Labor creates gambling ad opt-out register, falls short of ad ban calls

Australia's Labor government has settled on a middle path in its effort to rein in online gambling advertising. Rather than banning wagering ads outright or requiring companies to get permission before showing them, the government announced this week that it would create a single opt-out register—a centralized system where people could tell all gambling companies at once to stop sending them ads, similar to the existing Do Not Call list for telemarketing.

Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced the proposal as part of amendments to the government's wagering advertising bill, which she hopes to pass through parliament by the end of the week. The register would be administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority and funded by the gambling industry itself through a new levy, rather than by taxpayers. Wells framed the move as a response to evidence gathered during a Senate inquiry, which found that people struggled to locate and use individual opt-out options scattered across different platforms—streaming services, social media, betting websites. A centralized register, the government argues, would give Australians a single place to manage their preferences.

The proposal represents a compromise between competing visions for how to handle gambling advertising. Some Labor and Liberal MPs, along with gambling harm advocates, have pushed for an "opt-in" model, where companies would need explicit permission before showing ads to anyone. Others have called for a complete ban on online wagering advertising altogether. Peta Murphy's influential 2023 parliamentary report recommended exactly that—a full ban. But the government rejected both approaches, instead building on its original "triple lock" system, which required ads to be shown only to logged-in users over 18 who had access to an opt-out button. Critics pointed out that this system had failed in practice: the opt-out buttons were hard to find, and only a tiny fraction of users ever used them.

The new register is meant to fix that problem without going as far as a ban. Wells told parliament that it would provide Australians with a "one-stop shop" to opt out of wagering ads across online platforms. The government has not yet released detailed information about how the register would actually function—how users would access it, how quickly it would take effect, or how companies would be required to verify and honor opt-out requests.

Beyond the register, the government's amendments also restrict the use of inducements—the free bets, bonus credits, and promotional offers that gambling companies use to attract and retain customers. The bill would prohibit inducement-based marketing to certain customers and ban commission-based referral arrangements that incentivize agents to sign people up. Wells said the government was "particularly concerned" about evidence showing that these inducements encourage gambling and worsen gambling-related harm.

The Coalition has not yet publicly committed to supporting the package, despite Labor's push to pass it quickly. A Senate inquiry into the bill will be tabled on Monday, and further amendments are expected to be outlined before the week is out. The government's hope is to have both bills through both houses of parliament by Thursday, but the outcome remains uncertain. For gambling harm advocates, the register represents progress but falls short of what they believe is necessary to protect vulnerable people from the relentless marketing of betting services.