The Australian government is sticking to its guns on gambling regulation in the face of mounting criticism from the backbenches.

In April 2026, PM Anthony Albanese’ Labor government announced a bill putting restrictions on gambling advertising, with a plan to put things in motion in January 2027.

Albanese and the government have faced relenting criticism in the months since, however, with members of the Greens and Liberal-National Coalition labelling the bill weak.

SBC News’ Oceania Overview takes a look at the government’s response, meanwhile Sportsbet gets a regulatory clearance – with a catch – and New Zealand’s online casino liberation progresses.

Albanese slams poker machines … but opposition slams Albanese

Anthony Albanese’ record on gambling reform has been a constant criticism for his opposition, with vocal critics of the PM being independent MP and former Australia rugby union player David Pocock and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

The PM’s opponents accuse the government of being slow to implement the recommendations of the Murphy report. 

This 33-recommendation document was penned by the late MP Peta Murphy way back in 2022, and included a proposal for a national gambling regulator and a complete ban on gambling advertising, including sports sponsorship.

As reported by The Canberra Times, Liberal-National Coalition leader Sarah Henderson has criticised the government’s bill as ‘undercooked’. She summarised the coalition’s concerns being that the bill is ‘not strong enough’.

Albanese, along with Labor’s Communications and Sport Minister Anika Wells, have been mounting a defence of the bill to Australian media. In Wells’ case, the Minister has detailed the bill’s provisions around influencers.

“It doesn’t matter how many followers they have or which platform they use, under this law a gambling company cannot enter into an arrangement with an influencer to promote gambling to their followers,” she said, as reported by ABC News.

“People are seeing too many ads, particularly during children and family programmes and live sport events,” Wells added.

Alabanese, meanwhile, has defended the government’s bill as going further than the Murphy report by dealing with both offshore gambling and online gambling, the latter of which he noted has “expanded substantially”.

“I’m not against someone having a punt on a Saturday,” he said. “What I’m against is problem gambling, which overwhelmingly, by the way, is poker machines, which is of course regulated by the states.”

Albanese singling out of poker machines – gaming machines found in pubs, clubs and hotels throughout Australia and colloquially known as ‘pokies’ – is an interesting touch, as the machines have been a particular target of gambling reform advocates for many years, similar to the FOBT machines found on UK high streets.

Opposition to the pokies has spiralled into calls for greater betting regulation, however, with criticism levied against advertising in particular.

While Albanese may claim progress with his bill, his detractors will beg to differ.

The government faced criticism for pushing back Murphy review recommendations amid election campaigning in late 2024 and early 2025, with some believing that the government wanted to avoid a potentially costly public showdown with broadcasters.

Many Australian broadcasters, such as the Nine network which broadcasts the popular Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL), count gambling advertising as a very lucrative revenue stream.

It’s becoming apparent that Australia’s journey to a gambling ad clampdown won’t be easy for anyone – be it the bookies, sports clubs, broadcasters, gambling reform advocates, or the government itself…

Sportsbet off the hook … to an extent

Sportsbet is one of the three biggest online betting operators in Australia, the other two being omnichannel giant and overall market leader Tabcorp and Entain Australia, the operator of the Ladbrokes and Neds brands.

The Flutter Entertainment brand has also been under the watchful eye of AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial regulator, for some time, however. The regulator ordered an audit of the company back in 2022, looking for anti-money laundering failures.

In May 2024, Sportsbet offered an undertaking to AUSTRAC around AML and counter terrorist financing (CTF) obligations. This undertaking involved improving the firm’s risk management, customer monitoring, and suspicious matter reporting processes.

This undertaking was accepted by AUSTRAC, and the regulator has confirmed that after two years the undertaking is complete. AUSTRAC has cautioned the wider sector though, stating that it will continue to closely monitor gambling businesses.

“When AUSTRAC identifies systemic weaknesses in a reporting entity’s AML/CTF controls, we will take enforcement action to ensure those issues are addressed,” said Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer.

“Sportsbet was required to undertake significant remediation to uplift its systems, controls and governance. AUSTRAC is now satisfied those requirements have been met.

“Completion of an enforceable undertaking does not lessen our expectations. Businesses like Sportsbet operating in higher-risk sectors must maintain robust, risk-based systems to prevent criminal exploitation.”

AUSTRAC is one of the two de facto national regulators of gambling in Australia, the other – and much more active – being the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

As financial regulator, AUSTRAC finds itself dealing largely with auditing, AML and CTF matters, as in the Sportsbet case, while the ACMA deals with other matters relating to gambling regulation and oversees the BetStop self-exclusion service.

Aside from these two national bodies, Australian gambling is overseen by the respective regulator of each state – Liquor and Gaming New South Wales (L&GNSW), the Victoria Gaming and Casino Control Commission (VGGC), and Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission (RWC).

Gambling reform advocates have been calling for the creation of a dedicated gambling regulator for some time, similar to the UK’s Gambling Commission or the newly created Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) – a key recommendation of the abovementioned Murphy report.

New Zealand sets out three stage casino licence plan

Nearly 1,000 miles to the east of Australia, the New Zealand government is doing the opposite of its Aussie counterparts in the sense that instead of restricting gambling regulations, it is opening up.

New Zealand’s new online casino regulations came into effect today (3 July). This sets the stage for an open market of licensed online casino operators to open up on 1 July 2027, with 15 licences up for grabs.

This liberalisation only extends to online casinos though. Sports betting in the country will remain tightly controlled and restricted to the exclusive 20 year licence Entain has to operate the state-run TAB NZ betting platform.

The licensing process will have three stages, the first being an expression of interest. The window to submit an expression of interest opens on 17 July 2026, with 14 August set as the deadline for submissions.

Companies must submit an expression of interest to make it onto the second stage.

Between now and then, the government also intends to publish the ‘minimum standards’ around online casino gambling technology for the new market on 7 July 2026.

By launching an online casino market, New Zealand hopes to wrestle control of the existing market away from the unlicensed offshore firms which have been targeting the country for many years.

UK-founded online betting firms bet365 and Betway are reportedly interested in market entry.