This week the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 (Bill) took a decisive step toward becoming law. Following the report of the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, tabled on 17 August 2026, the Government and the Opposition agreed a package of amendments, and the amended Bill passed the House of Representatives on 18 August 2026. The Bill is now before the Senate, where it is expected to be considered before the sitting week closes. The amendments materially strengthen the package, and operators across the sector now have a narrow window to prepare.

Author: Ben Daley, Senior Associate / Daniel Lovecek, Principal

What passed the House of Representatives

Amendments were agreed between the Government and the Opposition and carried with the Bill in the House on 18 August 2026. The substantive changes now being considered by the Senate are as follows.

● A national wagering advertising opt-out register, to be administered by the ACMA and known as AdStop, giving individuals a single mechanism to opt out of wagering advertising across online platforms, funded by a cost-recovery levy on wagering companies.

● A prohibition on marketing inducements to new customers for 14 days from account sign-up, and for three months to individuals who have come off the BetStop self-exclusion register.

● A requirement that wagering companies identify customers showing signs of problem gambling and cease sending them inducements, with the detailed criteria to be developed and prescribed by regulation and enforced by the ACMA.

● A prohibition on wagering company staff, agents and affiliates earning commissions based on a customer's gambling activity.

● The advertising blackout around live sport has been extended to begin at least 15 minutes before a game (from five minutes).

● The live-sport broadcast restrictions have been extended to mirror those applicable to online streaming services.

● A ban on wagering advertising during children's programming and during any programs classified G or lower at specified times.

● A statutory review of the operation of the measures after three years.

As amended, the measures are given effect through three new Parts of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth) (IGA): Part 7C (restrictions on wagering advertising), Part 7D (restrictions on inducements and associated obligations) and Part 7E (the AdStop register). The ACMA's costs of administering, monitoring and enforcing Parts 7D and 7E are to be recovered under a separate revenue instrument, the Interactive Gambling (Cost Recovery Levy) Bill 2026, by way of a levy on licensed interactive wagering service providers. That instrument is distinct from the National Self-exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026, which relates to the funding of BetStop.

The opt-out register (AdStop)

Once operational, AdStop is intended to provide a single mechanism through which an individual may opt out of receiving wagering advertising from online content service providers, in support of the platform-by-platform opt-out contemplated by the online “triple lock” in the Bill as introduced. The levy is cost-recovery only, capped at the ACMA's efficient costs, with the amount to be set by later ACMA legislative instrument, so the quantum is not yet known. The legislation expressly separates the ACMA's "upfront" establishment costs, incurred before the Register's "proclaimed start day," from ongoing costs, and allows them to be recovered across several levy periods.

Inducements and the “red flag” obligation

Part 7D takes a targeted approach to inducements rather than a blanket prohibition. In addition to the 14-day and three-month cooling-off periods and the commission ban noted above, providers will be required to identify customers who may be at risk of gambling-related harm and stop sending them inducements. The criteria for that “red flag”, together with transparency requirements and any time-limiting of a flag, are to be prescribed by regulation. This is a positive due-diligence obligation that will interact with providers' existing responsibilities under State and Territory law; its practical reach will depend on the criteria ultimately prescribed.

Keno, foreign-matched lotteries and trade promotions

The Bill also prohibits foreign-matched lotteries and keno-type lotteries, and narrows the trade promotion gambling services exclusion so that subscription- or membership-based models, and arrangements where entry is conditional on a purchase and the promotion is a core (rather than incidental) part of the business, may fall outside the exclusion. Genuine free-to-enter promotions, and lotteries conducted under a State or Territory licence (including charitable and not-for-profit lotteries), remain permitted. The draft does not contain an express charity carve-out. These provisions appear to be unaffected by this week's amendments to date.

Commencement and timing

The advertising restrictions (Part 7C) are presently framed to commence on 1 January 2027, subject to passage of the Bill and Royal Assent. The AdStop register is not expected to be operational by 1 January 2027 and likely to commence on a later, proclaimed day. Several amended measures, in particular the “red flag” obligation and aspects of the inducement regime, will depend on criteria and detail to be prescribed by regulation, to be developed following passage. Operators should plan on the basis of a staged commencement with the core advertising restrictions from (or about) 1 January 2027, with the register and certain operative detail to follow. The precise commencement provisions should be confirmed against the Bill as enacted and any proclamation.

What remains to be clarified

Several important questions are to be resolved upon detailed drafting:

● the criteria for the “red flag” at-risk-identification obligation in Part 7D, including the indicators that will require a customer to be flagged, the records to be kept, any transparency obligations, and whether a flag is time-limited;

● how AdStop (Part 7E) will operate across platforms, the information individuals will provide to opt out, the proclaimed start day, and the design and quantum of the cost-recovery levy;

● the scope of the customers and communications caught by the inducement restrictions, including the interaction of the Commonwealth regime with existing State and Territory obligations;

● the reach of the commission prohibition as applied to affiliate and marketing arrangements, including trailing, activity- and loss-based revenue share;

● the boundary of “frequent or repeated participation” for keno-type products, and the treatment of subscription, membership and purchase-conditional models under the narrowed trade promotion exclusion (there being no express charity carve-out);

● the scope of “notable persons” for the advertising prohibitions and the ACMA's approach to interpretation and enforcement; and

● the commencement position for individual measures, and the full content of the amendment package beyond the substantive items identified above.

These are the areas in which the specific wording of the Bill as enacted, and the instruments that follow, will determine the practical position for operators.

Steps from here

Ahead of commencement, wagering service providers should review inducement and direct-marketing programs against the 14-day and three-month cooling-off rules, assess systems capability to identify and “flag” at-risk customers pending prescribed criteria, and remove commission structures referable to customer gambling activity across staff, agents and affiliates. Affiliates and marketing partners should audit remuneration arrangements, with attention to trailing, activity- and loss-based revenue share arrangements and to any content featuring notable persons. Broadcasters, online content and streaming services should assess readiness for the extended live-sport blackout, the streaming and children's-programming restrictions, and the online “triple lock” and opt-out-display requirements. Sporting bodies and venues should map existing uniform and venue arrangements against the grandfathering position, noting that no new arrangements can be entered once the ban commences. Trade promotion and lottery operators should test their structures against the narrowed exclusion.

These reforms will reset the commercial and compliance framework for wagering advertising in Australia, and while the architecture is now visible, much of the operative detail is still to be settled. Senet would welcome the opportunity to discuss what it means for your business.

About Senet

Senet is a multidisciplinary Australian firm specialising in gambling and gaming law, regulatory compliance, and business advisory services. We are the largest specialist team in Australia and based in Victoria. Recognised globally as experts in our field, we understand Australia’s complex gaming legal and regulatory landscape, enabling us to guide clients through their compliance requirements across each state and territory. Our clients range from start-ups to publicly listed global operators, both nationally and internationally. Our team is deeply immersed in the industry, often sharing insights at public speaking events, and our principals have held executive roles in a global ASX-listed entity and a 'Big Four' advisory firm, giving us a unique perspective on the challenges our clients face.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topics covered in this article, please contact the team at Senet.

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