By Andrew Brown in Canberra

A deal to pass gambling ad reforms could still be struck in the next sitting fortnight, according to the health minister, with changes to betting inducements on the cards.

The federal government is seeking Senate support for its gambling reforms that would limit betting ads to three per hour between 6am and 8.30pm.

The reforms would also ban gambling ads from live sport, stadiums and player jerseys, but the coalition and Greens have criticised the proposal for not going far enough.

Health Minister Mark Butler said he was assured a compromise would be struck with either the Greens or opposition on bolstering the laws.

“I’m confident again over the course of this sitting fortnight there will be constructive discussions between the government and the opposition about that,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“If parliamentarians, particularly the opposition and crossbench, have some ideas about improving that, we’ll work through that in the deliberate way that you’d expect.”

The government has been criticised for not following through with all the recommendations from a 2023 report by late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which called for a total ban on gambling ads.

But the minister rejected claims the government had not taken action on gambling harms.

“It’s not as if we were sitting on our hands. We were putting in place very significant protections against gambling harm,” he said.

“(We were) thinking through what a balanced response to the the broader recommendations … from that inquiry report would look like, taking into account the need to maintain a robust sporting system, the broadcaster interests, while also always keeping an eye on the protection against gambling harm.”

Mr Butler said amendments cracking down on inducements for gamblers will also likely be on the table as part of negotiations.

It follows evidence given at a Senate inquiry earlier in August, where it was alleged major gambling companies offered inducement such as drugs and sex workers.

The industry has rejected the claims.

“Obviously, inducements got a lot of attention last week. I’d be surprised if they weren’t the subject of discussion over the course of this fortnight ,” Mr Butler said.

“The evidence last week was pretty shocking and got a lot of coverage, and was obviously noticed by all of us.”

Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said changes to gambling laws needed to be meaningful and protect vulnerable people.

“We’ll be working with the government in good faith, negotiating with them over the next day or two to make sure that this legislation works for everybody,” she told ABC Radio.

“The most important thing, though, is that we take meaningful action on those predatory inducements … there’s a lot of support for that in the party room.

“We also (want) to make sure that the laws don’t weaken the existing protections that we have around gambling advertising.”

Labor would need the support of either the coalition or the Greens to get the reforms through the upper house.

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