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Debate will continue to rage after the AFL confirmed it won't appeal against the tribunal decision that cleared Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard of any wrongdoing for the collision that knocked out Melbourne midfielder Angus Brayshaw.

Maynard was deemed not guilty of rough conduct during a marathon four-hour hearing at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night, freeing him to play in Collingwood's preliminary final next week.

The AFL decided not to appeal against the decision after "careful consideration and review of the Tribunal's decision and reasons following last night's hearing".

The league says it will list its reasoning in more detail later on Wednesday.

The incident has divided the football world.

Before Tuesday night's hearing, Hamish Brayshaw - the brother of Angus - said it would be an "injustice" if Maynard was able to dodge suspension.

Angus Brayshaw will miss Melbourne's semi-final against Carlton - and may not play again under a worst-case scenario - after being clattered into by the airborne Maynard.

Maynard had leapt into the air in an attempt to smother the ball and turned his body at the last moment in a movement that resulted in his shoulder making contact with Brayshaw's head.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said the tribunal case would define what players' duty of care looked like in such "football acts".

AFL counsel Andrew Woods argued Maynard had breached his duty of care by deciding to smother in such a dangerous way.

He also argued Maynard had made a conscious decision to bump after realising contact would be made.

But the AFL Tribunal of chairman Jeff Gleeson, Scott Stevens and Darren Gaspar found Maynard's actions were "reasonable".

"He committed to the act of smothering when he was ... several metres from Brayshaw," Gleeson said in his findings.

"We are not at all satisfied that a reasonable player would have foreseen that violent impact, or impact of the type suffered by Brayshaw, was inevitable or even likely."

Maynard claimed he never made a conscious decision to bump.

Instead, he said it was simply him flinching and seizing up.

Collingwood called upon a biomechanics and neuroscience expert to give evidence that Maynard was highly unlikely to have had enough time to make a decision to bump.

Woods maintained instead of turning his body, Maynard should have either put his hands out to cushion the blow or opened up his arms to collect Brayshaw.

But even if Maynard had done either of those things, Woods conceded it might have still resulted in a reportable offence.

Gleeson said players simply couldn't assess all the different options available to them in such a short period of time.

"It's asking a lot of a player to decide in a fraction of a second which of various ways to land in a high-speed collision, and which of those ways of landing might result in which type of reportable offence," Gleeson said.

"We find he was not careless in either his decision to smother, or the way in which his body formed after his smother."

Former Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, who was freed to play in the 2017 grand final after escaping suspension for his high hit on then-GWS star Dylan Shiel, said it was hard to judge players for split-second decisions.

"The challenge is that when you slow any vision down to microseconds, that's a big difference to what actually happens in the moment," he said.

"The 2017 situation for me, I was unaware until after the game of how close I probably was to maybe missing the biggest game in my career to (that point).

"I'm very fortunate that wasn't the case."

© AAP 2023

Graphic warning labels on cigarette packages will be updated and appealing names on vapes will be phased out as part of new measures to stop Australians from smoking.

New laws introduced to federal parliament on Wednesday will also see tobacco packets standardised along with the design and look of filters.

As well, graphic warnings will be stamped on vapes in a bid to stop more young people from taking up smoking, with advertising restrictions also extended to vapes.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the reforms would see better health outcomes for thousands of people.

"Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians. It's estimated to kill more than 20,000 Australians each year," he said.

"The main objective of these reforms is to reduce the daily smoking prevalence by discouraging uptake among people who do not smoke and increasing cessation among people who do smoke."

The new laws, which will come into effect from April next year if passed by parliament, will also attempt to improve transparency about product contents, advertising activities and sales volumes.

In May, the Labor government announced a ban on the importation of non-prescription and single-use vape products.

While smoking rates have declined in Australia since plain packaging was introduced more than a decade ago, Mr Butler said the number of smokers had to be reduced.

"We are not as a country currently on track to meet the targets that are set out in the National Tobacco Strategy for continued reductions in smoking rates over the course of this decade, to get them below 10 per cent by 2025," he said

"This government is determined to see Australia reclaim its position as a world leader on tobacco control because quite frankly, lives are at stake.

"Disadvantaged Australians are paying the price for big tobacco's profits."

Mr Butler is also concerned about a rise in the number of young people taking up vaping.

"The only cohort in our community where smoking rates are going up are under 25s and we know from emerging research that it doesn't take rocket science to conclude ... vaping is acting as a gateway to cigarettes," he said.

The government still wants to reduce the national smoking rate to less than 10 per cent by 2025, five per cent or less by 2030 and 27 per cent or less for Indigenous communities.

© AAP 2023

Gamblers will soon be unable to place wagers online using their credit cards in a bid to reduce problem betting.

The federal government introduced legislation to parliament on Wednesday banning credit from being used to bet online.

Under the new laws, companies that don't enforce the credit card ban will be slapped with a fine of more than $234,000.

The communications watchdog will also be given new powers to enforce the changes.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the reforms would mean problem gamblers would not get further entrenched in debt.

"A ban on the use of credit cards and credit-related products for online wagering will have the immediate and effective impact of stopping people from gambling with money they do not have," she told parliament.

"Online gambling is growing in Australia due to easier and faster access through mobile devices and a proliferation of online gambling applications."

The laws will also ban credit cards linked to digital wallets such as ApplePay, as well as ban digital currency such as bitcoin for payment.

"This mitigates the risk that individuals could purchase cryptocurrency using a credit card and then use these funds to pay it online," Ms Rowland said.

New credit payments that may emerge as a loophole to the gambling laws would be able to banned under measures in the laws.

Gamblers and betting companies will have a six-month transition period to adjust their gambling habits from when the new laws pass parliament, should it be successful.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said a ban on credit cards for betting online was the next step to reduce rates of problem gambling.

"You can't use your credit card to place a bet for land-based gambling and the same rules should apply for online gambling too," she said.

"We know minimising the harm caused by online gambling is not a set and forget exercise and I look forward to working with my state and territory counterparts on what comes next to continue this positive change."

Financial Counselling Australia director Lauren Levin welcomed the changes.

"We're delighted that it covers not only credit cards, but also digital wallets and digital currencies," she said.

"Digital currencies can have wild fluctuations in value, so not only do people speculate on their bets, but also on the movement in the digital currency."

However, she said she was concerned the laws did not cover online lotteries.

"Online lotteries have changed the whole situation, as the danger of losing large sums is now just as high as someone gambling on online sports betting," Ms Levin said.

"There is no good reason for online lotteries to allow people to buy a $10,000 ticket on credit, or for people to enter a $3,000 syndicate on credit. Gambling is gambling."

The proposed laws come after the government introduced a self-exclusion register for gamblers, allowing people to opt out of betting companies and advertising for three months or more.

A parliamentary inquiry earlier this year recommended a phasing out of gambling advertising over a three-year period.

It was one of 31 recommendations made to crack down on problem gambling.

Federal, state and territory ministers will meet later this year to discuss changes to online gambling.

© AAP 2023