THE federal government has tabled its official response to the outcome of an anti-gambling inquiry chaired by late Dunkley MP Peta Murphy.
The “You win some, you lose more” report, more commonly referred to as the “Murphy Report” in Canberra, was published in mid-2024. The federal government finally announced its planned gambling reform earlier this year and tabled its full response to the report in Parliament last week.
The federal government has been criticised for not acting on all of the Murphy Report’s recommendations to reduce gambling harm. Its response to the report read that “The Government notes the 31 recommendations made by the Committee. The Government announced a package of gambling reforms on 2 April 2026, to better protect Australians from the harms of online gambling. These reforms were informed by the work of the Committee and a number of these measures also build on what was proposed in the Online Gambling Inquiry report, in response to new and emerging challenges.”
“The Government is taking action to address the prevalence and saturation of wagering advertising, with a focus on minimising the dangers of exposing children and vulnerable people to wagering advertisements. The Government’s reforms represent a balanced approach while targeting key community concerns around the proliferation of wagering advertising,” the response read. “The Government will boost enforcement against illegal online gambling services to stop these sites from operating within Australia, but outside of Australia’s laws and consumer protections.”
The response also read that the federal government would work with the states and territories to ban online keno, enhance protections against foreign-matched lotteries, and examine the exemptions currently afforded to rewards club activities and introduce changes to support national regulation.
In April, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the federal government plans to legislate “restricting gambling advertising on broadcast television to no more than three ads each hour between 6am and 8.30pm, with a complete ban during live sport broadcasts within those hours; banning gambling ads on the radio during school drop off and pick up times; banning gambling ads through online platforms, unless people have a logged in account, are over 18 and have the option to opt-out of gambling advertising; banning the use of celebrities and sports players in gambling ads, along with odds-style ads targeting sports fans; and banning gambling ads in sports venues and on players’ and officials’ uniforms.” (Gambling reforms ‘significant’ – MP, The News 4/5/26).
First published in the Mornington News – 19 May 2026
