In April of 2026 Anthony Albanese made a big announcement; he introduced new regulations on gambling advertising. This announcement is considered to be one of the largest reforms for gambling in Australia’s history. The regulations are intended to protect Australians from gambling and to protect Australians, particularly young people, from the negative effects of gambling.
The regulations come into effect in 2027 and will limit any gambling advertisement on television to a maximum of three advertisements per hour between 06:00 and 20:30. In addition, no advertisements will be broadcast during live sporting events where a connection could be made between sport and gambling.
In addition to television, there will be stricter restrictions on radio gambling advertisements. For example, there will be no gambling advertisements during drop graphics for school children or for school buses so that children do not see gambling advertisements.
There will also be strict restrictions on online gambling advertisements. All online advertisements will require that the advertisement appears to a logged-in user who is 18 or over. Further, online advertisements will contain an “opt out” option that allows the user to choose whether or not that user wishes to receive future advertisements. These regulations are intended to allow users to exert more control over their own advertising and to restrict targeting of users by aggressive means.
One of the more significant changes will be the ban of using any “celebrity endorsements” or any athlete endorsement in gambling advertisements. Gambling authority officials believe that “celebrities” and “athletes” have a significant influence on the behavior of young adults. Furthermore, all advertising materials associated with gambling will no longer be allowed on the property of any facility that may host an athletic competition, nor on any sporting team uniforms.
Changes to the regulations will affect advertising and revenue generation by large operators, including Flutter Entertainment and Entain. The government has stated that the goal of the regulation is to balance the growth of the gambling industry with the provision of stronger protection for consumers and to reduce the harm to society as a result of gambling.
