Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, National Self-exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026, Interactive Gambling (Cost Recovery Levy) Bill 2026

Senator LIDDLE (South Australia—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (10:57): The coalition has agreed to support the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 only because it changed significantly from what Labor first put on offer. This is a better bill today than the one they first put forward, and it is a better bill because the coalition did the work Labor should've done.

I commend my colleague Senator Henderson for her continued efforts. The coalition acknowledges the importance of protecting children from gambling harm and gambling advertising while respecting the choices of adults who gamble responsibly. The coalition did the hard work that Labor should've done.

There are tens of thousands of Australians, including thousands of South Australians, whose job depends on a wagering and racing industry that operates within the law. They deserve that scrutiny. The Murphy report, You win some, you lose more, was handed down in June 2023.

It was a thorough piece of work led by the late Peta Murphy and it deserved a considered, timely government response. Instead, after three years of delay by Labor, we now work constructively to fix serious holes in Labor's bill and deliver practical, proportionate reform. Three years is how long it took this Labor government to respond to a report that warned of the harm gambling is doing to Australian families.

In that time, the number of Australians caught up in addiction or not-yet punters that were ripe for recruitment has grown. When the response finally came on 12 May this year, it was tabled on budget day, which is the one day that is guaranteed to bury it in the news cycle. So much for transparency and accountability; we've seen that promise broken over and over again by this Labor government.

South Australians deserve better than to have a government that treats gambling harm as a media management problem rather than a policy problem that deserves real attention. When the exposure draft of this bill was released in May and the bill was introduced into the House in July, it became immediately apparent that it had serious shortfalls. That is why coalition senators strongly backed referring this bill to a Senate inquiry conducted by the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee.

Time and again, as is commonplace with government bills, the inquiry heard that the bill, in its original form, was not good enough—so we listened and then we acted. The committee heard from former NRL player Luke Bateman, whose testimony about the tactics used by some licensed wagering companies to target gambling addicts was confronting and courageous. We heard from allied professionals, from advocates and from families who lived through the damage of gambling addiction and what it can do to a household.

We heard again and again that the bill as drafted did not go far enough to stop predatory targeting of vulnerable gamblers and, in some respects, actually weakened protections that already existed. After two days of hearings, the shadow minister for communications and digital safety was clear and public about what she saw: the coalition could not support this bill in its form back then.

This was a considered judgement based on evidence and is precisely the kind of scrutiny this parliament exists to provide. Because of that position, because the coalition was willing to say 'no' until the defects and shortcomings were addressed, here we are today, finally talking about a bill with real substantive improvements. Sport time should be family time.

Parents should be able to watch footy with the kids without gambling advertising being pushed at them at every turn, whether they are watching on television or streaming online. I think of Adelaide Oval on a Saturday afternoon, of families packed onto the hill or gathered around the TV at home, watching the Crows or Port—kids and pets in club colours, parents just wanting to enjoy the game together with the whole family.

That is what this reform is about. Labor's original bill could have allowed up to three gambling advertisements an hour during children's programming. That was never going to be acceptable, and the coalition won't waive that through.

We have strengthened protections around children's programs and live sport, including bringing online streaming rules into line with broadcast protections. That's the right thing to do. This matters because the way Australians watch sport has changed.

A blackout on gambling advertising that only applies to free-to-air television while mainstreaming services are left untouched is a loophole, not a protection. South Australian families streaming the football on their tablets deserve the same protection as those watching on the television in a lounge room. The coalition insisted that online platforms be brought up to the same standard as broadcast, and that is now reflected in this bill.

We have acted on predatory inducements. The Senate inquiry heard confronting evidence about vulnerable gamblers being targeted with significant inducements. Labor's original bill did not properly deal with that problem.

This was, to my mind, one of the most serious gaps in the government's original approach. We heard directly through this inquiry that some operators are identifying so-called 'red flag gamblers'—people already showing signs of harmful behaviour—and specifically targeting them with inducements designed to keep them betting. That's predatory conduct—not acceptable to the coalition.

The coalition would not accept a bill that left that loophole open, and we pushed hard to see it addressed. We have secured tougher action against illegal gambling advertising flooding social media as well as global online opt-out registers, so Australians have a one-stop shop to opt out of gambling advertising online. It's simple and makes opt-out services easily accessible to vulnerable Australians should they need it, should they choose to do that.

Illegal offshore wagering operators do not play by Australian rules, and they should not be allowed to advertise as though they do. Strengthening payment-blocking and website-blocking powers, and giving Australians a genuine, simple way to opt out of gambling advertising altogether, are practical measures that will make a difference to households who want to reduce their exposure to this content.

It will make a difference to Australian families. This is a sensible middle ground. We should be tough on gambling harm and protect children without treating every Australian who enjoys an occasional punt as a problem gambler.

I want to be clear about something, because I think it gets lost in this debate: gambling done responsibly is a legal and legitimate form of entertainment for millions of Australians. The gambling sector directly employs around 33,000 Australians, and gambling taxes generate more than $10 billion a year for the essential services Australians rely on. Thoroughbred racing alone contributes more than $13 billion in economic activity and supports over 100,000 jobs, half of them in regional communities, including right across regional South Australia from Port Lincoln to Mount Gambier.

None of that changes the fact that gambling causes real harm. In 2023-24, Australians lost more than $32 billion on legal gambling. That's among the highest rates of loss per person anywhere in the world.

Wagering losses make up around a quarter of that figure. Gambling addiction can bring psychological distress, broken relationships, financial ruin and workplace harm. Both things are true at once, and good policy has to hold both truths at the same time rather than pretending one does not exist.

The coalition has a strong record of practical gambling reforms, including BetStop and the National Consumer Protection Framework, which bans betting companies from offering sign up inducements. This agreement builds on the coalition's record. It was the former government, the coalition government, that introduced the 2018 ban on wagering advertising during live sport broadcasts, including that five-minute blackout before and after the game, because we understand that footy time is family time.

It's the best time. That coalition government legislated BetStop, the national self-exclusion register, which has already made a genuine difference to thousands of Australians trying to manage their own gambling. And that coalition government banned sign up inducements through the National Consumer Protection Framework.

This builds on the coalition's record. The task of all sides of this parliament is to build a framework that protects Australians from foreseeable harm while preserving a lawfully, properly regulated industry that supports real jobs and real communities. It is incumbent on all of us to guard against causing unnecessary harm to the wagering sector—and, in turn, to the racing industry and, in turn, to the tens of thousands of Australian jobs that depend on it—while never losing sight of the families who have been hurt by gambling addiction and doing what we can to protect those who are caught up in addiction.

The government took more than three years to bring forward serious reforms in this space. It is because of the coalition—because we referred this bill to scrutiny, because we listened to the evidence and because we held firm until real changes were made—that this bill is now one we can responsibly pass and support. Protect children, protect vulnerable Australians, respect the choices of adults who gamble responsibly and protect the jobs of tens of thousands that depend on lawful, properly regulated industry.

That's what this is. This is the balance this parliament should and must get right. Will Labor govern with balance, or will they continue to fail to govern with balance and respect for our most vulnerable people?

This is a better bill because the coalition did the hard work, which Labor should have done from the very beginning, to protect Australian families and also protect the industry.