Australia Passes New Gambling Advertising Laws for 2027
Australia has passed the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, creating new national restrictions on wagering advertising, direct inducements and illegal online gambling services. Parliament passed the package on 19 August 2026, and the Australian Government says the principal reforms will commence on 1 January 2027.
The new gambling advertising laws do not impose a complete ban. They prohibit wagering advertising during live sports coverage on broadcast and online content services from 15 minutes before an event until five minutes after it between 5am and 8.30pm. Wagering promotions will also be banned in sports venues, on players’ and officials’ uniforms, and from using athletes, celebrities or influencers.
Outside live sport, television will be limited to no more than three wagering advertisements per hour between 5am and 8.30pm. Radio wagering ads will be prohibited during school drop-off and pick-up periods, while advertisements that promote sporting odds will be banned. Detailed ACMA guidance will matter for broadcasters, platforms, clubs and operators as they prepare campaigns for 2027.
Online advertising will remain possible only within tighter boundaries. The Government says a person must have a logged-in account, be verified as over 18 and be able to opt out of wagering advertising. A national Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register is intended to provide one place for people to stop such advertising across participating services. Its effectiveness will depend on clear enrolment, reliable identity matching and prompt compliance across advertising systems.
Direct marketing rules add separate player protections. Wagering companies will be prohibited from directly marketing inducements during the first 14 days after a customer signs up, for three months after a person leaves BetStop, and to customers identified as being at risk of gambling-related harm. These restrictions target promotional pressure at specific vulnerable moments rather than relying only on where an advertisement appears.
The package also strengthens enforcement against illegal gambling. Banks and payment systems will be able to block transactions connected to illegal operators, and ACMA will receive powers intended to speed up disruption of unlawful services. Online keno and foreign-matched lotteries will be prohibited, while trade-promotion gambling services will face tighter rules. Separate levy legislation allows specified costs for BetStop promotion, inducement controls and the advertising opt-out register to be recovered from wagering companies.
For licensed operators and media businesses, the practical deadline is 1 January 2027. Advertising inventories, sponsorships, uniforms, venue signage, influencer contracts, odds integrations, account-age checks, marketing consent and risk-based suppression lists all require review. The final law should be read with ACMA’s implementation guidance; a campaign that is permitted in one channel or time period may still fail a separate inducement, age-verification or direct-marketing rule.
For Australians, the reform should reduce wagering promotion around live sport and provide stronger control over targeted advertising, but it does not make gambling risk-free or prove that every accessible service is legal. Check a wagering provider against ACMA’s licensed-provider register, use BetStop for national self-exclusion where needed, and treat bonuses and inducements as marketing rather than value. Gambling is for adults only, and money needed for housing, food, bills or debt should never be wagered.
The policy remains contested because a 2023 parliamentary inquiry recommended a comprehensive, phased ban on online gambling advertising, while the enacted package retains limited advertising under new controls. The verified change is therefore substantial restriction rather than prohibition across every channel. ACMA’s guidance and enforcement after commencement will show how consistently the rules operate in practice.
Sources: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, “Gambling Reforms 2026” (updated after parliamentary passage on 19 August 2026, official implementation summary); Minister for Communications, “Strongest ever gambling reforms passed” (19 August 2026, official ministerial release); Parliamentary Library, “Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 [and related Bill]” (7 August 2026, official Bills Digest); and Inside Asian Gaming, “Australia’s parliament passes gambling reform bill imposing heavy wagering ad restrictions and new inducement rules” (21 August 2026, secondary industry reporting). Readers and businesses should check the enacted legislation and current ACMA guidance before relying on a specific advertising or product rule.
