What Part 7A bans today
A person must not broadcast, datacast or publish in Australia an advertisement for a designated interactive gambling service, which means a prohibited service or an unlicensed regulated one. The offence carries 120 penalty units and the civil penalty provision 180.
The 2026 Act raises the civil penalties for these two provisions from 180 to 1,000 penalty units. It also adds a ban on publishing such an advertisement on a social media service, with a civil penalty of 5,000 penalty units, and lets the ACMA give a notice requiring an online service to remove one within 24 hours.
Advertising rules for licensed wagering in Australia from 2027
Part 7C applies to advertising, sponsorship and promotional content for licensed wagering services. Each breach below carries a civil penalty of 1,000 penalty units.
| Rule | What the Act sets |
|---|---|
| Live sport, daytime | No wagering advertising in conjunction with live coverage of a sporting event between 5:00 am and 8:30 pm, from 15 minutes before the scheduled start to 5 minutes after the end |
| Live sport, overnight | Between 8:30 pm and 5:00 am the ban covers the coverage itself, from just before the scheduled start to just after the end, but not the breaks |
| Television frequency | No more than 3 wagering advertisements on a channel in any 60 minutes between 5:00 am and 8:30 pm |
| Radio, school days | None between 8 am and 9 am or between 3 pm and 4 pm on a school day |
| Children | None during children's programming, with a separate restriction for programs likely to be viewed by children |
| Uniforms and venues | None on the uniform of a sporting participant or official or at a sporting event venue |
| Notable people | No sponsorship deals or featured appearances by current or former athletes, celebrities, influencers or other prominent individuals |
| Odds | No promotion of odds in broadcasts and datacasts, except on dedicated wagering channels |
Horse, harness and greyhound racing is treated differently: the uniform, venue and odds rules do not apply to it, and dedicated racing programs, channels and online services are exempt from several of the others.
Where wagering content may appear online
An online service may carry wagering advertising content only if it takes reasonable steps to keep restricted users from it, makes people use registered accounts to see it and lets those accounts opt out. Restricted users include anyone under 18, anyone who has not confirmed their age and anyone not using a registered account.
The reform also sets up the Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register. Once it opens, a person on it must not be shown wagering advertising by an online service that relies on the reasonable steps exception. The Act leaves the opening date to a proclamation.
Inducements
Part 7D, starting on the same date, limits what a licensed wagering provider may offer customers. It may not send messages or make calls offering inducements to certain customers, may not place inducement material before them on social media, and may not pay commissions linked to customer activity such as signing up or depositing. The reform page lists the other changes.
Sources
- Interactive Gambling Act 2001, Part 7A, Federal Register of Legislation
- Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026, Schedules 1, 2, 4A and 4B, assented to 26 August 2026