Victorian coroner calls for national wagering regulator after inquest

Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie has recommended that the federal government create a nationwide regulator for online gambling as part of his findings into the death of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson.

In his nine recommendations made on Tuesday, Coroner Lawrie also called for a national betting data vault, real-time monitoring of punters across all their accounts and a ban on bonus offers and inducements for young customers.

The sweeping recommendations were directed to the federal Minister for Communications and the federal Minister for Social Services and extend well beyond the recent changes to the Interactive Gambling Act passed by federal parliament.  

Under Lawrie’s recommendations, the national regulator would license online bookmakers, oversee a data vault, set standardised evidence-based safeguards and intervention criteria, monitor limits across customers’ accounts and enforce operators’ obligations.

While the recent federal changes extended the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), they did not establish a national regulator.

“An online betting company, as a licencee, should be subject to a regulatory body that has jurisdiction over all its activity in Australia, and which is resourced in a manner commensurate with the size and influence of the industry,” Lawrie said.

The other recommendations cover:

• deposit and loss limits for young account holders that apply across all their online gambling
• consideration of the same limits, and of an inducement ban, for all customers
• a requirement that betting apps and websites display a customer’s net position over the account’s lifetime and the past year, month and week
• consideration of further restrictions on “above the line” gambling advertising, up to a complete prohibition
• access to de-identified data for independent researchers, with funding for that research

Lawrie found operators’ monitoring fundamentally limited because each bookmaker sees only its own accounts, relies on customers’ assurances about affordability, and uses different intervention thresholds.

Hudson was a 22-year-old Werribee university student and casual retail worker who took his own life on July 6, 2021.

He placed 8585 bets worth $895,733 across Sportsbet, bet365, Neds, Ladbrokes and Bookmaker.com.au in the four years after his 18th birthday, losing a net $47,945.

“I find that Kyle’s online gambling was the direct and paramount causative factor underlying his decision to take his own life,” Lawrie said.

Sportsbet’s program flagged Hudson 37 times, producing 33 responses. Applying its current system to his activity would have generated 70 alerts and 53 interventions.

“None of the communications or interventions directed to Kyle had any meaningful effect,” Lawrie said.

The coroner acknowledged that safeguards had strengthened since 2021, but more changes were required.

Sportsbet issued a statement in response to the coroner’s findings.

“We know there are no words that will be of comfort to Kyle Hudson’s loved ones at this time. His loss was tragic,” it said. 

“We respect the coronial inquest and it’s important that we now take the appropriate time to carefully consider the coroner’s findings and recommendations. Sportsbet acknowledges there is more to do, and we remain committed to continually strengthening consumer protections.”

Under the coroner’s Ccurt’s procedures, public statutory authorities or entities that receive recommendations are required to provide a written response within three months, and the court makes those responses public.