Expanded Cost Recovery for the Operation of the Register
National Self-exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Anika Wells ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The recent statutory review of BetStop the National Self-Exclusion Register, tabled in February 2026, found only one in four people are aware that BetStop exists. And among people who placed a bet in the last 12 months, it was still only one in three. We need to make sure every Australian knows about this vital service.”
Renee Coffey ALP
“Gambling has harmed too many Australian families for too long. When I was first elected last year, a mother from my community came to see me in my electorate office in Griffith. She told me that her husband had been gambling behind her back and without her knowledge. He had lost all their money. Everything they had was gone, and his gambling had left their family deep in debt.”
Melissa McIntosh LIB
“When it comes to gambling reform, Australians haven’t just been left waiting; they’ve been left exposed. This government hasn’t been slow; it has been completely missing in action, and delay has been the Prime Minister’s policy.”
Shayne Neumann ALP
“Dr Louise Francis, in a paper she wrote on 5 March 2026, said that, when she started her research into gambling and its adverse effects in 2014, the annual gambling losses in Australia were $21 billion. Today, she said, it was $31.5 billion. A decade ago, it was $1,200 per adult, and she made the point that it had jumped per capita to more than $1,500.”
Helen Haines IND
“Every day, Australians are exposed to a relentless stream of gambling ads. The gambling industry does not spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising every year because it has no effect. They do it because it works. Studies show a clear and consistent link between gambling ads and gambling activity and, consequently, gambling harm. Not all gambling is harmful.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“There’s no moment in an Australian football match you can’t bet on: the result, the quarter, the margin, the next goal, the bloke who kicks it. The game has been carved up into markets the way a butcher works through a carcase, and every one of those markets is live while the ball is in the air. That didn’t happen by accident and that didn’t happen because we asked for it.”
Anne Webster NAT
“First of all, I want to say that there are some subjects in the House that have bipartisan support. We all want to see the harm from gambling reduced. How that is done and what is implemented may or may not actually end up with that outcome. This is about outcomes. It should never be about the headline.”
Tom French ALP
“I rise to support the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, and the related national self-exclusion register legislation. There is no point pretending that this bill is easy. It is controversial. Some believe the government have gone too far; others believe we have not gone nearly far enough. Broadcasters are concerned about revenue.”
Andrew Wallace LNP
“I rise to speak on the really important Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 in this place today with a great deal of passion. It’s clear that today is a day where reasonable minds will differ about how we should best go about changing the scourge that is gambling and its impacts on our local communities across this country.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. It was not until my mid-30s that I realised just how addictive, how harmful and how toxic online gambling could be. I’m a sports lover. I love most sports—except for those involving animals, which I cannot stand.”
Darren Chester NAT
“I want to begin by acknowledging the contribution of the former member for Dunkley Peta Murphy in this public debate of great importance.”
Ms ROBERTS
“The incorporated speech read as follows— I would like to speak in strong support of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026.”
“There’s a saying in politics, and that is that you shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. With the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, though, I feel like it’s ’Don’t let the woefully inadequate be the enemy of the good.”
Sarah Witty ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. I want to begin with a story from a father in Melbourne who contacted my office. He told me about his 12-year-old son, a basketball fanatic, a kid who loves sport. Like many families, they spend time together watching games, following players and talking about results.”
Kate Chaney IND
“I’ve spent a lot of time in this building talking about gambling reform. The Murphy review was the first inquiry that I participated in, and the personal stories were heartbreaking. I was really impressed by the committee process: the government identifying an issue that needed action; all sides working together, genuinely interested in understanding the issue and what needs to be done.”
Madonna Jarrett ALP
“Having a punt is a normal part of a weekend for many, and for many gambling can be enjoyed responsibly. But gambling can become a highly destructive addiction without the right safeguards and support measures in place.”
Nicolette Boele IND
“We know the statistics, and they’re frightening. Australia has less than one per cent of the world’s population but 18 per cent of its poker machines. We gamble the highest amount per capita globally, and we lose more money per person to gambling than any other country on Earth. How much money?”
Matt Burnell ALP
“The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 and the National Self-Exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026 are important reforms. They are legislative changes that recognise a simple reality: gambling in Australia has changed dramatically over the past decade yet our laws have struggled to keep pace.”
Josh Burns ALP
“The former member for Dunkley, Peta Murphy, was a great friend of mine. In fact, she liked to tease me from time to time. When I was giving speeches in this place, if I didn’t focus on the material, she used to call it ’story time with Josh’, and only Peta could distil it down to that in such a great way. But I will try not to have ’story time with Josh’, Peta.”
Sam Birrell NAT
“I too rise to speak on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. I was one of a group of members of this parliament who signed an open letter to the Prime Minister, along with former prime minister Howard and retired state premiers.”
Leon Rebello LNP
“I rise to speak on the gambling legislation before the House today. This is an area where I think we need to start from a fairly simple proposition: adults should be free to make choices for themselves, but with that freedom comes personal responsibility.”
Lisa Chesters ALP
“We stand here today with a comprehensive set of reforms before us. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the work that’s gone into the legislation that’s before us. I’ve been in the parliament for 13 years now. I’ve had lots of opportunities to be the chair and deputy chair of House committees, prepared lots of reports with lots of recommendations. I want to address this issue up front.”
Ms BELL
“I rise today to speak on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. I want to thank the member for Nicholls for his outstanding contribution to this debate earlier. He highlighted some concerns very similar to those I have with Labor’s bill as well. I want to begin with something very simple.”
Jamie Chaffey NAT
“I rise to speak to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. We know Australians are amongst the biggest gamblers in the world. They like to have a go, they like to take a chance and they love to see the long shot come from behind to in front of others despite all odds.”
Dai Le IND
“A constituent of mine from Villawood said this just recently: ’I don’t want my community, especially our kids, growing up thinking gambling and sports are inseparable.’ He’s a father. He coaches his son’s junior side on Saturday mornings. He is not an activist. He has never lobbied a politician in his life, and he came to see me about something else entirely, but he needed to tell us that.”
Dan Tehan LIB
“I’ve got to start today by saying that I like a punt. I like a bet. I like having a beer with my mates and having a bet. I also have a stake in a couple of horses, and I love horseracing and the horseracing industry. I think there is no better sight in Australia than the Grand Annual steeplechase being run with 14,000 people there at the venue.”
Pat Conaghan NAT
“I’m pleased to rise to speak to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill and I do so as the former chair of the committee that put forward what is known as the Murphy report. I’m glad to be speaking last because I’ve listened to many of the contributions to this bill and it would seem that there is a broad misunderstanding of the role of the committee.”
Katy Gallagher ALP
“I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, and I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted.”
Sarah Henderson LIB
“I’m very pleased to rise to speak on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, National Self-exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026 and Interactive Gambling (Cost Recovery Levy) Bill 2026.”
“I rise to speak on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. We have a generation of Australian adults and Australian children who have grown up in an environment where gambling has become normalised—dangerously normalised. This has led to all kinds of harms both to the individual and to broader society. We know that around one in 10 Australians experience gambling harm.”
“The government has one core job, and that is to protect its citizens. The piece of legislation before us today, Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, fails to do exactly that. The Prime Minister and the leader of the coalition have not just failed to protect Australian citizens; they have failed the clearest moral test of all—to be honest about what they are failing to do.”
Kerrynne Liddle LIB
“The coalition has agreed to support the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 only because it changed significantly from what Labor first put on offer. This is a better bill today than the one they first put forward, and it is a better bill because the coalition did the work Labor should’ve done. I commend my colleague Senator Henderson for her continued efforts.”
Ellie Whiteaker ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. Australians love their sports.”
Paul Scarr LIB
“I will be supporting a number of the amendments of Senator Pocock today and I will be crossing the floor today.”
Charlotte Walker ALP
“I’d like to begin with something that will be very familiar to pretty much everyone my age or younger. Gambling ads are literally everywhere. When you watch the footy, they’re there. When you scroll on Instagram, they’re there. When you listen to a podcast or open a streaming service, there they are.”
Larissa Waters GRN
“I rise to speak on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, a bill that the Greens have opposed from the moment it was introduced by Labor. Every member of Labor should hang their heads in shame today. They say that the house always wins, and, boy, are they winning big today with this deal between Labor and the Liberals to deliver for the gambling industry.”
Ross Cadell NAT
“It’s interesting to rise to talk on the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 and to hear what is said on the other side. It’s been an interesting thing for me as we’ve gone through this process, because what was presented by this government was clearly unacceptable in its original form.”