Australia Tightens Online Gambling Laws: New Bill to Restrict Illegal Offshore Wagering

After investigating the impact of illegal offshore wagering, the Government of Australia has found that the IGA (Interactive Gambling Act 2001) has been ineffective in preventing offshore operators from providing interactive gambling services to Australians. A new bill - the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, is being introduced which will amend the IGA and enforce stronger controlling actions to regulate online gambling environment.

According to the Review of the existing laws and current situation, the negative impact of illegal offshore gambling has been documented across multiple levels and the effects are notable with all stakeholders: wagering, racing and sports industries, at-risk gamblers, consumers and government. Offshore operators do not pay taxes or fees to Australia, they do not report and share information about suspicious betting activity to law enforcement or gambling associations, neither do they provide sufficient consumer protection, in addition to offering gambling services which are prohibited under the IGA.

The IGA prohibits online in-play betting on sporting events, where a larger number of bets can be placed via the Internet which goes against the restrictions enforced by the IGA in an effort to limit problem gambling and risk-gamblers in the country. In-play betting via the telephone is allowed as calling a live operator is likely to slow down the betting activity of the customer. However, some Australian licensed operators such as William Hill, SportsBet, bet365, Ladbrokes and Unibet offered ‘click to call’ betting services where bets were placed by phone calls via websites or mobile applications. These services claimed to avoid the operation of the prohibition of online in-play betting on sporting events in the IGA by relying on the telephone betting service exemption.

Following the examples of the UK, France and other countries that have implemented a strong mix of measures to combat the issue of illegal offshore gambling, Australia aims to do the same with the introduction of the new bill, as the Review concluded no single strategy would be enough to eliminate the problem. A combination of clear laws and restrictive measures will be used to reduce the size and scope of harm to Australian consumers.

Next to prohibiting the provision of regulated interactive gambling services by unlicensed operators, the new Bill will also introduce a civil penalty regime to allow Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to issue formal warning and infringement notices, so that formal investigation or prosecution processes will not depend upon the priorities of other agencies.

The ACMA will also maintain a register of regulated interactive gambling services on their website, where Australians will be able to see the name of the service, the provider and other relevant information. This will be done to make it easier for Australian customers to verify whether the operator or service is indeed licensed in Australia or not.

The Bill will clarify and restrict the definition of a telephone betting service to prohibit ‘click to call’ in-play betting services. A new definition will ensure dealings with customers are only by way of a voice call that consists of a spoken conversation (or an equivalent for a customer with a disability). 

Interactive gambling has been on the rise in Australia since 2004, with traditional gambling being abandoned in favor of online services using mobile and other digital devices. Australians are currently among the biggest consumers of gambling services in the world, especially when it comes to betting on sports and racing events. This leads to offshore operators targeting Australians and subsequently creating negative economic and social effects on the industry, problem gambling and the government.

Australians are among the biggest gamblers in the world, spending $1,245 per capita in 2014. Online gambling, in particular online wagering (betting on racing and sporting events), is growing in Australia due to the ubiquity of mobile devices and changes in consumer behaviour. Consequently, offshore gambling operators target Australians which leads to negative social and economic effects on industry, racing and sporting associations, problem and at-risk gamblers, consumers and government. New measures should see a reduction in the number of offshore operators providing services to Australians and associated negative influences.

Source:

theguardian.com

parlinfo.aph.gov.au