Albanese Vows to Pass Gambling Reforms as Nationals MP Slams Bill

^{The House of Representatives chamber in Canberra, where Nationals MP Pat Conaghan pressed the government to strengthen its gambling reform bill. (Photo: JJ Harrison / Wikimedia Commons)}

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on 13 August that he expects Parliament to finalise the government's gambling reform bill next week, as a Nationals MP used Question Time to accuse Labor of watering down its own recommendations.

Speaking in the House of Representatives, Albanese said he had engaged with parliamentarians 'across the board' on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Stop the Gambling Ads) Bill 2026, which the government tabled last month and now wants to pass with Coalition support. He said amendments still being negotiated would reflect a position adopted at Labor's National Conference in Adelaide, though he did not detail what changes were under discussion.

Nationals MP Says Bill Falls Short of 2023 Report

Nationals MP Pat Conaghan, who was deputy chair of the parliamentary committee behind the 2023 'You Win Some, You Lose More' report, told the House that the current bill was a 'watered-down version' of the committee's 31 recommendations. Conaghan said he had received 'hundreds of emails and letters' from constituents calling for tougher rules.

'If this legislation in its current form is allowed to pass, unlimited gambling advertising can still remain online,' Conaghan said in Parliament. 'Predatory inducements by gambling companies are allowed to remain untouched.'

Conaghan argued the bill did not address online advertising or the inducements betting operators offer to keep customers wagering, and criticised the absence of a mandated future review of the reforms' impact on gambling harm, media and sporting codes. He called on the government to 'enact the amendments being put forward by all sides of the floor' rather than pass a diluted version of the report.

Albanese Defends Sporting Codes Over Sponsorship Deals

Albanese was also asked about the roughly AU$90 million in product fees that the AFL and NRL receive from gambling companies each year. He rejected the idea that the leagues were complicit in gambling harm, saying sporting codes 'do a fantastic job of engaging young people' and act as a 'binding force' for local communities.

The Prime Minister pushed back on the assumption that sports betting drives most gambling harm in Australia, citing the government's own impact analysis showing 26% of gambling losses come from wagering, against 64% from gaming machines. He said the reform debate needed to reflect that gambling 'doesn't just occur on free-to-air TV or in one area'.

The bill would amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to restrict the advertising of licensed wagering services, with limited exceptions and a phased rollout. It follows years of pressure for stronger safeguards against online betting harm in Australia, after previous private members' bills failed to progress through earlier parliaments.

Albanese said the government intended to bring the debate 'to finality next week', but Coalition figures have yet to signal broad agreement on where the final amendments will land. The bill's progress and text can be tracked on the Australian Parliament's website.

Full text of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Stop the Gambling Ads) Bill 2026 is available on the Australian Parliament's website.