Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a crackdown on gambling advertising that falls well short of Labor's own calls for a total ban when it was in opposition, The Guardian reports.

The reforms will restrict gambling ads during live sports broadcasts and ban them entirely from children's programming, but stop short of the comprehensive prohibition that Albanese himself championed just a few years ago.

Mate, this is classic Canberra political theatre. When Labor was in opposition, they were all fire and brimstone about gambling ads destroying Australian families. Now they're in government, suddenly it's all about "balanced reform" and "protecting jobs in the advertising sector."

The new rules will prohibit gambling advertisements during live sports broadcasts between 5am and 8:30pm, and ban them entirely from programs rated G or PG. Online gambling ads will face tighter restrictions, though details remain vague.

Anti-gambling advocates have already condemned the measures as inadequate. Dr Charles Livingstone, a public health researcher at Monash University, called it a "betrayal" of Labor's previous position. "This is not what they promised," he said. "A partial ban is not a ban."

The politics are transparent. Labor is caught between its reformist rhetoric and the reality that gambling companies spend hundreds of millions on advertising, much of it flowing to free-to-air broadcasters who are already struggling financially. The big broadcasters - Channel Seven, Nine, Ten - have lobbied hard against a total ban, warning of job losses and reduced sports coverage.

The gambling industry itself has welcomed the "measured approach," which tells you everything you need to know. When the gambling lobby is happy with your reform, you're probably not reforming much.