A document obtained under Freedom of Information laws suggests Australia’s communications regulator is co-ordinating their media responses with the very same bodies they are meant to be regulating.
The document showed how the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) dealt with a journalist’s inquiry into whether Northern Territory Cricket had breached gambling advertising laws by partnering with an unregistered offshore gambling company.
After receiving the journalist’s questions about an NT Cricket 2023 partnership with Dafabet, an offshore bookmaker that was not licensed in Australia, a senior media advisor at ACMA wrote to NT Cricket CEO Gavin Dovey to see “if it might be worth discussing our approaches to make sure we are on the same page”.
“Thanks for the call, I always find it best to co-ordinate this type of response or run the risk of everyone looking silly if we contradict each other,” the ACMA media advisor wrote in a later email.
It might be worth discussing our approaches to make sure we are on the same page
ACMA email to NT Cricket CEO Gavin Dovey
NT Cricket’s ‘Top End T20 Series’ in 2023 was ‘powered by Dafabet’ and the company’s logo featured prominently around the ground, social media posts and was even printed on the stumps. The sponsorship arrangement did not appear to continue beyond 2023. We asked NT Cricket the reason why and did not receive a response.
ACMA responded to the journalist that they had “contacted NT Cricket to let them know about the advertising prohibitions in the Interactive Gambling Act”, however no further action appears to have been taken.
It’s not the first time ACMA has been in the spotlight for its perceived cosy relationship with the industries it is meant to regulate and an alleged weak approach to the gambling advertising laws it is meant to enforce.
In July 2025, CHOICE reported that the regulator had sent a draft media release to Foxtel announcing a sanction on the company three days prior to publishing the statement that Foxtel had breached gambling advertising laws.
The ABC reported in December 2025, that ACMA had “watered down” a press release announcing a sanction against international gambling giant Sportsbet, after the gambling company requested they “tempered” the quotes in a draft release criticising the company.
Looking silly is the least of ACMA’s problems. Being an inconsequential regulator is far worse
Lauren Levin, Gambling Policy Hub
Consumer protection and gambling regulation expert Lauren Levin, from Gambling Policy Hub, says these stories together show a pattern of a compromised regulator.
“It seems that ACMA operates as a regulator wanting to be industry’s friend, when the consumer interest requires ACMA to be a strong regulator out to protect consumers,” Levin says.
“ACMA is a regulator scared of its own shadow. Instead of taking enforcement action for an Australian sports body receiving sponsorship of an illegal, unlicensed offshore gambling operator, ACMA seemingly reaches out to the NT Cricket Association to co-ordinate its media response so it doesn’t look ‘silly’,” she adds.
“Looking silly is the least of ACMA’s problems. Being an inconsequential regulator is far worse.”
The ACMA says it rejects any assertion that it is not holding companies to account in line with its regulatory purpose and powers.
“Our compliance and enforcement activities are designed to stop unlawful conduct, deter future breaches and protect consumers from harm,” a spokesperson says. The spokesperson went on to list a number of significant financial penalties handed down to gambling companies over the last several years.
“NT Cricket was not under investigation by the ACMA at the time of media enquiry. The ACMA contacted NT Cricket to advise them of our proposed response… The ACMA’s response [to the journalist] was not changed in any way by our interactions with NT Cricket,” the spokesperson says.
CHOICE sent questions to the federal Minister for Communications Anika Wells about the appropriateness of ACMA’s behaviour and whether the government was still considering overhauling gambling advertising laws.
They did not directly answer the questions, but a spokesperson says: “The government expects the Australian Communications and Media Authority to proactively execute its regulatory functions, working to minimise harm to consumers and promote better consumer outcomes. Consumers must be at the centre of ACMA’s work.”
Levin says the Minister needs to investigate whether ACMA has the organisational culture to be an enforcement agency.
we need a regulator that is not a crowd pleaser, but a regulator that champions consumer protection outcomes
Lauren Levin, Gambling Policy Hub
“The act of tipping off NT Cricket to coordinate their responses to a journalist suggests ACMA has cultural inadequacies… Australian consumers need our regulators to be regulators, not besties with the industry,” she says.
“Gambling is a harmful product, and we need a regulator that is not a crowd pleaser, but a regulator that champions consumer protection outcomes. It is increasingly evident that ACMA is a reluctant default gambling regulator that does not have its heart and soul in gambling consumer protection,” Levin adds.
Jarni Blakkarly is an award-winning Investigative Journalist at CHOICE. Jarni has worked for news organisations such as SBS, Reuters, Al Jazeera English, ABC 730, Radio National, BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle.
Jarni won the Walkley Foundation's young journalist of the year student category award in 2016 and was the recipient of a Melbourne Press Club Michael Gordon fellowship in 2022. In 2023 he was a highly commended finalist in the Quill Awards and a winner at the 2024 Excellence in Civil Liberties journalism awards. In 2024 he was elected to serve on the Federal Council (National Media Section) of the MEAA. Jarni has a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). LinkedIn
Jarni Blakkarly is an award-winning Investigative Journalist at CHOICE. Jarni has worked for news organisations such as SBS, Reuters, Al Jazeera English, ABC 730, Radio National, BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle.
Jarni won the Walkley Foundation's young journalist of the year student category award in 2016 and was the recipient of a Melbourne Press Club Michael Gordon fellowship in 2022. In 2023 he was a highly commended finalist in the Quill Awards and a winner at the 2024 Excellence in Civil Liberties journalism awards. In 2024 he was elected to serve on the Federal Council (National Media Section) of the MEAA. Jarni has a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). LinkedIn
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