The cashed-up Australian gambling industry does not need more lobbyists, retired Labor MP Kelvin Thomson has said, a week after his former colleague Stephen Conroy joined the ranks of the wagering sector.

"It don't think it [gambling] needs more people to argue for industry self-regulation," Mr Thomson, who has joined the Alliance for Gambling Reform, told Fairfax Media.

Last week Mr Conroy, a former ALP senator and party powerbroker, was announced as the executive director of Responsible Wagering Australia, a new body bankrolled by corporate bookmakers including CrownBet, Sportsbet and Bet365.

As a minister, Mr Conroy was in charge of online gambling laws.