One of the biggest reforms of the federal government's latest gambling crackdown is a prohibition on "all gambling promotions" during "all live sports broadcasts" between 5am and 8.30pm, taking effect from five minutes before the start of play to five minutes after the finish.

But broadcast industry bodies have now released their new draft codes of practice, all of which are seeking changes that critics say will "water down" the impact of the ad ban on events including cricket, tennis and the Olympics. Some forms of gambling advertising, under the proposed changes, would be excluded altogether.

The federal government's siren-to-siren ad ban is aimed at reducing children's exposure to betting ads and has been broadly supported by anti-gambling campaigners and the gambling industry alike.

In the past week, Free TV Australia, Commercial Radio Australia and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) have received submissions condemning their proposed exemptions contained in their draft codes.

Among the objectors are online bookmakers including Sportsbet, CrownBet, Betfair and Ladbrokes, who said in a submission through lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) that they recognised the public's concern about levels of gambling advertising, "particularly the volume of gambling advertising that is viewed by minors", and believed the reform was appropriate.

RWA's submissions and others raise serious concerns about exemptions that would allow broadcasters to air one gambling ad every two hours during "long-form" sports like the cricket and multi-sports events like the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. They also take issue with exemptions that would exclude lottery -betting companies, like the controversial industry newcomer Lottoland, from the ad ban, and amendments that would allow broadcasters to continue naming wagering companies in sponsorship statements, such as, "This event was brought to you by..."

ASTRA's draft code also contains further exemptions that would allow gambling advertising to continue on "low-audience" subscription TV channels, like ESPN, ESPN2 and Eurosports. The ASTRA document states these channels provided "niche coverage of overseas events to a small number of highly devoted fans".

Anti-gambling campaigners and the peak body for financial counsellors, Financial Counselling Australia, said that although they would prefer an outright gambling advertising ban, they were supportive of the government's intended reform.

They have also lodged submissions expressing concern about the numerous exemptions that they say would undermine the government's intent to "establish a clear and practical 'safe zone' on any platform for children watching or listening to sport".

"What shocked me is that these bodies governing TV and radio are actually using this as an opportunity to water down the code," said Mark Zirnsak, of the Victorian Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce.

"Rather than doing what the government announced ... they are trying to be sneaky and not fully implementing what people what expect, which is to be able to watch sport without having to watch gambling ads."

The Turnbull government on Monday said it would be seeking "further discussions" with the broadcast industry bodies.

A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the revised codes were not yet final, but warned that the government had "made clear that if the changes to industry codes do not meet our expectations, we will move to give effect to our policy via legislation".

"The government has been clear that gambling promotional material should not be broadcast during a long form live sports event during the hours of 5am to 8.30pm," she said.

The spokeswoman also said the government regarded lottery betting as a form of wagering that should be "subject to the same advertising restrictions as apply to sports betting".

Free TV Australia said it would review all submissions lodged in its public-consultation process on the changes, which closed Friday, and would endeavour to "strike the right balance" between protecting children from gambling and ensuring free-to-air networks could continue broadcasting live sports "to all Australians for free".

Television networks have become increasingly reliant on revenue from the gambling industry, which spent nearly $150 million on wagering and lottery advertisements in 2016, an increase of 19 per cent on the year before. There are fears that any cuts to advertising revenue from sports events could reduce their ability to recoup the millions of dollars they spend securing exclusive sports broadcast rights.

Commercial Radio Australia said its draft code was a "consultation draft" had and canvassed a range of ideas for community feedback during its six-week consultation period. It was anticipated that the code would be finalised by early next year, chief executive Joan Warner said.

"The commercial radio industry takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that commercial radio content is aligned with community expectations regarding the promotion of gambling in live sports coverage," she said.

ASTRA did not respond to requests for comment.