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Stricter rules around problem gambling affecting some of the largest bookmakers in Australia will undergo first reading next week.

Introduced by independent Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Justine Davis, the bill seeks to impose a ban on player incentives such as bonus and VIP schemes, as well as introduce monthly deposit limits on players aged 18 to 21 (AU$500), and 21 to 24 (AU$1,000).

The provision will be introduced in the Northern Territory, where 50 online bookmakers are currently licensed, such as bet365, SportsBet and Ladbrokes – three of the top four biggest brands in Australia as ranked by Blask.

Disciplinary penalties for non-compliance will go up from the current ceiling of $194,000 to $10m, or an alternative maximum of 10% of an operator’s annual revenue.

Australia’s Labor government under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese introduced a number of separate, wide-sweeping federal reforms earlier in August, which saw stricter marketing rules such as a whistle-to-whi..

Dabble Sports has paid a penalty of over AUS $1m to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after an investigation found several breaches of its online gambling self-exclusion rules.

Alongside the $1,069,200 in penalties, the operator has also given a court-enforceable undertaking to ensure future compliance, after the ACMA investigation found it failed to close 157 wagering accounts after account holders registered with the national self-exclusion register BetStop.

The investigation also found that 165 self-excluded people had been sent a total of 839 electronic messages – SMS, emails and app push notifications – by Dabble. 45 customers had been sent over 2,000 push notifications without including BetStop information, a requirement under the gambling self-exclusion rules.

Online gambling self-exclusion rules state that wagering accounts of people registered with BetStop must be closed by operators as soon as practicable, in addition to stopping electronic marketing..

Seemingly overnight, GTA Online players in Australia have been barred from engaging with any of the games on offer in the video game title’s virtual Diamond Resort Casino venue.

Users took to Reddit to report that they are no longer able to play in the casino, which as a side note only accepts virtual in-game currency.

While this currency can be purchased with real-life money, it is designed to be spent within the limits of GTA Online and on everything that the game has to offer – including entertainment like cinemas, arcades, and the casino.

The casino features were apparently taken out from GTA Online without any official statement by neither game developer Rockstar nor the Australian government itself.

The move adds on to a bigger question within the video game industry about altering a product that the customer has already purchased, but that’s a topic for another day.

Not to mention that GTA Online carries an age rating of 18+. Australia recently passed a law that requires ..

The Australian Parliament has passed the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, changing how gambling advertisements are displayed across media platforms in the country.

The bill from the Albanese government was finally passed earlier this week after months of debate, following a 2023 Peta Murphy-led inquiry into gambling advertising in the country which called for a complete ban.

However, the 2026 gambling reform bill has stopped short of going that far. Wagering advertising across television, radio and online will now be reduced as part of goals to form stronger protections for minors and those most at risk of gambling harm.

Three years on from its introduction, reforms have also been introduced for BetStop, Australia’s self-exclusion programme, based on the outcomes of a recent statutory review.

Several components of the announced bill will be enforced by the country’s gambling regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Australia ..

Philippine Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero believes a countrywide ban on gambling advertising across all media platforms would be the ‘first step in a broader effort to reduce gambling‑related harm’, helping to lay the groundwork for future regulation.

Escudero proposed Senate Bill No. 2347, which calls for ‘firm, legally enforceable limits on how gambling platforms promote themselves’, banning their promotion on TV, radio, print, websites and on social media platforms.

Bill No. 2347 would prohibit gambling advertisements and promotions, ban the use of celebrity endorsers and influencers, disallow bonus incentives that encourage betting, and bar the placement of gambling content across online, electronic, and physical media.

Escudero mentioned on his ‘Chiz Wiz! Usapang May Laman’ podcast this weekend that the legislation will help to prevent problem gambling and protect vulnerable citizens, stating: “What is needed is a law on advertising because you need to regulate private compani..

The Australian government continues to hash out the logistics of its gambling advertising legislation, but progress is fraught by politicial divisions amongst key players on the regulation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been holding talks with opposition leader Angus Taylor to negotiate the legislation, with potential points discussed including betting inducement restrictions, cutting back TV advertising, and streaming rules adjustments.

The Labor government has been in conversation with both the Coalition – Liberal and National – and the Greens in a desperate bid to end the logjam and push the gambling advertising bill through the Senate.

Such legislation has been on the table for the past three years since initially proposed by the late Peta Murphy in her parliamentary inquiry into online gambling.

However, according to The Guardian, the Coalition was split on the direction of the legislation during a party room discussion, with nine MPs making their voices heard.

Five M..

Tabcorp (TAB) has been issued a second penalty in just over a year by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in relation to spam law breaches.

The Australian regulator announced that TAB has paid over AUS$2.7m (approximately €1.7m) in penalties after multiple spam and telemarketing law breaches were discovered following an investigation.

An ACMA investigation found that between February 2024 and June 2025, TAB made ‘telemarketing calls to VIP customers that included 351 calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent, 82 calls outside permitted hours, and nearly 4,000 calls without properly identifying itself as the caller and/or the purpose of the call’.

In addition, the operator self-reported that it sent over 217,000 marketing emails and SMS over a 16-day period to customers who had unsubscribed from specific marketing channels.

“The scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB’s compliance systems.”

ACMA member Samantha Yo..

The Supreme Court of India has upheld constitutional rights for states of the union to govern gaming activities on individual terms.

The judgment comes as the federal government implements the first phase of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules (PROGA) 2026, authorised on 1 May 2026.

Due to PROGA’s adoption, the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had asked the Supreme Court to provide clarity on whether the new federal framework superseded individual states’ autonomy to set and control gaming laws.

The states urged transparency on interpretations of PROGA relating to gaming categories such as rummy, poker and other skill-based games, arguing that state authorities should retain the power to intervene where gaming activities are deemed detrimental to public welfare.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court determined that states continue to hold legislative authority to regulate, restrict or prohibit online gaming activities where measures are enacted in the interests of..