Ministers have drawn scorn for not disclosing progress on curbing gambling harm and advertising reform, as one senator pushes for more transparency.
Independent senator David Pocock forced the social services and communications ministers to table briefing materials about the reforms with a Senate order to produce documents.
It relates to the recommendations from a landmark parliamentary gambling harm report handed down in 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
The keystone recommendations were a ban on gambling advertising and inducements.
A draft response to recommendations was ready in November and Senator Pocock has been pushing for its release after Labor shelved any action ahead of the May election.
Senator Pocock accused the government of being overly secretive.
"Pages of redacted information shows how much this government doesn't want to talk about gambling reform or a proper response to the landmark Murphy review," he told AAP.
Aside from a two-page summary of gambling harm statistics, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek refused to release the documents to the Senate.
The advice stated that young people are more likely to increase their betting behaviour when exposed to gambling advertising, citing the Australian Gambling Research Centre.
Betting ads used humour, distinctive voiceovers and celebrities to influence children's attention and recall, the centre found.
Ms Plibersek argued she didn't have to comply with a Senate order to release the documents as it would prejudice the policy decision-making process.
The release could also impede the government from getting commercially sensitive information from stakeholders in the future and "have a chilling effect on comprehensive and candid advice to ministers", she said in a letter to the Senate.
Communications Minister Anika Wells disclosed highly redacted documents outlining meetings with key stakeholders as part of the Senate order but documents about policy development were withheld.
Ms Wells said she was still getting her feet under the desk after being sworn into the portfolio in May but that work on the issue continued when asked whether a response to the gambling harm report was forthcoming.
"I have met with all the different groups that have a stake in that ongoing work," she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
A large number of the report's recommendations sat with the social services minister, she said.
Ms Wells is overseeing the response to the recommendations that advised a full advertising ban and the prohibition of betting inducements.
The communications minister also pointed to the government implementing the self-exclusion register BetStop as part of the government cracking down on gambling harm, saying more than 44,000 people had signed up.
Almost four in five were under the age of 40 and nearly two in five chose a lifetime ban, briefing materials prepared for the communications minister reveal.
A review of BetStop is set to be finalised by February 2026.
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