Online betting ads would be banned in four steps
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is a Greens senator. The Greens are a party focused on the environment and fairness. Her bill in the Senate, one of the two houses of Parliament, would slowly get rid of ads for online betting companies. That covers TV, radio, websites and print. It touches TV and radio stations, sports fans and anyone who sees betting ads.
Official name: Interactive Gambling Amendment (Ban Gambling Ads) Bill 2024
- Ads for licensed online betting companies would be banned step by step. There would be a full ban within three years.
- Step one would hit online ads, ads that push people to bet, and radio ads at school drop-off and pick-up times.
- Later steps would ban betting ads around live sport, then from 6pm to 10pm, then everywhere.
- The media and phone watchdog would write the detailed rules. It could take complaints about broken rules.
- This is a private bill. It is still waiting in the Senate.
Who it affects
- Online betting companies: They would slowly lose the right to run ads on TV, radio, websites, streaming services and in print.
- TV and radio stations, and streaming services: They would have to stop running betting ads at set times. In the end, they would stop running them at all.
- Sports fans: Betting ads and talk about betting odds would stop during live sport and for one hour either side.
- Families and children: Radio betting ads would stop at school drop-off and pick-up times in the first step.
- Groups that fight problem gambling: Ads that only try to stop people gambling, or cut harm, would still be allowed.
Betting ads are everywhere
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young brought this bill to the Senate on 9 October 2024. It is a private bill. That is a bill brought by a member of Parliament who is not a government minister.
The bill changes the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. That is the main federal law for online gambling. Today, online betting companies with a licence can run ads. There are some limits on when and where.
The senator's notes on the bill say gambling ads are everywhere. They say experts have shown these ads make gambling seem normal. They say the ads feed addiction and harm people.
The notes say this is most true for children, young people and people with a gambling problem.
They point to a 2022 look into online gambling by a group of MPs in the House of Representatives. That is the lower house of Parliament. That group, and other reviews, said there should be a full ban on gambling ads. The bill aims to bring in that ban.
Which ads count
The bill only covers ads for online betting companies with an Australian licence. The law calls them licensed interactive wagering services. One example is an app that takes bets on sport and racing.
An ad is anything you can see or hear that promotes one of these companies, or online betting in general. That includes words, pictures, logos and sounds. It includes a website address. It includes words closely linked to a betting brand.
Some things do not count as betting ads under the bill. Here they are.
Political messages about government matters that do not promote a betting company.
Words and logos on a betting company's own website or its own buildings. Also its normal paperwork, such as bills and business cards.
Job ads and calls for bids on work. Also things another law makes a company do, and steps taken to stop fraud.
Ads for a different product that happens to share a name with a betting brand, if the two businesses are not linked.
Ads whose main purpose is to stop people gambling, or to cut gambling harm. The government can also add other kinds of ads to this list in detailed rules, without a new vote.
What publishing an ad means
The bill says what it means to publish a betting ad. It includes putting the ad in a newspaper, magazine, leaflet or ticket. It also includes showing or playing it in a public place, on public transport or at a workplace.
Publishing online means putting the ad on a website. TV and radio are dealt with on their own, so they do not count as publishing.
Some things are left out. Messages sent only between people who work in betting are not publishing. Nor is a plain listing in a printed phone book. Nor is the normal work of public, uni or government libraries.
Thank-you notes for support or sponsorship can also be allowed, if they follow the rules.
Who sets the rules
The media and phone watchdog would write the detailed rules. Its full name is the Australian Communications and Media Authority. It looks after TV, radio, phones and online gambling. The rules would be called the Online Gambling Advertisement Prohibition rules.
Before it makes the rules, the watchdog must think about two things. One is whether to offer help or money to anyone hurt by the ban. The other is whether there should be penalties to back up the ban. The watchdog must also talk to the Minister.
Anyone could complain to the watchdog if they think someone has broken the rules. The watchdog could also look into things on its own.
Step one, right away
The watchdog must make the first rules as soon as it can after the law starts. They would ban betting ads on websites seen in Australia.
They would ban betting ads meant to push people to bet during news shows. This covers TV, radio and online streaming services.
They would also ban printed and other published betting ads meant to push people to bet.
Commercial radio could not play betting ads between 8.30am and 9am, or between 3.30pm and 4pm. Those are the usual school drop-off and pick-up times. So a parent driving kids to school with the radio on would not hear betting ads.
An online ad counts as being in Australia if two things are true. Australians can see the website. And most of its visitors are likely to be in Australia.
Step two within a year
Within 12 months, the watchdog must ban betting ads around live sport. The ban would start one hour before live coverage of a sports event. It would end one hour after it.
It would cover TV, radio and online streaming services. It would also ban commentators from talking up the odds. That is when commentators read out or push the betting odds during a game.
Say you watch a footy final that starts at 7.30pm. From 6.30pm until an hour after the final siren, there would be no betting ads and no odds talk.
Steps three and four
Within two years, the watchdog must ban betting ads on TV, radio and online streaming services between 6pm and 10pm. That is the time many families watch TV together.
Within three years, the watchdog must ban all betting ads. This would cover TV, radio, online streaming services and printed or other published ads in Australia.
At that point, the law would say plainly that online betting companies with a licence must not run ads.
Waiting in the Senate
The law would start the day after it is signed into law. The Governor-General, the King's representative, signs bills into law.
The bill was brought in on 9 October 2024. That day the debate on its main idea also started. The Senate debated it on 5 February 2025.
It lapsed when the last Parliament ended on 21 July 2025. That means it died because time ran out. It was put back on the Senate's to-do list on 23 July 2025.
It is still waiting in the Senate and has not been voted on. To become law, it would need to pass the Senate and then the House of Representatives.
In 2026, the government passed its own separate gambling law. That law limits some betting ads. This bill would go further, with a full ban.
Its journey through Parliament
| 09 Oct 2024 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 09 Oct 2024 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 05 Feb 2025 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 21 Jul 2025 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 23 Jul 2025 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |