Wagering reform battleground moves to Northern Territory

The push for further gambling reform is moving from Canberra to the Northern Territory, where independent MP Justine Davis will introduce a bill next week seeking stronger controls on bookmakers serving customers across Australia.

While the federal parliament passed a major reform package in August with support from both Labor and the Coalition, reform advocates, led by the Greens and the crossbench, pressed for more changes, including a ban on inducements.

The focus has now shifted to the Northern Territory, where most of Australia’s wagering companies are licensed.    

Davis’s proposal would use Territory regulation to pursue protections she says the Commonwealth reforms failed to deliver.

Davis has argued the federal government had missed an opportunity for meaningful change and called on the NT Government to act. She proposed making harm prevention a purpose of gambling laws, banning inducements, strengthening protections for young people, tightening Northern Territory Wagering Commission conflict-of-interest requirements and increasing penalties for operators.

“The Northern Territory has a particular responsibility to act. Because so many of Australia’s biggest online gambling companies are based here, the NT’s weak laws cause harm right across the country,” Davis said.

The bill, scheduled for introduction on October 14, would cap monthly deposits at $500 for customers aged 18 to 21 and $1,000 for those aged 22 to 24.

Operators would also face a positive duty to take “all reasonable steps to prevent harm to customers”.

The maximum disciplinary penalty would rise from $194,000 to $10 million or 10 per cent of annual revenue, substantially increasing the financial consequences of breaches.

Davis’s bill seeks to strengthen the Territory body overseeing NT-licensed bookmakers. Its proposed Commission safeguards include a public list of conflicts disclosed by members and a ban on commissioners taking gifts from bookmakers.

Territory legislation passed earlier this year already prohibited commissioners from owning racehorses or maintaining betting accounts with bookmakers licensed in the NT.

Davis has secured support for the reform principles through an open letter signed by federal parliamentarians including David Pocock, Andrew Wilkie, Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender and Andrew McLachlan, alongside health, community-service and gambling-harm organisations.

Pocock, the independent ACT senator, backed the proposal in Davis’s announcement.

“In the absence of national leadership, I commend Justine Davis MLA for working to strengthen the NT regulator that the rest of Australia is being forced to rely on,” he said.

NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby told the ABC that the Country Liberal Party government would consider sensible proposals on their merits.

“But let me be clear: while we encourage all people to gamble responsibly, you can’t legislate personal responsibility,” she said.

Davis’s bill would need the support of both major parties to pass, with the Labor opposition likely to refer it to the NT Legislative Scrutiny Committee before deciding if it would support the changes.