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Australians lose more to gambling than any other country, but efforts to tighten rules remain slow and contested despite growing political pressure for tougher legislation.
Bipartisan support has emerged for reforms recommended by the 2023 federal inquiry into online gambling, You win some, you lose more. The report called for a phased ban on online gambling advertising, stronger consumer protections, a new national regulator and tighter controls on inducements. Translating those ideas into law, however, has proved difficult.
Australia’s annual gambling losses are estimated at around AU$32bn on legal products
“There’s a realisation of how difficult it is to make some of the implementations that work in law, work in practice,” said Jamie Nettleton, a gaming and gambling law partner at Addisons. He noted that measures such as cashless gaming or universal pre-commitment are straightforward on paper but complex and expensive to deliver across fragmented state systems.
Australia’s annual gambling losses are estimated to be the highest per capita figure in the world, at around AU$32bn on legal products. Public concern has focused on two fronts: the impact of gambling-related harm on individuals and families, and the integrity risks created by the rapid expansion of sports betting.
In New South Wales, the country’s largest pokies market, those concerns have triggered a better response. A performance audit released by the NSW Auditor-General in June found that more than half of Australia’s gaming machines sit in the state and concluded that regulators “are not supporting harm minimisation outcomes effectively”.
The report highlighted late-night and early-morning play as a particular risk. It found that about 70% of those gambling between 4am and 10am were classified as high-risk or moderate-risk gamblers. At the same time, hundreds of clubs and pubs held exemptions that allowed them to operate machines around the clock.
NSW Gaming enforces regulations on more than 670 gambling venues
On 1 December, NSW Gaming Minister David Harris announced that more than 670 venues with special approvals would be required to stop their machines between 4am and 10am from late March unless they could persuade the regulator to retain an exemption. The move is one of the most visible responses to the audit, which also pointed to weak data use and patchy enforcement.
Nettleton said the shutdown policy needs to be seen alongside more complex reforms that are still moving slowly.
“The NSW government have been trying to put in protections, such as cashless mechanisms, that are much more difficult to put into practice in terms of the investment required than they seem in theory,” he said. “It’s always very difficult for a government to be perceived to be putting in effective measures that address societal concerns.”
More regulations to reduce the scale of gambling harm
Public health agencies, meanwhile, have been increasingly explicit about the scale of harm. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare describes gambling as “a major public policy issue” that affects mental health, financial stability and family relationships. The Australian Gambling Research Centre reports that the share of adults who gambled at least once in the past 12 months rose from 57% in 2019 to 65% in 2024, with pokies, lotteries, racing and sports betting all prominent.
Reform advocates argue that regulation has not kept pace. The Alliance for Gambling Reform has called for full implementation of the 31 recommendations from the 2023 parliamentary inquiry, including a three-year phase-out of online gambling advertising, a ban on inducements, a levy on operators and the creation of a federal regulator.
Industry and some state governments warn that far-reaching restrictions risk pushing consumers to unlicensed offshore sites or to domestic operators based in looser jurisdictions. The Northern Territory’s role licensing many online bookmakers has drawn particular scrutiny, with critics describing it as a “regulatory haven” that allows companies to serve customers nationwide under relatively light oversight.
“You’d be causing those people subject to Australian law to comply with Australian law, but those operators outside of Australian law would have no effective restrictions,” Nettleton said. “That’s one of the difficulties as far as enforcement.”
Self-exclusion measure in place
A national self-exclusion register, BetStop, is now in place, and all 10 measures in the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering have been rolled out, including mandatory identity checks before betting and standardised activity statements.
Awareness and usage of those tools, however, remains a concern. Researchers say that only a minority of at-risk gamblers are currently using formal self-exclusion, and that advertising continues to normalise frequent betting, particularly among younger men.
On the integrity side, Sport Integrity Australia has set up a taskforce bringing together law-enforcement agencies, regulators, betting operators and national sporting bodies. The group is focused on prevention and disruption ahead of a busy decade of major events, including the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
More work in progress as government continue to respond to societal concerns
For now, though, the broader reform agenda remains a work in progress. MPs from both major parties have indicated support for tighter advertising rules and stronger consumer protections, but the details – and the timing – are still being contested by operators, broadcasters, sporting codes and state treasuries that depend heavily on gambling taxes.
As Nettleton puts it, governments are trying to respond to “societal concerns” while managing a profitable and deeply entrenched industry. That tension is likely to define Australia’s gambling debate for years to come.
Source: LSJ Online
