The Australian Government released its formal response to the parliamentary inquiry into online gambling harm on 12 May 2026, and for the first time in a generation, the regulatory landscape governing the relationship between sport and wagering is set to change fundamentally. Reforms announced on 2 April 2026 and legislated to commence from 1 January 2027 will affect every sporting code, club, venue and broadcaster in the country.

This is not a matter of watching and waiting. Organisations that begin planning now will be best placed to protect their commercial relationships, meet their compliance obligations and manage reputational risk.

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

Why Government Has Acted

The reforms follow a well-publicised House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs (the Committee) Inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm (the Inquiry). The Inquiry noted that Australians record the highest per-capita gambling losses in the world with the Committee making 31 recommendations to address risks associated with online gambling. The announced package of reforms will have significant impacts for stakeholders, including sporting codes.

The Reforms That Matter Most to Sport

The Advertising Overhaul

The most commercially significant reform is the material restriction of wagering advertising across broadcast, digital and physical environments. In practical terms, this includes the prohibition of any wagering advertising during live sport on broadcast television between 6:00am and 8:30pm, the prohibition of wagering branding in sports venues and on playing and officiating uniforms, a so called “triple-lock” requirement for digital wagering advertising designed to ensure that gambling advertising is not viewed by under 18’s or persons that have opted out of such advertising, and bans on athletes and celebrities appearing in wagering promotions and the promotion of odds.

For sporting codes and clubs, this represents a fundamental restructuring of the wagering partnership model as it has existed for the past decade. Naming rights arrangements, embedded jersey logos, in-stadium activations and broadcast integrations tied to wagering brands will all need to be reviewed, renegotiated or unwound ahead of the proposed 1 January 2027 commencement.

It is worth noting that dedicated racing channels, programs and racetracks will be exempt from the proposed reforms along with dedicated betting websites and retail wagering venues, reflecting the intrinsic commercial link between racing and wagering. Sporting codes outside of racing will not benefit from this carve-out.

Match-Fixing as a Federal Criminal Offence

The Government will define match-fixing as an offence under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, consistent with Australia's obligations under the Council of Europe's Macolin Convention. This creates a nationally consistent serious-crime framework where previously there were only inconsistent state and territory provisions, and gives federal authorities direct jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the corrupt manipulation of Australian sporting competitions.

This is a material shift. Sporting organisations should anticipate a step-change in federal law enforcement engagement on integrity matters and must ensure their internal frameworks; suspicious activity reporting, whistleblower protections, staff education; are genuinely fit for purpose and implemented, not merely documented.

Rising Compliance Expectations

Across the reform package, the direction of travel is clear: regulatory expectations are rising, enforcement activity is increasing and industry cost-recovery arrangements mean operators, and by extension their commercial partners in sport, will bear more of the compliance burden over time. Sporting organisations need to understand how these dynamics affect their existing and future wagering relationships before those relationships are locked in by contract.

What Your Organisation Needs to Do Now

The legislative drafting and stakeholder consultation process is already underway. This is the window in which organisations can genuinely influence implementation detail and protect legitimate commercial interests. Three priorities stand out.

1. Review your commercial arrangements

Every wagering sponsorship, naming rights agreement, broadcast integration and ambassador deal needs to be assessed against the incoming restrictions now, not once legislation is passed. Lead times for renegotiation are longer than most organisations assume, and the cost of acting late will be measured in lost revenue and constrained options.

2. Engage during the consultation process

Genuine policy and implementation questions remain open; around the precise scope of exemptions, the treatment of streaming and digital broadcast platforms, and transition arrangements for existing commercial agreements. Organisations with clear, well-reasoned positions, advanced through the right channels, may still shape how these reforms are implemented in practice.

3. Stress-test your integrity infrastructure

Federal criminalisation of match-fixing will materially raise expectations of sporting bodies. The time to assess your frameworks is before federal law enforcement engagement intensifies, not after.

How Senet Can Help

Senet is one of Australia's most experienced gambling and gaming regulatory advisory practices, with a track record of advising governments, regulators and industry across every significant phase of Australia's gambling reform agenda. We understand how these reforms were built, what drove the policy decisions behind them, and where the genuine opportunities for influence and protection still exist.

Our dedicated sport practice understands sporting organisations face a genuinely distinct set of challenges in this environment across commercial, regulatory and reputational considerations that require specialist advice, rather than generalised legal or government relations support.

For sporting organisations, we offer:

Commercial contract review and restructuring

We can assess your existing wagering partnerships against the incoming restrictions, identify your exposure, and develop compliant and commercially viable successor arrangements — protecting revenue where possible and managing exit where necessary.

Government and regulatory engagement

We can assist with representing your organisation's interests directly during the legislative drafting and consultation process, ensuring your position is heard by the decision-makers who will determine how these reforms are implemented in practice.

Integrity framework design and review

We can assess your suspicious betting activity reporting, whistleblower frameworks and staff education programs against the standard that a federal criminal offence environment will demand — and help you close the gaps before they become liabilities. For organisations that already have frameworks in place, we will stress-test them against the new enforcement reality, not merely the documentation standard.

The 1 January 2027 commencement date feels distant. It is not. Legislative drafting is underway now, consultation windows will be short, and commercial decisions have long lead times. The sporting organisations engaging seriously with this reform agenda in the first half of 2026 will be the ones that emerge from it in the strongest position.

If you would like to discuss how these developments affect your organisation, please contact our team.

This fact sheet has been prepared for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

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