PM Warns Gambling Ad Ban Could Push Players Offshore

According to industry insiders, if licensed Australian companies are left without visibility through advertising, they’ll be at a serious competitive disadvantage, while international platforms could continue to attract more and more bettors online with attractive odds and aggressive promotions.

The federal government has been under pressure to find a solution to the influence of offshore betting sites and casinos. These sites remain easily accessible to Australians, but operate outside the reach of local regulators and tax authorities. Industry specialists warn that an outright ban on all gambling ads would only make matters worse for local betting companies, who already struggle to compete with their international competition.

Australia has already tightened the screws for advertising on local betting operators. Ever since March 30, 2025, betting sites cannot show betting ads during daytime live sport broadcasts (from 5 AM to 8:30 PM), and they also cannot show any betting ads 5 minutes before and after the match has started.

On top of that, the government launched the BetStop reform in 2023, which is a national self-exclusion register where users can voluntarily self-exclude from any licensed betting venue. As a part of the reform, Australia banned the use of credit cards for online wagering, and Australians got even more tools to manage their budget and how they gamble online.

According to anti-gambling campaigners, though, heavy advertising fuels problem gaming, especially among young men, but industry stakeholders claim that going too hard against the betting ads risks pushing even more players to offshore sites.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly noted that poker machines at bars and pubs cause far greater harm than advertising from licensed bookmakers. With around 200,000 pokies spread across pubs and clubs, they account for the majority of gambling-related problems in the country.

“The truth is that poker machines cause far more damage than advertising on TV,” said one government source, hinting that the real battleground for reform lies in pubs and clubs rather than in sports broadcasts.

Industry insiders argue that this distinction matters because while licensed bookmakers are heavily regulated and already restricted in how they advertise, pokies remain widely available and far less talked about in reform debates.

Over-targeting betting ads, they say, risks weakening licensed online operators and driving Australians to unregulated offshore websites without tackling the bigger problem of poker machines.

The ongoing debate has left two very divided groups. Bookmakers argue that advertising is vital for maintaining a level playing field against their offshore competition, but on the other side, reform advocates say that the saturation of gambling ads during sport fuels betting for young audiences.

With parliament due to revisit the gambling regulation later this year, the Prime Minister’s comments set the tone for a slower and more considered process. Instead of placing an outright ban on all betting ads, the government is likely to explore incremental changes, like tightening the rules where necessary, while being cautious not to push bettors to offshore sites.