This bill is currently before Parliament.
Health, care & disability
The bill would amend the Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act 2025 so the definition of public health mattersThe legal category in the Australian CDC Act that helps define the health issues the Australian Centre for Disease Control can address. The bill would add gambling harm and addiction to this category. expressly includes the health impacts of gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. and addiction.
Monique Ryan introduced the bill because the Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act 2025 already recognised public health mattersThe legal category in the Australian CDC Act that helps define the health issues the Australian Centre for Disease Control can address. The bill would add gambling harm and addiction to this category. such as environmental health and the health effects of climate change, but did not expressly include gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities.. The explanatory memorandum says the bill would fill that gap by treating gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. as a public health issue, and Ryan’s second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026. speech linked that change to wider concern about gambling losses, gambling advertising, and the unimplemented recommendations of the 2023 Murphy inquiry into online gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities..
The bill links two policy debates that had already been running separately: how broad the new Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. should be, and whether gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. should be treated as a public health problem rather than mainly a consumer-protection or personal-responsibility issue. The collected sources show a narrow private member’s bill introduced while wider gambling reforms, including the government response to the Murphy inquiry and tools such as BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill., were still part of the national debate.
No significant public case against this specific bill is recorded in the collected debate so far. The available speeches support the bill and mainly criticise government delay on wider gambling reforms, so this page does not invent opposition arguments that are not in the supplied record.
Monique Ryan MP introduced this bill. Supportive speeches so far have come from some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
Not yet
Final passage
No final vote yet
The bill has not yet completed passage through Parliament.
Days since introduction
100 days
Updated 10 June 2026.
Meaning
The bill would amend the Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act 2025 so the definition of public health mattersThe legal category in the Australian CDC Act that helps define the health issues the Australian Centre for Disease Control can address. The bill would add gambling harm and addiction to this category. expressly includes the health impacts of gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. and addiction.
The new public-health category would cover financial distress, mental health impacts, and impacts on families and communities from gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. and addiction.
The explanatory memorandum says the change is meant to treat gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. as a significant public health issue, rather than only as individual behaviour or personal responsibility.
If passed, the change would let the Director-GeneralThe head of the Australian Centre for Disease Control. The explanatory memorandum says the amendment would empower the Director-General to publish information and provide advice on gambling harm. of the Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. develop and publish information, promote information, and give advice about the health impacts of gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities..
The bill would start the day after Royal AssentThe final formal approval a bill needs before it can become an Act. This bill had not received Royal Assent in the collected record. if it passed. In the collected APH record, it was still before the House of Representatives and had not become an Act.
Section 5 (at the end of the definition of public health matters) Add: ; (i) the health impacts of gambling harm and addiction, including financial distress, mental health impacts, and the impacts on families and communities.Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) introduced bill text
the health impacts of gambling harm and addiction, including financial distress, mental health impacts, and the impacts on families and communities.Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) introduced bill text
In doing so, this Bill formally recognises gambling harm as a significant public health issue rather than solely a matter of individual behaviour or personal responsibility.Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) explanatory memorandum
This definitional change will enable to Director-General of the Australian Centre for Disease Control to develop, publish and promote information on the health impacts of gambling harm. Further, the amendment will statutorily empower the Director-General to provide advice on the health impacts of gambling harm to various stakeholdersAustralian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) explanatory memorandum
The whole of this Act The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) introduced bill text
Context
The bill links two policy debates that had already been running separately: how broad the new Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. should be, and whether gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. should be treated as a public health problem rather than mainly a consumer-protection or personal-responsibility issue. The collected sources show a narrow private member’s bill introduced while wider gambling reforms, including the government response to the Murphy inquiry and tools such as BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill., were still part of the national debate.
Murphy inquiry report becomes reform anchor
Monique Ryan’s speech said the Murphy reportThe 2023 House inquiry report on online gambling harm, formally titled You win some, you lose more. Supporters of this bill used it as a key reason for treating gambling harm as a public health issue. into gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. was tabled on 28 June 2023 and included recommendations that treated gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. from a public health perspective, including a national strategy and a harm-reduction levy.
House second reading speech ↗BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill. starts as a harm-minimisation tool
The Department of Infrastructure source says BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill. launched on 21 August 2023, letting people self-exclude from Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services.
Department of Infrastructure ↗Australian CDCThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act receives assent
The Australian Centre for Disease ControlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act 2025 created the public health body that this bill would amend. Ryan’s speech described that earlier Act as giving Australia, for the first time, an Australian centre for disease controlThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on..
Parliament of Australia and House second reading speech ↗BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill. review tabled in Parliament
The Department of Infrastructure source says the statutory review of BetStopThe national self-exclusion register for Australian licensed online and telephone wagering services. It is part of the broader gambling-harm policy context, not something created by this bill. was tabled in Parliament shortly before this bill was introduced, keeping online gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. minimisation on the policy agenda.
Department of Infrastructure ↗Ryan introduces CDC gambling-harm bill
The bill was introduced and its second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026. was moved in the House of Representatives. Its practical change was to add gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. and addiction to the Australian CDCThe national public health body created by the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025. This bill would add gambling harm to the public health matters it can work on. Act’s definition of public health mattersThe legal category in the Australian CDC Act that helps define the health issues the Australian Centre for Disease Control can address. The bill would add gambling harm and addiction to this category..
Parliament of Australia ↗Government response to inquiry published
The Department of Infrastructure source records publication of the Australian Government response to the House inquiry report on online gambling and its impacts. The collected APH record for this bill still did not show passage or final Act status.
Department of Infrastructure ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026. moved
Key criticism
No significant public case against this specific bill is recorded in the collected debate so far. The available speeches support the bill and mainly criticise government delay on wider gambling reforms, so this page does not invent opposition arguments that are not in the supplied record.
The source bundle does not include opposition speeches, committee submissions, industry responses, divisions or amendments on this bill. Criticism may emerge later if the bill is debated further.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes have been found yet for this bill.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Monique Ryan supported her bill as a narrow way to recognise gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. as a public health matter, arguing that gambling causes financial, mental-health and family harm and that public health experts should be able to report and advise on those harms.
Read in Hansard ↗Kate Chaney seconded and supported the bill, saying gambling harmThe damage gambling can cause beyond money lost, including mental health impacts, financial distress and effects on families and communities. should be treated like other public health problems because the harms are predictable, preventable and shaped by an industry environment designed to maximise addiction.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 2 support
“This new bill, the Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) Bill, formally recognises gambling as a public health matter, and it will enable public health experts to produce evidence based reports and data on the harms of gambling”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I'm pleased to support the member for Kooyong's bill to recognise gambling harm as a public health issue. ... This is a public health problem because it affects whole communities, because the harm is predictable and preventable”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026. opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe parliamentary stage where a bill’s broad purpose and principles are debated. The second reading for this bill was moved on 2 March 2026., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
