The ACT Greens have called on the territory government to take immediate action on gambling advertising, accusing Federal Labor of bowing to industry pressure and warning Canberra cannot wait for national reform.

Rebecca Vassarotti MLA, Greens spokesperson for gambling harm, said the ACT Government should ban gambling advertising in local sports precincts, beginning with GIO Stadium, Canberra’s largest sporting venue.

The Greens also want the government to pursue geo-restrictions on online gambling ads during major sporting events and to advocate for stronger national advertising laws than the federal government’s proposed 8.30pm cut-off.

Ms Vassarotti said the calls reflected the views of anti-gambling advocates, including the Canberra Gambling Reform Alliance.

“Right now, massive corporations with vested interests are taking over this country,” Ms Vassarotti said. “They are not operating in the interests of our community, and they are certainly not operating in the interests of our children.”

Ms Vassarotti said gambling advertising had become deeply embedded in Australian sport, and said research from The Australia Institute showed teenagers are more likely to have gambled than played sport themselves.

“Big corporations have conditioned a new generation to believe that you cannot love sport without placing a punt,” Ms Vassarotti said.

“The saturation of gambling ads has infected Australian sport like a disease. By relentlessly inundating 12-to-17-year-olds with constant betting promotions during family-friendly match times, the gambling industry has successfully brainwashed our kids. As a parent, I know our community has had enough.”

Ms Vassarotti’s comments follow the Albanese government’s latest proposal to restrict gambling advertising, which the Greens have criticised as too weak and “practically written by the gambling lobby”.

Federally, Labor has introduced the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, which would ban social media gambling influencers, restrict gambling advertising during live sport, and regulate emerging lottery products. Its passage has been delayed by two months after the Coalition and Greens pushed for the bill to be sent to a Senate inquiry.

Independent Senator David Pocock has also criticised the bill, saying Labor’s proposal would not protect Australians, particularly children, from gambling advertising. He warned that it failed to implement the 2023 Murphy inquiry’s recommendation of a comprehensive ban on online gambling advertising.

He will move amendments to strengthen it, including a full ban on gambling advertising across all platforms within three years, a ban on gambling inducements, and stronger restrictions on betting ads during live sport.

“Faced with a once in a generation opportunity to break the nexus between gambling and sport and stop Australians being the world’s biggest losers on gambling, the Prime Minister has squibbed it,” Senator Pocock said. “The PM has put vested interests ahead of what’s best for the Australian people and has failed future generations.”

Ms Vassarotti said an 8.30pm cut-off for gambling ads would not adequately protect families, because many live sporting broadcasts continue later into the evening and are watched by children and young people.

“It simply safeguards the massive profits of the gambling industry,” Ms Vassarotti said.

Although federal regulations heavily shape gambling advertising, Ms Vassarotti said the ACT had the power to act locally.

“Too often, as a small territory, we suffer from a lack of imagination and a lack of belief that we can legislate to tackle these big issues,” Ms Vassarotti said. “But the reality is, we have the levers, we have the power, all we need is a bit of collaboration and old-fashioned political will.”

She also criticised the ACT Government’s record on gambling reform this term, saying it had announced “exactly zero new reforms to reduce gambling harm”.

Dr Marisa Paterson, ACT Minister for Gambling Reform, said the ACT Government was committed to reducing gambling harm and would work constructively with the Commonwealth on reforming gambling advertising, as well as online gambling.

Dr Paterson said many of the measures the Greens proposed related to areas regulated by the Commonwealth, and she questioned how geo-restricted online advertising would work in practice.

“Online advertising is delivered through complex national and international systems,” Dr Paterson said. “How would an ACT law prevent an advertisement served from Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore or California appearing on the phone of a Canberra resident? How would compliance be monitored? Who would enforce it? And what would happen when such proposed Territory laws collide with national regulatory arrangements?”

The government was focused on progressing its own gambling harm reduction agenda by the end of the term, including mandatory cashless gaming across all ACT clubs; reducing the number of gaming machines in the ACT; and modernising the self-exclusion system, Dr Paterson said.

Dr Paterson said there were no gambling advertising contracts in place at ACT Government venues, although venue hirers, including sporting teams, might have their own arrangements. An audit in May found no gambling advertising at Raiders and Brumbies games, but UniBet branding appeared on LED perimeter signage and video board graphics at a Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL game.

The government had expanded the Gambling Harm Prevention and Mitigation Fund to allow more research organisations and expert advocacy groups to advise government on reducing gambling-related harm, Dr Paterson said.

“The ACT Government will continue to pursue evidence-based reforms that reduce gambling harm and support better outcomes for individuals, families and the broader community,” Dr Paterson said.