Federal government defends delay in response to wagering reform report

The federal government has defended the time it has taken to work through the recommendations of the ‘You Win Some, You Lose More’ report into online wagering, but gave no clear timeline on when it expects to respond.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the details of the 31 recommendations made by the parliamentary committee, led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, last June, were still being considered, including a ban on advertising of online gambling as well as a ban on inducements by wagering operators.     

“We’re obviously taking what was a very important House of Representatives report seriously,” Rishworth told the ABC.

“There were many recommendations – I think there were 32 (sic) recommendations, advertising was one of those recommendations. To respond in a fulsome way, we need to take our time to do that.”

It came as Rishworth confirmed that BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register – has had more than 18,000 people sign up to it since its launch six months ago.

Overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), BetStop prohibits all Australian licensed interactive wagering service providers from opening a new account, accepting bets from self‑excluded individuals, or sending them marketing material.

Those who sign up can self-exclude for a minimum of three months up to a lifetime.

“Our government is serious about preventing and reducing the harmful impacts of online gambling and myself and the Minister for Communications have introduced a number of important measures to that end,” Rishworth said.

“The strong uptake of BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, is great to see and is complemented by mandatory pre-verification that helps to ensure people aren’t finding workarounds to bet if they have opted to exclude themselves from online wagering.

“We know there’s still more to do and we’ll keep working closely with states and territories to create a safer environment for Australians at risk of gambling harm.”

Albanese government looks to cool its heels on wagering advertising reform

Nearly six months after the release of the 31 recommendations of the ‘You Win Some, You Lose More’ report, the federal Communications Minister seems in no hurry for reform.

The StraightBren O’Brien

The federal government says Australians aged 40 years and under have been the vast majority of registrants on BetStop, and more than a third of total registrants have opted to self-exclude themselves for a lifetime.

“There were many recommendations – I think there were 32 (sic) recommendations, advertising was one of those recommendations. To respond in a fulsome way, we need to take our time to do that – Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth

Since coming to power in May 2022, The Albanese government has also implemented mandatory pre-verification which requires wagering providers to verify a customer’s identity when they set up a new account, while it has also legislated to ban the use of credit cards for online wagering.