years in jail, a fine of $1.82 million, or both.

Say a lower-grade footballer is offered $5,000 by a gambler to give away a penalty in the first half. The gambler could be charged with offering. If the player takes the money and does it, they could face the corrupting charge.

The bill gives an example from the 2016 Olympics. A senior boxing official is said to have demanded cash from one team to make sure their boxer won. The government says crimes tied only to betting could not reach cases like that. So these crimes apply whether or not anyone placed a bet.

Hiding and using secret news

The fourth crime is changing, destroying or hiding facts about a fix. Deleting messages to cover it up is one example. It carries up to 10 years in jail and a $3.64 million fine.

The fifth crime is using or passing on facts about a fix to gain something. Say a person learns a match is rigged and bets on it. This also carries up to 10 years and a $3.64 million fine.

The sixth crime is holding facts about a fix while planning to use them or pass them on. It carries up to 3 years in jail, a fine of $1.09 million, or both.

The seventh crime is using or passing on inside news. This is news that is not public but would change how people bet. Examples are an injury not yet made public, team picks or game plans. It carries up to 3 years and a $1.09 million fine.

Say a team physio texts a mate that the star player will be ruled out tomorrow. The mate then bets against the team. Both could face the inside news charge.

Penalties for companies

A company found guilty of the worst crimes faces the biggest of three fines. The first is $36.4 million. The second is three times what it gained. The third, if the gain cannot be worked out, is 10% of its sales over the past year.

Fines are set in units, each a set dollar amount. A unit is $364 from 1 July 2026. For companies, the top fine is 50,000 units for offering or asking for a reward. It is 35,000 units for the crimes about facts and news.

There is no time limit on starting a court case.

Crimes committed overseas

In some cases the crimes can reach acts outside Australia, because match-fixing is often run from overseas. This covers overseas events where Australia plays as a nation.

There are defences, meaning legal excuses, for people from other countries who acted only overseas, where that country has no similar law. The person charged must point to proof for that defence. Some overseas cases need the Attorney-General to agree in writing before they go to court.

The new national crimes sit alongside state laws. They do not replace them.

Changes tied to the treaty

The Constitution is Australia's founding rule book. It does not give the federal Parliament direct power over sport. For now the bill relies on other powers. These include power over companies and trade between states. They also include power over phone and internet services, and over the territories.

Part 2 of the bill only starts if Australia formally joins the Macolin Convention. It would then add the deal as another legal base for four of the crimes. Formally joining is called ratifying the treaty. If Australia never joins, Part 2 never starts.

Start date

The main crimes would start the day after the Governor-General signs the bill into law. The Governor-General stands in for the King.

The bill went into the House of Representatives on 20 August 2026. The House passed it on 10 September 2026. It went to the Senate, Parliament's second house, on 14 September 2026.

It has been sent to a group of senators who look at legal bills. They were due to report by 2 October 2026. The Senate then needs to pass it, and the Governor-General must sign it, before it becomes law.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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