Bills Digest no. 50,
2016–17
PDF version [856KB]
Dr Rhonda Jolly
Social Policy Section
30
November 2016
Contents
The Bills Digest at a glance
Purpose of the Bill
Structure of the Bill
Background
Early national analysis
Productivity Commission inquiry
Senate Select Committee Report on
Online Gambling
National Office for the Information
Economy (NOIE) report
Enactment of the IGA
Figure 1: types of online gambling
Recent assessments
2010—Productivity Commission Inquiry
report on gambling
2010—Joint Select Committee on
Gambling Reform investigations
2011—Department of Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy Review
2013—O’Farrell Review
Committee consideration
Selection of Bills Committee
Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
In-play supporters
In-play opponents
Comments to the Environment and
Communications Committee Inquiry into this Bill
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Human Rights
Key issues and provisions
ACMA Act
IGA
Items 6 to 143 amend
the IGA
New definitions
Prohibited interactive
gambling service
Regulated interactive gambling service
Designated interactive gambling
service
Prohibited internet gambling content
Key issue—penalty amounts
Appendix A: Recommendations of the
O’Farrell Review
Date introduced: 10
November 2016
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Communications
and the Arts
Commencement: Sections
1–3 on Royal Assent; all other provisions on the 28th day after Royal
Assent.
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at November 2016.
The Bills Digest at a glance
Purpose of the Bill
- The purpose of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 (the
Bill) is to amend the Interactive
Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) and the Australian
Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (ACMA Act) in
response to certain recommendations made by the 2015 Review of the impact of
illegal offshore wagering to:
- clarify the law and
- strengthen enforcement powers of the Australian Communications
and Media Authority (ACMA).
Structure of the Bill
- The Bill consists of two Parts:
-
Part 1 amends the IGA to clarify licensing requirements
for interactive gambling services in Australia, to introduce a civil penalty
regime to be enforced by ACMA and to define prohibited interactive gambling
services not to be provided in Australia[1]
- Part
1 also includes proposed changes to the ACMA Act to strengthen ACMA’s
enforcement powers
- Part 2 contains application and transitional provisions.
Background
- The IGA was introduced by the government in response to concerns
about the effects that interactive or online gambling may have on Australians.
- Since its passage, a number of critics of the IGA have
noted that the legislation has done little to prevent the spread of interactive
gambling. Some have argued that its inherent weaknesses have contributed to the
growth of this form of gambling.
- There have been a number of reviews of gambling which have
considered changes to the IGA. This Bill reflects recommendations made
by the most recent review into the impact of offshore wagering.
Stakeholder concerns
- Stakeholders agree that changes need to be made to make
interactive gambling legislation and policy more effective. All appear to agree
that a national co-operative strategy for interactive gambling is called for
and that it should be accompanied by preventative, educative and counselling
measures. There are differences of opinion, however, on the ways that
improvements can be achieved. Some favour a degree of legislative liberalisation
while others call for tougher legislative requirements.
Key issues
- Proposed prohibition of click to call interactive services has
been a key issue of debate. The Bill intends to re-define telephone betting
service specifically to exclude the in-play betting options offered by interactive
betting services. This has been seen by some as enhancing harm minimisation,
while others have argued that the move will be ineffective because of the
popularity of in-play betting online. They claim customers will continue to
gamble offshore regardless.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill
2016 (the Bill) is to amend the Interactive
Gambling Act 2001 (the IGA) and the Australian
Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (the ACMA Act) in
response to certain recommendations made by a 2015 Review into the impact of
illegal offshore wagering to:
- clarify
the law regarding illegal offshore gambling and
- strengthen
the enforcement powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
(ACMA).
Structure
of the Bill
The Bill consists of two Parts:
- Part
1 amends the IGA to clarify licensing requirements for interactive
gambling services in Australia, to introduce a civil penalty regime to be
enforced by ACMA and to define prohibited interactive gambling services not to
be provided in Australia.[2]
It also amends the ACMA Act to strengthen ACMA’s enforcement powers
- Part
2 contains application and transitional provisions.
Background
The regulation of offline gambling in Australia has
traditionally been a matter for the states and territories as the Constitution
does not give the Federal Government power to legislate in this area. The
Federal Government is, however, able to regulate online gambling as section 51(v) of the Constitution, which gives it
power to make laws with respect to 'postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other
like services', which means that it is able to legislate in the areas of communications
services.[3]
These include broadcasting, telecommunications and the Internet.
Gambling had been a consistent and prevalent pastime in
Australia since the arrival of the First Fleet, but it was not until the late
1990s that the Federal Government directed the Productivity Commission (PC or
the Commission) to undertake the first investigation of the overall economic
and social impact of gambling in Australia.[4]
Early
national analysis
Productivity
Commission inquiry
One of the references for the Commission was to investigate the
implications of new technologies (such as the Internet) and the effect these
technologies would have on traditional government controls on the gambling
industries.[5]
The PC’s November 1999 report noted the long-established
presence of gambling in Australian society, but added that ‘even by Australian
standards’, a recent growth in gambling industries had been ‘remarkable’ and
this growth had led to concern about the ‘downsides’ for society.[6]
That having been noted, the Commission concluded that Australians generally
enjoyed gambling, with over 80 per cent participating recently in some form of
gambling. At the same time, around two per cent of Australian adults could be
classified as problem gamblers, and one of the rationales for specific
regulation of the gambling industries stemmed from reducing the risks and costs
of problem gambling. Other rationales for gambling regulation were promoting
consumer protection and minimising the potential for criminal and unethical
activity.[7]
With regards to the gambling regulatory environment,
however, the PC argued that it was less than ideal as policies lacked coherence;
they were ‘complex, fragmented and often inconsistent’.[8]
It is interesting that similar assessments of gambling policies continue to be
made in 2016. The PC blamed inadequate policymaking processes and strong
incentives for governments to derive revenue from gambling industries for
deficiencies in in the gambling regulatory environment, and it is most likely
this is still the case with regards to the states and territories.[9]
The PC saw potential gains to many businesses and consumers
in the advent of new technologies, but it also believed those technologies posed
fresh challenges for regulation. It saw a role for the Federal Government in a
‘managed liberalisation’ of gambling online in co-ordinating a national
approach to regulation with the states and territories.[10]
Senate Select Committee Report
on Online Gambling
In 1999 the Senate Select Committee on Information
Technologies announced that it would specifically inquire into online gambling
in Australia. One of its terms of reference was to consider the need for
federal legislation.[11]
The Committee concluded that, while it appeared state and territory regulators intended
to regulate online gambling by applying uniform standards across jurisdictions,
in practice significant differences had emerged in the regulatory models they
were introducing to deal with online gambling.[12]
The Committee’s March 2000 report noted that evidence presented
to its inquiry suggested that the nature of the relationship between the states
and territories impeded the development of a national cooperative model for online
gambling and that a lack of collaboration undermined consumer protection. It recommended
that governments at all levels ‘work together to develop uniform and strict
regulatory controls on online gambling with a particular focus on consumer
protection ...’[13]
National
Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) report
On 7 July 2000, Senator Richard Alston, the Minister for
Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, announced that NOIE would
conduct a study into the feasibility and consequences of banning interactive
gambling.[14]
The NOIE report concluded that technically it was potentially
possible to implement a ban on interactive gambling based on Internet content
control but, importantly, NOIE added that no technical solution could be completely
effective in preventing every Australian from accessing interactive gambling
services.[15]
Enactment
of the IGA
In August 2000 the Government introduced an Interactive
Gambling (Moratorium) Bill 2000.[16]
There was enough opposition to the Bill that at first it failed to pass the
Parliament, but after the Government agreed to amendments to exempt interactive
services that were extensions of offline betting services (for example, betting
on horse races), the Interactive
Gambling (Moratorium) Act 2000 passed and was enacted in December 2000.
The statute imposed a 12-month moratorium on further development of the
interactive gambling industry by making it an offence for a person to provide
an interactive gambling service linked to Australia unless that person was
already providing the service when the moratorium commenced.[17]
In March 2001, Senator Alston announced that the Government
would introduce legislation to prohibit Australian gambling services from
providing online gambling to Australian residents.[18]
The Interactive Gambling Bill 2001 was introduced in April amid protest from
the Opposition and groups such as the Internet Industry Association.[19]
The IGA commenced 11 July 2001.
Interactive gambling services were defined in section 5 of
the IGA as those provided over the Internet or through broadcasting
services. Interactive services were not considered to be online telephone
betting, wagering on horse, harness or greyhound races, wagering on sporting
events or other events or contingencies, online lotteries, provided they are
not scratch lotteries or other instantaneous lotteries; gaming services
provided to customers in a public place (such as poker machines in a club or
casino) or services that have a designated broadcasting or data-casting link
(for example television shows that involve viewers voting in order to win
prizes).
Key functions of the IGA have been to:
- prohibit
interactive gambling services from being provided to customers in Australia
- prohibit
Australia-based interactive gambling services from being provided to customers in
designated countries
- establish
a complaints-based system to deal with internet gambling services where
prohibited Internet gambling content is available for access by customers in
Australia and
- prohibit
the advertising of interactive gambling services.[20]
Figure 1 below shows the different types of online
gambling and indicates those prohibited by the IGA:
Figure 1: types
of online gambling
Source: Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform, Interactive
and online gambling and gambling advertising [and] Interactive Gambling and
Broadcasting Amendment (Online Transactions and Other Measures) Bill 2011, Second report, 8 December 2011, p. 8.[21]
Recent assessments
Since its passage, a number of critics have noted that the
IGA has done little to prevent the spread of interactive gambling, and
indeed, its weaknesses have contributed to the growth of this form of gambling.
In 2010 the PC pointed out that the prohibition in the IGA:
... perversely amounts to discriminatory deregulation, ensuring
that the Australian online gaming market is exclusively catered to by offshore
providers, who operate under a variety of regulatory regimes. This provides
inadequate protection to both recreational online gamblers, as well as online
gamblers who are at risk of developing a problem.[22]
In 2012 one critic summed up the views of many that the IGA:
... has proven to be a toothless tiger. International casino
websites completely ignored the ban and the threat of fines and continued to
operate at their leisure; in the ten years since the IGA was introduced, not a
single fine has been applied. The only impact was that no Australian company
could offer online casino gambling ... so all the money lost has gone offshore,
and Australian gamblers are taking an even bigger risk by using sites that do
not have to comply with Australian laws and regulations.[23]
2010—Productivity
Commission Inquiry report on gambling
In 2010, following an earlier request from the Government
for it to conduct an investigation into the gambling industry, the PC released
a report which updated its previous findings on aspects of gambling, including
its assessment of the implications of new technologies for traditional
government controls on gambling industries.[24]
In discussing the prohibition of online gaming under the IGA,
the PC was of the opinion that given the limited jurisdiction of Australian law
over overseas gambling suppliers the IGA had effectively prevented companies
located in Australia from selling online gaming services to Australians. The PC
was less sure of the effect of the IGA on Australian consumers, who can
legally access internationally based online gaming sites.[25]
That more evidence had emerged of the relative harm done by online gambling
since the earlier reports on gambling (noted above) had been published along
with doubts about the analysis underpinning the ban in the first place, suggested
a need for a re-evaluation of online gaming policy. The PC considered that the re-evaluation
should assess:
- the
relative harms and benefits of online gaming compared to venue-based gaming
- the
effectiveness of the prohibition, as well as any other additional costs it imposes
- the
scope for less restrictive regulation to minimise these harms whilst still allowing
some of the benefits of online gaming to be realised.[26]
In assessing the issues of harms and benefits the Commission
noted a number of positive and negative comparative effects. For example, for
non-problem gamblers, the use of credit cards for online gambling is unlikely
to cause financial harm, but for problem gamblers, it may have the opposite
effect. But at the same time, online gambling providers can usually monitor
spending patterns better than venue-based providers. The Commission was of the
view that risks associated with online gambling could be overstated, but there
was some ‘weak’ evidence to suggest gambling online may exacerbate already
hazardous behaviour of problem gamblers. Nevertheless, it concluded that careful
regulation of the online gambling industry was warranted.[27]
The PC estimated that it was probable the prohibition on
online gaming—in particular the prohibition on advertising online gaming—had
had some effect on demand, but the magnitude of that reduction was not clear
and ‘Australian consumption of online gaming has grown and will continue to do
so, making the prohibition less effective over time’.[28]
In terms of easing regulation, the Commission thought there
were two alternatives: the IGA could be strengthened to make it more
effective in dissuading Australians from online gaming or it could be amended
to realise the benefits of online gaming, while minimising its potential harms.[29]
Current debates about the regulation of online gambling continue to reflect
these views (see the section in this Digest on stakeholder comments).
The magnitude of the costs associated with strengthening the
IGA was such that the PC believed ‘the level of harm associated with
online gaming would need to be very high, and unavoidable through alternative
regulatory responses’ for this approach to be worthy of consideration. In
addition:
In the parallel physical gambling world, the Commission does
not consider that a ban on [electronic gambling machines such as poker machines]
is warranted despite evidence of considerable harm. Rather, the Commission has argued
for continued legal supply, but with more stringent consumer safety requirements.[30]
The Commission saw, instead, merits in an alternative
approach, that of:
... ‘managed liberalisation’, in which suppliers would be
licensed to provide online gaming to Australians, subject to strict conditions
about probity and harm prevention and minimisation. Managed liberalisation of
online gaming would better protect Australians from the risks of online problem
gambling, whilst still allowing recreational gamblers the freedom to choose an
enjoyable medium. It would also resolve the apparent paradox that the
Government allows Australian based firms to sell a product overseas that it
deems too dangerous for Australians themselves to consume.[31]
The PC saw some risks in the managed liberalism approach and
cautioned that its introduction should be gradual, thereby allowing a regulatory
agency, feasibly ACMA, to develop regulatory and investigative procedures for
online gambling as well as harm minimisation measures to protect consumers.
2010—Joint
Select Committee on Gambling Reform investigations
On 30 September 2010 the Parliament agreed
that a Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform (JSCGR) should be appointed to
inquire into and report on a number of gambling related issues including the Productivity
Commission report on gambling, gambling-related legislation introduced in the
Parliament and any other gambling-related matters.[32]
In the course of its existence the JSCGR produced a number
of reports, one of which is specifically relevant to matters relating to
interactive gambling raised in this Bill. This was the Inquiry into Interactive and online
gambling and the Interactive Gambling and Broadcasting Amendment (Online
Transactions and Other Measures) Bill 2011.
In this report the JCSGR noted the multiplicity of issues
posed by the various forms of and platforms for interactive gambling and agreed
with previous assessments that the key question to be addressed in dealing with
these is whether prohibition or liberalisation is a more effective approach. It
agreed with the PC that the IGA had been successful in limiting the provision
of interactive gambling services to Australians by Australian‑based
services, but less effective in limiting services from overseas providers.[33]
One difficulty acknowledged by the JSCGR with the IGA
was the enforcement process which was complaints‑based and subject to
reliance on the assistance of foreign authorities. The JSCGR discussed options
for dealing with this problem, for example, by blocking financial transactions with
known overseas gambling providers or blocking online gambling websites by Internet
Service Providers.[34]
It noted however, that the latter option, as the PC had previously concluded,
could be seen as ‘draconian’ and unlikely to be wholly successful and endorsed
work being undertaken by the AFP and the Department of Broadband, Communications
and the Digital Economy to improve enforcement mechanisms.[35]
The JSCGR was not in favour of setting up a system to monitor and block
financial transactions to deter people from accessing overseas-based interactive
gambling websites. It believed such a system:
... would never be completely effective, as those customers
most determined to circumvent the system would be likely to do so using other
methods. The committee also notes the difficulty in gaining cooperation from international
financial intermediaries such as PayPal to comply with such a system were it to
be introduced under Australian law.[36]
As the O’Farrell Review has found recently (see discussion
below), the JSCGR heard polarised accounts of the potential harm caused by in-play
(or in the run) betting online (in-play betting is permitted over the phone).
Industry provider Betchoice told the JSCGR that there was no evidence that
in-play betting online was riskier than other betting types.[37]
On the other hand, the lobby group FamilyVoice Australia considered that
in-play betting was likely to 'induce problem gamblers caught up in the
excitement of a match [to bet] inappropriate amounts on the spur of the moment'.[38]
The JSCGR did not support removal of the online in-play
betting ban. Given that in-play betting was permitted via the telephone and in
person, the Committee saw the restriction on the online format ‘as striking the
right balance’.[39]
2011—Department
of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Review
On 27 May 2011, the Council of Australian Governments
(COAG) announced that the Government had decided to conduct a review of the IGA.[40]
The final report of this review, undertaken by the Department of Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), was clear about what it saw as
the problem with the IGA:
The primary objective of the IGA is to reduce harm to
problem gamblers and to those at risk of becoming problem gamblers. The
evidence since the last review of the IGA suggests that it is making
only a very minor contribution to this objective. The IGA may in fact be
exacerbating the risk of harm because of the high level of usage by Australians
of prohibited services which may not have the same protections that Australian
licensed online gambling providers could be required to have.[41]
The DBCDE concluded that there could be as many as 2,200
online gambling providers offering services that may be in contravention of the
IGA and suggested that Australians may be losing nearly $1.0 billion a
year to online gambling service providers that are not licensed in Australia.[42]
In light of these findings the DBCDE called for a multi-pronged
approach to deal with the problem. Its fundamental recommendation was for a
national framework of harm minimisation and consumer protection measures for
all forms of permissible online gambling. Harm minimisation measures it
recommended included pre-commitment by gamblers, credit restrictions, the
provision of warning messages for gamblers and links to gambling helpline
services. All online gambling providers who did not apply the national harm
minimisation standard were to be prohibited.
The DBCDE also recommended providing incentives to
encourage online gambling providers to become licensed to operate and for
providers who chose not to become licensed to be prohibited from operating in
Australia. It called for targeted law enforcement and deterrence measures
against online gambling providers who continue to offer services to Australians
in contravention of the IGA.[43]
In addition, the DBCDE Review called for the legalisation
of online tournament poker and for changes to online in-play sports betting.
With regards to in-play betting, following from the JSCGR’s suggestion that
relaxing the ban on in-play betting for online providers may be worth
investigating and noting that there was support within the industry and sports
bodies for such an approach, the DBCDE proposed an alternative. It recommended
allowing simple in-play betting on line, (for example, betting on which team will
win a match) but continuing to restrict in-play betting on micro-events (for
example, betting on the outcome of the next ball in a cricket match) or
discrete contingencies within an event (for example, which player will score
the next goal in a football match).[44]
The PC’s 2010 report had recommended allowing regulated
online poker card playing (a subset of online gaming prohibited under the IGA)
‘subject to very strong harm minimisation and probity requirements as a better
means of protecting the many Australians who use such services from overseas
(that is, prohibited) websites’.[45]
The JSCGR had identified a range of arguments for and
against regulated access and the majority of that Committee supported the
prohibition. In his submission to the DBCDE’s interim report of its review Senator
Nick Xenophon, a member of the JSCGR, warned of possible parallels between the
opening up of access to electronic gaming machines in the early 1990s and
allowing regulated provision of online gaming.[46]
However, the chair of the JSCGR, Andrew Wilkie, supported the PC recommendation
for regulated access to online poker card playing. In recommending that a
five-year trial of online tournament poker should be instigated, the DBCDE
noted arguments from clinical psychologist Dr Sally Gainsbury who considered that
‘due to the fixed costs of tournament poker, this type of online poker appears
to have relatively low likelihood of leading to gambling problems’.[47]
Senator Xenophon criticised what he called the underlying reasoning
of the DBCDE Review declaring that simply because people ‘could already access
interactive gambling across the online border was not a good enough reason to
legalise it’ and argued that, once a type of gambling was sanctioned, the
implication was that it was safe. However, according to the Senator, ‘it’s a
downhill slide from there. Given how accessible and addictive online gambling
is, the risk is just too great’.[48]
The Government’s response to the DBCDE Review was to announce that it would
work with the various state and territory regulatory bodies to establish a
consistent national framework for harm minimisation and consumer protection
that would address all legal online gambling activities.[49]
2013—O’Farrell
Review
In the lead-up to the 2013 Federal election the Coalition also
criticised the approach suggested by the DBCDE and committed to investigating other
ways of strengthening the IGA.[50]
In fulfilling this commitment, in late 2015 the Government commissioned a
review of the impact of illegal offshore wagering to be undertaken by former
New South Wales Premier, Barry O’Farrell (the O’Farrell Review).
According to the O’Farrell Review, since 2012, online
gambling has grown significantly and this is consistent with an economy-wide
migration to online service delivery and significant investment in brand
awareness by online operators.[51]
The total amount spent on interactive gambling in Australia was US$2.0 billion in
2013 and US$2.2 billion in 2014. These figures included onshore and
illegal offshore gambling activities.[52]
In 2014, H2 Gambling Capital estimated that in excess of 20 per cent of
Australian expenditure on interactive wagering went to offshore providers.[53]
It noted the growth of illegal offshore markets and that wagering represents
the largest sector of the global internet gambling market.[54]
The O’Farrell Review noted that the major impacts of
offshore gambling activities have been assessed as:
- increased
risks to consumers as a consequence of reduced consumer protections
- lower
harm minimisation standards of some offshore sites
- a
potential increase in the threat to the integrity of sport and
- loss
of taxation revenue to the Government.[55]
The O’Farrell Review found that the main reasons consumers
wagered or gambled offshore were:
- better
product choice, specifically the availability of in-play wagering on sporting
events
- better
product value and
- the
ability to bet without the limits imposed by the domestic industry.[56]
According to the O’Farrell Review, if the Government seeks
to reduce the size of the illegal offshore wagering market it needs to address
these drivers of consumer behaviour.[57]
With regards to the IGA, in the course of its
investigations the O’Farrell Review was told of concerns that ‘the provision of
services by offshore operators is enabled by the wording of the Act, which
therefore increases the size of the offshore wagering market’.[58]
This concern was prompted by perceptions that the IGA was unclear about what
services are prohibited, it does not directly prohibit the provision of
wagering services by offshore providers, the current definitions within the IGA
make it difficult to enforce and the legislation does not make it illegal
to bet on offshore websites. In addition, enforcement of the IGA ‘is
difficult given that offshore providers operate beyond the reach of enforcement
agencies in Australia’.[59]
It stated what appears to have become a staple view when
considering online gambling issues:
... a nationally consistent and robust regulatory framework,
including the consistent application of harm minimisation and consumer
protection measures, is necessary before consideration is given to expanding
products available to consumers under the Act. In addition, the Review
considers it important that this nationally consistent regulation be enforced
in a manner that disrupts the access of offshore operators to the Australian
market.[60]
Recommendation 3 of the O’Farrell Review stated that until
a national framework is established and operating, consideration of additional
in-play betting products should be deferred and legislative steps taken to
respect the original intent of the IGA.[61]
Recommendation 17 of the Review called for amendments to
the IGA to:
- improve
and simplify the definition of prohibited activities
- extend
the ambit of enforcement to affiliates, agents and the like
- include
the use of name and shame lists published online to detail illegal sites and
their directors and principals and to include the use of other Commonwealth
instruments to disrupt travel to Australia by those named
- allow
ACMA, where appropriate, to notify in writing any relevant international
regulator in the jurisdiction where the site is licensed
- allow
ACMA to implement new (civil) penalties as proposed by the 2012 DBCDE Review and
- include
a provision that restricts an operator providing illegal services to Australian
consumers from obtaining a licence in any Australian jurisdiction for a
specified future time period (see all recommendations at Appendix A).[62]
The Government response to the O’Farrell Review noted
recommendation 3 and added that it did not intend to expand the Australian
gambling market by enabling online in-play betting as it was:
... of the view that the Australian online wagering agencies
offering ‘click-to-call’ type in-play betting services are breaching the
provisions and intent of the IGA. The Government will introduce legislation as
soon as possible to give effect to the intent of the IGA.[63]
With regards to recommendation 17 the Government agreed to
introduce legislative amendments to provide greater clarity around the legality
of services, strengthen the enforcement of the IGA and deliver improved
enforcement outcomes. It committed to introducing the mechanisms outlined in
the recommendation.[64]
On 25 November 2016 the Government reached agreement with
state and territory gambling ministers to establish a National Consumer
Protection Framework for online wagering. Ministers gave in-principle agreement
to key aspects of the Government’s response to the O’Farrell Review including
setting up a national self-exclusion register for online wagering, a voluntary
pre-commitment scheme for online wagering and prohibition of lines of credit
being offered by wagering providers.[65]
Committee
consideration
Selection
of Bills Committee
On 9 November 2016 the Selection of Bills Committee noted
that ‘contingent upon its introduction in the House of Representatives’ that
this Bill would be ‘referred immediately’ to the Environment and Communications
Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 30 November 2016. The reasons
stated for referral were:
- concerns
about enforcement of penalties on offshore gambling providers in problematic
jurisdictions and
- whether
the legislation will prevent offshore wagering in a meaningful way.[66]
Details of the inquiry are at the inquiry
homepage.[67]
At the time of writing this Bills Digest, 23 submissions had been received by
the Committee.
Senate Standing
Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills considered
the Bill but had no comment to make in relation to it.[68]
Policy
position of non-government parties/independents
Senator Nick Xenophon has consistently called for tighter
gambling legislation. In his comments in the JSCGR Inquiry report on the
Interactive Gambling and Broadcasting Amendment (Online Transactions and Other
Measures) Bill in 2011, the Senator argued for the strengthening of the IGA
to improve its effectiveness.[69]
The Senator argued further that he supported additional measures to deter
people from using overseas websites to gamble, such as a government-maintained 'blacklist'
of merchant identification numbers to enable financial institutions to prohibit
transactions to certain vendors (this was discussed in the 2011 JSCGR Report).[70]
In separate comments in the JSCGR Report, Chair of the JSCGR, Independent Member
of Parliament Andrew Wilkie also considered that the possible introduction of a
blacklist should be investigated.[71]
In his submission to the O’Farrell Review, Senator
Xenophon expressed concern that its terms of reference were ‘too narrow and
ambiguous’ given the devastation caused to individuals and their families from
legal onshore online gambling sites authorised under the IGA. The
Senator considered that these legal sites should also be examined.[72]
Specifically in relation to the IGA Senator
Xenophon called for more power to be allocated to ACMA to make determinations
about prohibited gambling services and noted the problems ACMA had faced after
referring the licensed operator William Hill’s click to call betting practices
to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) (see Box 1).[73]
Box 1: click to call complaints
William Hill’s click to call product allows its
customers to place bets without having to make a traditional phone call. By
using an automated voice technology customers can place bets with the click
of their mouse, the only requirement being that the microphones on their
computers or mobile devices are switched on.
ACMA received a complaint about this practice in 2015
and referred the matter to the AFP. The AFP, however, declined to investigate
the complaint.
ACMA continued to be concerned that the click to call
practice falls under the prohibited provisions of the IGA and referred
the SportsBet operator’s Bet Live product to the AFP in July 2016. Both
William Hill and SportsBet maintained their products were wholly compliant
with the existing legislation.[74]
|
The Australian Greens have been consistent in calls for
the reform of gambling policy and legislation. For example, in April 2016, they
released a policy which would ban all gambling advertising in sport.[75]
To date, the Greens have made no specific comment on this Bill, however.
It has been reported that the Australian Labor Party
(ALP/Labor) is ‘unlikely’ to oppose the changes in this Bill although Labor’s
spokesperson on gambling, Julie Collins, has said the party would make a final
decision once it had seen the text of the Bill, but no further comment has been
made since the Bill was introduced.[76]
At the time of writing this Bills Digest it appears that
no other Parliamentarians have commented on this Bill.
Position of
major interest groups
All stakeholders appeared keen for changes to be made to
the IGA. One group wanted more liberalisation, primarily with regards to
relaxing the prohibition on in-play wagering and adopting what it labelled a
platform neutral regime. This group saw the lifting of restrictions as
delivering more protections for consumers and greater protections for sports
integrity. Another group of stakeholders supported a more cautious approach
arguing that in-play betting simply opened up more opportunities for corruption
in sport. Yet other comments argued for change, but did not specifically
address the in-play wagering debate.
For example, Clubs Australia called for the stronger enforcement
of the provisions within the IGA, appropriate resourcing of regulatory
and enforcement agencies and incorporation of greater standards of consumer
protection and harm minimisation. This organisation felt providing ACMA with
more power would improve legislative effectiveness. It listed allowing ACMA to issue
civil penalties, including infringement notices, take-down notices and the
ability to apply to the Federal Court if a gambling service provider fails to
comply with a notice as examples of such powers.[77]
Digital Industry Group Incorporated (DIGI—a group
consisting of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Yahoo!) considered the integrity
of racing and sports in Australia could be better maintained with stronger
enforcement of existing laws. These companies were firmly against any proposal
that would involve Internet filtering.[78]
The Communications Alliance agreed. It insisted that industry level website
blocking can be easily circumvented, and as such it is not a realistic and
practical alternative to the development of coherent and internationally
competitive industry policy.[79]
In-play
supporters
In its submission to the O’Farrell Review the Australian
Wagering Council argued that a new interactive gambling regime was needed to
respond to changes in the Australian wagering market which have occurred since
the introduction of the IGA.
According to the Wagering Council, consumers are not
gambling more, but they have changed their gambling preferences from onshore to
online. Yet increasingly popular forms of wagering, such as in-sport betting, are
not allowed online. As a result Australians wanting to wager in-play have been
obliged to use ‘traditional, less convenient means, or have recourse to
offshore wagering providers who offer these products’. The Wagering Council
argued this was detrimental to Australian licensed wagering providers who cannot
offer a product that is in demand.[80]
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) also called for a
more liberal approach to online gambling. The IGA was in need of reform
for the reason that it placed too many restrictions on gambling practices. As
for in-play betting, smartphones had made restrictions on this practice
obsolete; in-play betting offered consumers ‘more choice, greater participation
in spectator sport, and the opportunity to manage betting risk more
responsibility’.[81]
Bet365 also argued for the removal of the online in-play
sports-betting prohibition. The world’s largest online wagering company claimed
that illegal offshore wagering by Australians was ‘largely the direct result’
of the prohibition of in-play sports betting. Bet365 considered it was not
possible to minimise the incidence of problem gambling while so much of it is
conducted offshore, nor was it possible to control criminal elements. In
addition, it was to Australia’s economic advantage to reap the benefits of
relaxing the in-play prohibition.[82]
Sportsbet suggested an overall reform package of five
measures:
- make
it a legal requirement to be licensed in Australia in order to be permitted to
offer wagering services to Australian consumers
- adopt
a platform-neutral approach to in-play betting by removing the in-play
restriction
- strengthen
the deterrence measures deployed by ACMA
- increase
education and awareness among Australians of the dangers of transacting with
illegal offshore wagering operators
- introduce
mandatory responsible gambling initiatives:
- voluntary
pre-commitment
- reduced
time period for age verification of account holders
- mandatory
self-exclusion and national self-exclusion database
- wagering operators making appropriate
de-identified wagering information available to support research into wagering and appropriate public policy.[83]
Sportsbet pointed out that removing the in-play
restriction also has the support of Australia’s major sporting bodies citing
the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League and Cricket Australia
as well as the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports
(COMPPS) who recognise that in-play betting is the product Australians are
using offshore, which has significant consequences for the integrity of their
codes.[84]
In-play opponents
Racing Australia’s submission to the O’Farrell Review
considered illegal offshore wagering ‘an unacceptable threat to the integrity
of racing and sport’. It was clearly in favour of changing the legislation to
make it legal for a wagering operator to provide wagering services to an
Australian customer where the wagering operator either holds a state or
territory wagering licence or approval to operate with respect to a particular sporting
event.[85]
Among other measures, Racing Australia supported amending
the IGA so ACMA could issue infringement notices to illegal gambling
services hosted in Australia and inform illegal offshore wagering operators of
their breach of Australian law. In addition, it considered the legislation
should mandate that financial institutions must block financial transactions
between Australian customers and illegal offshore wagering operators who have
been placed on an ACMA register of illegal offshore wagering operators. Legislation
should require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access by Australian
customers to illegal wagering sites that are operated by, or on behalf of, any
illegal offshore wagering operator who has been placed on the ACMA register of
illegal offshore wagering operators.[86]
But it did not support in-play betting. Racing Australia
considered that allowing this to occur would open up avenues for collusion
between jockeys and punters in order to enhance the value of a bet or to
increase the chances of a wager being successful. It considered:
... the Government of the day had good and cogent reasons for
prohibiting online in-play betting on sporting events. Those reasons are just
as valid today as they were when the legislation was drafted and it would be
negligent if they were repealed merely because illegal operators were offering
the in-play product. To do so could be seen as the Government transferring its
regulatory role to overseas operators.[87]
Canberra Greyhound Racing Club agreed that there should be
a national approach, that licensing of operators was essential and that the in-play
betting ban should continue. This stakeholder was frank in noting that, if the
ban was lifted, racing betters will move to online products and this will
exacerbate loss of revenue for the racing industry.[88]
In mounting a similar argument, the New South Wales
Trainers’ Association remarked:
Live betting or 'in the run betting' [that
is, in-play betting] for thoroughbred horse racing poses another threat to the
integrity of racing. Jockeys and Trainers are under enough pressure as it
is without having to deal with accusations brought about by from 'live in the
run betting'. It creates a difficult environment for racing and opens the door
for integrity issues which are obviously amplified with live sports that last
for much longer than 90 seconds. Furthermore industry research suggests that
the racing industry and venues that support it, could lose millions in revenue
due to migration. Evidence suggests that betting agencies are likely to
emphasise 'live in the run betting' products on sports such as Rugby League,
AFL, Soccer etc that run for over an hour, to generate intensified betting.
This could result in further losses to the racing industry where each
individual race is usually over in less than 2/3 minutes. Therefore 'live in
the run betting' provides a further risk for the integrity a racing and a reduction
in funds. [89]
The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation agreed with
Senator Xenophon that risks to Australians arising explicitly from offshore
online wagering should be seen in the context of the general issues that arise
in relation to all online wagering. It called for legislative changes including
maintaining and extending prohibitions on in-play betting as well as for a
nationally consistent approach to interactive gambling which dealt with issues
such as inducements to customers offered by gambling sites, advertising in
sports programs and requiring all providers to participate in a pre-commitment
scheme.[90]
Box 2: a media view
In anticipating the introduction of this Bill Bernard
Keane, writing in the online journal Crikey was in favour of liberalisation.
Keane stated:
The gambling industry is rightly unpopular, partly because
of its intrusive and annoying advertising techniques, but Australians enjoy
gambling, and the IGA has produced perverse and self-defeating
outcomes, particularly in driving gamblers to poor-quality offshore sites.
Rather than admit the logic that prohibition has failed, the government, in
true nanny-state style, is now looking to double down with attempts to compel
offshore regulators to obey Australians law and try to convince ISPs and
banks to co-operate in banning access to offshore sites.[91]
|
Comments to the Environment and Communications Committee
Inquiry into this Bill
In its submission to the Senate Environment and
Communications committee, eCommerce on-line Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA),
a London-based organisation which administers self-regulation for members of
the on-line gambling industry, echoed what stakeholders had been saying
consistently about online gambling. eCOGRA argued that if the measures in this
Bill are to be effective then they need to be complemented by the introduction
of a national licensing scheme and national supervision of licence holders and
by national harm minimisation measures and consumer protection arrangements.[92]
eCOGRA contended that there were a number of weaknesses in
this Bill. Some of these were related to the introduction of the licensing
requirement. One problem for eCOGRA was that licences will be state or territory
based and as such, because state and territory laws are inconsistent, licence
conditions will inevitably be inconsistent. So the list of prohibited,
unlicensed gambling services proposed in the Bill will also vary according to
the criteria used for licensing in each state and territory.[93]
In addition, consumer protection in the area of credit or deferred settlement
will also be subject to state laws and therefore not implemented uniformly or
consistently.
In criticising the online in-play betting prohibition,
eCOGRA observed that while the rationale for allowing telephone in-play betting
is that contact with an operator is likely to inhibit betting more than through
a computer terminal, common sense ‘would indicate that there is little
commercial interest in telephone operators for major domestic gambling service
providers dissuading potential clients from placing in-play bets’.[94]
According to the eCOGRA assessment, a focus in the Bill on
prohibition and enforcement will also mean:
... harm minimisation measures utilised worldwide are not
satisfactorily addressed. These include managing of deposits limits, control of
deposit frequency, enforced break periods, reality checks and voluntary session
suspension ...[95]
Finally, eCOGRA believed the Bill’s enforcement powers will
continue to prove ineffective because of the difficulty in enforcing judgments
outside Australia.[96]
The Australian Psychological Society made little comment on
the actual provisions of this Bill but called the proposed measure to prohibit
‘click to call’ in-play betting services by tightening the definition of a telephone
betting service ‘a good example of disruption of ready accessibility as a harm
minimisation measure’.[97]
The Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in
Australia, and Uniting Communities submission to the Senate Committee was
supportive of the proposed measures in this Bill, particularly the proposals to
prohibit click to call betting.[98]
Bet365 iterated its earlier call to the O’Farrell Review for
removal of the online in-play sports betting prohibition and registered its
opposition to the proposed measures in the Bill which relate to place-based
betting services. The proposal would allow for electronic terminals to continue
to operate in places such as hotels, clubs or casinos where providers are licensed
under state or territory law to provide such services. Bet365 sees no
justification for allowing this exemption and considers it:
... will specifically allow for a very rapid expansion –
especially by TAB outlets – of tablet/iPad-style devices with inplay sports-betting
functionality into many more locations, including public locations such as Martin
Place (Sydney), Federation Square (Melbourne) and major sporting grounds such
as the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[99]
The Crownbet and Betfair submission also raised the issue of
the place-based betting proposals, remarking that the government’s arguments
about the interaction factor which makes in-play telephone betting acceptable
are undermined if hotels, clubs and the like are allowed:
... to offer in-play betting services that are identical, in
terms of the high speed of bet placement, as an online wagering service. There
is further no interaction required whatsoever with an operator, and no human
supervision, unlike electronic betting terminals, which are permitted only in
designated wagering areas and required to be staffed at all times.
This proposed provision therefore undermines the primary
reasons that the Government has not sought to prohibit retail or telephone
in-play wagering. This is an anomaly that undermines the principles of platform
neutrality and the perceived protections that the Government considers
consumers receive when engaging in retail or telephone based wagering.[100]
Crownbet/Betfair express concern that the sporting event
proposal in this Bill effectively prevents betting from taking place for events
which take place over a number of days once the first day of those events has
commenced. They argue it is ‘nonsensical’ to prohibit, for example, wagering
prior to the various days’ play in a golf tournament. They suggest that this
anomaly could, however, be addressed by amending this provision to introduce the
concept of a ‘scheduled extended play break’ which could be defined ‘to include
any hiatus in play which extends overnight, or for more than a prescribed
period’.[101]
Financial
implications
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, it is not
expected that this Bill will have ‘any significant impact on Commonwealth
expenditure or revenue’.[102]
There will be some cost for ACMA in establishing and administering the proposed
new enforcement processes. The Explanatory Memorandum estimates these will be a
one-off capital cost of $500,000 and ongoing costs of $2.0 million per annum,
but it stresses these costings are estimates only.[103]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary
Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth),
the Government has assessed the Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and
freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in
section 3 of that Act. According to the assessment in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill some of its provisions may engage human rights as
defined in Articles 14 and 17 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[104]
For example, item 39 proposes that proposed section
15AA of the Bill would create new criminal and civil penalties for those
who intentionally provide a regulated interactive gambling which has an
Australian link and for which they do not hold a licence to authorise operation
of that service in Australia. The Bill provides for an exception to this rule (subsection15AA(5)),
where a person is not aware that a service has an Australian customer link and
could not ‘with reasonable diligence’ have ascertained that the service has
such a link. At the same time, proposed subsection 15AA(5) notes that the
defendant needs to prove that he or she had no knowledge of the Australian
link. This may be considered to limit the rights in Article 14(2) of the Convention,
which states that persons charged with criminal offences have the right to be
presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Further, items 3 and 4 of the Bill engage the
right to protection against arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy
under Article 17(1) of the Convention. These items amend the list of
authorities in the ACMA Act to whom information about a prohibited or
registered interactive gambling service may be disclosed.[105]
These issues are discussed comprehensively in the
Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill. The Government considers that the Bill is
compatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because
any limitations it imposes on human rights ‘are reasonable, necessary and
proportionate’.[106]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights considered
that the Bill did not raise human rights concerns.[107]
Key issues
and provisions
This section does not discuss all provisions
in this Bill. For a detailed analysis of all provisions, see the Explanatory
Memorandum.
ACMA Act
Items 1–5 of the
Bill amend the ACMA Act which, amongst other things, establishes ACMA
and sets out its functions and powers.[108]
Currently Part 7A of the ACMA Act sets out the circumstances in which authorised
disclosure information may be disclosed and to whom it may be
disclosed.[109]
Item 1 of the Bill amends the definition of authorised disclosure
information in section 3 of the ACMA Act to include information
gathered under the complaints handling systems contained in Parts 3, 4 and 5 of
the IGA.
Within Part 7A, section 59D provides for the
disclosure of authorised disclosure information to certain
authorities. Items 3 and 4 amend subsection 59D(1) of the ACMA Act to expand
the list of authorities to whom authorised disclosure information
about gambling services may be provided to include:
- the Secretary of the Department administered by the Minister who
administers the Migration
Act 1958 or employees in the
Department whose duties relate to that Act
- an authority of a foreign country responsible for regulating matters
relating to the provisions of gambling services (note: item 2 will
insert a definition foreign country).
Item 5 inserts proposed
subsection 59(1A), to ensure that only information that relates to a
prohibited interactive gambling service or a regulated interactive gambling
service (and not any other information that ACMA may collect) may be disclosed
to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection or foreign regulators.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum to
the Bill, these amendments:
... are intended to promote effective enforcement
of the IGA by enabling the ACMA to notify international regulators and the
Department of Immigration and Border Protection of information relating to
prohibited or regulated interactive gambling services.[110]
IGA
Items 6 to 143
amend the IGA.
New definitions
The Bill inserts a number of new and
important definitions into the IGA.
Prohibited interactive gambling service
Currently the IGA identifies various
types of interactive gambling service and creates the offence of providing an
interactive gambling service to customers in Australia. Item 8 of the
Bill repeals the definition of interactive gambling service. Item 9 of
the Bill inserts the definition of prohibited interactive gambling
service. Items 19–22 of the Bill operate so that references in
the IGA to an interactive gambling service become references to a
prohibited interactive gambling service; further, these items signpost the
introduction of civil penalty provisions which will be in addition to existing
criminal penalty provisions.
Regulated interactive gambling service
Item 28 inserts proposed section 8E into the
IGA to define the term regulated interactive gambling service.
It is proposed that a regulated interactive gambling service will be defined as:
- a
telephone betting service — being a gambling service that is provided ‘on the
basis that dealings with customers are wholly by way of voice calls made using
a carriage service’ (proposed subsection 8AA(1) at item 25). A
voice call is defined in proposed subsection 8AA(3) as one that consists
wholly of a spoken conversation between individuals or, in the case of
customers with a disability, a call that is equivalent. Proposed subsection
8AA(8) provides that, despite subsection 8AA(1), a gambling service that
provides that certain information, such as the selection of a bet or the
nomination of a bet amount, can be provided by a customer otherwise than by way
of a voice call, will not be a telephone betting service for the purposes of
the IGA. In its submission to the current inquiry into this Bill Tabcorp
sought clarification of whether the list in proposed subsection 8AA(8) is
intended to include customer account information (such that customers would need
to provide identifying information by voice in order for a service to be
considered to be a telephone betting service)[111]
- an
excluded wagering service — being a service which relates to betting on horse,
harness or greyhound racing. In addition, an excluded wagering service is one
that relates to betting on sporting events or other events or contingencies — provided
that the service is not an in-play betting service (proposed section 8A at
item 26). Consistent with this section, proposed section 10A (at
item 32) impacts on how the term sporting event is
defined for the purposes of the IGA. The section will empower the
Minister to declare if a ‘specified thing’ is, or is not, a sporting event. Proposed
subsection 10A(4) provides examples of ‘things’ that may be specified in a
Ministerial determination as a sporting event (or specified as not being a
sporting event). They include a match, a race, a tournament or a round.
Further, proposed section 10B operates so that a gambling service is an in‑play
betting service to the extent to which it relates to betting on the
outcome of a sporting event or on a contingency that may or may not happen in
the course of a sporting event, where the bets are placed, made, received or
accepted after the beginning of the event. Free TV Australia has commented that
this provision which ‘leaves a core regulatory obligation to be determined by
the Minister, creates significant uncertainty regarding the impact of the Bill
and exposes regulated parties to potentially significant regulatory change on
short notice’. Free TV considers that the Bill should be amended to include a
definition of sporting event or alternatively, the proposed legislative
instrument should accompany the Bill’[112]
- an
excluded gaming service — being a service for the conduct of certain games[113]
provided to customers at a particular place, using electronic equipment which
is available to all customers at that place (proposed subsection 8B at
item 27)
- a
place-based betting service — being a service for the placing, making,
receiving or acceptance of bets, or which introduces people wishing to make bets
with people willing to accept bets, which is provided to customers at a
particular place using electronic equipment which is available to all customers
at that place (proposed section 8BA at item 27). Under proposed
paragraph 8BA(1)(c) the provider of the service needs to hold a licence
under state or territory law to authorise the service to be provided. Tabcorp
has suggested that this proposed section could be made clearer by
stating that customers must be at the place at the time the service is provided
and that the licence required under proposed paragraph 8BA(1)(c) be a licence
issued by the state or territory in which the service is provided [114]
- a
service that has a designated broadcasting link under existing section 8C
- a
service that has a designated datacasting link under existing section 8C
- an
excluded lottery service under existing section 8D
- an
exempt service.
These services must be provided in the course of carrying
on a business and be delivered by either an Internet carriage service or any
other listed carriage service, a broadcasting service, any other content
service or by a datacasting service (proposed paragraph 8E(1)(j)).
Proposed paragraph 8E(1)(k) adds that in the case
of an exempt service, a Ministerial determination under proposed subsection
8E(2) must be in force in relation to the service.[115]
Designated
interactive gambling service
Item 7 of the Bill inserts the term designated
interactive gambling service, being either a prohibited interactive
gambling service or an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service, into
section 4 of the IGA.
Prohibited
internet gambling content
Proposed section 8F of the IGA (at item
28) provides that internet content is prohibited internet gambling
content if end-users in Australia can access the internet content and an
ordinary reasonable person would conclude that the sole or primary purpose of that
internet content is to enable a person to be a customer of either one or more
illegal interactive gambling services or one or more unlicensed regulated interactive
gambling services, or both.
New offence and increased penalties
Item 33 repeals and replaces the heading of Part 2
of the IGA — Designated interactive gambling services not to be
provided to customers in Australia — to reflect its content more accurately.
Currently, section 15 of the IGA (which is the only
provision in Part 2) states that a person commits an offence if the person
intentionally provides an interactive gambling service which has an Australian-customer
link—the maximum penalty for this is 2,000 penalty units (being equivalent to
$360,000).
Items 35 and 35A operate to increase the existing
maximum criminal penalty for intentionally providing a prohibited interactive
gambling service with an Australian customer link to 5,000 penalty units
(being equivalent to $900,000).
Item 39 of the Bill inserts proposed section
15AA which provides that a person commits a criminal offence if the person
intentionally provides a regulated interactive gambling service which has an
Australian customer link and the person does not hold a licence under a law of
the state or territory that authorises the provision of that kind of service.
The maximum penalty is 5,000 penalty units, being equivalent to $900,000.
However, it is a defence if the person did not know and could not, with
reasonable diligence, have ascertained that the service had an Australian
customer link.[116]
The defendant will bear the evidential burden of establishing this.
The new civil penalty provisions are contained in:
- proposed
subsections 15(2A) and (2B) which operate so that a person must not provide
a prohibited interactive gambling service that has an Australian-customer link.
The maximum civil penalty is 7,500 penalty units, being equivalent to
$1,350,000. Where a person contravenes the prohibition he, or she, commits a
separate contravention in respect of each day during which the contravention
occurs
- proposed
subsections 15AA(3) and (4) which operate so that a person must not provide
a regulated interactive gambling service if the service has an Australian
customer link and the person does not hold a licence under a law of the state
or territory that authorises the provision of that kind of service. The maximum
civil penalty is 7,500 penalty units, being equivalent to $1,350,000. Where a
person contravenes the prohibition he, or she, commits a separate contravention
in respect of each day during which the contravention occurs and
- proposed
subsections 15A(2A) and (2B) which operate so that a person must not
provide a prohibited interactive gambling service that has a designated
country-customer link. The maximum civil penalty is 7,500 penalty units. Where
a person contravenes the prohibition he, or she, commits a separate contravention
in respect of each day during which the contravention occurs.
Key
issue—penalty amounts
Under the current IGA, offences which arise from contravening
conduct are criminal offences. The standard of proof in a criminal case is
‘beyond a reasonable doubt’. However, the offence will not be committed if the
defendant establishes that he, or she, did not know and could not, with
reasonable diligence, have ascertained that the service had an
Australian-customer-link.[117]
The existing offences, if proven, allow for financial penalties to be paid
rather than imposing a term of imprisonment.
The Bill provides for existing offence provisions to also
be civil penalty provisions so that ACMA can apply to the court for a civil
penalty order against a person who has contravened a civil penalty provision.[118]
In addition, it provides ACMA with powers to issue infringement notices,[119]
issue formal warnings[120]
and to apply to the court for injunctions, including injunctions to undertake,
or to cease from undertaking, certain actions.[121]
Civil penalties, infringement notices and injunctions will be enforced under
the Regulatory
Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014, which contains a standard suite
of provisions containing investigative, compliance monitoring and enforcement
powers which can be applied to individual pieces of Commonwealth regulatory
legislation.[122]
Essentially, the Bill (and the current Act) prohibits
certain conduct. That conduct may give rise to a criminal offence as well as
being a civil penalty provision. There appears to be no
difference in the conduct involved or in the rationale of the provisions—the
differences are the increased penalties to which a person is subject in civil
penalty proceedings, the lesser standard of proof that is required, and
differing procedural requirements and guarantees. The choice of which type of
proceedings takes place appears to be at the discretion of ACMA.
The Bill provides for ACMA to apply to a
civil court for an order that a person pay to the Commonwealth a pecuniary
penalty. The maximum pecuniary penalty is 50 per cent greater than the amount
payable as a fine were the conduct prosecuted as a criminal offence. According
to the Explanatory Memorandum:
To reduce the adverse effects [of gambling] the
penalty amounts for contraventions of the IGA need to be high, in particular
for major offences including the provision of prohibited interactive gambling
services and unlicensed regulated interactive gambling services, to deter
offshore global entities from providing services to the Australian market.[123]
In addition, whilst the civil penalties deal with the same
conduct, ‘the penalty for the civil offence is higher, given that the criminal
offence also carries with it the stigma of a criminal conviction’.[124]
Items 51 to 66 amend Part 3 of the IGA, to
set out the new processes under which persons may complain to ACMA about
interactive gambling services that should not be provided to Australian
customers, or by Australian companies to consumers in designated countries. Item
53 proposes to increase ACMA’s powers of investigation in this area. It
allows for ACMA ‘to handle the entire complaints and investigation process from
the receipt of a complaint to enforcement’.[125]
Item 82 of the Bill renames the heading for Part 7A
of the IGA to Prohibition of advertising of designated interactive
gambling services. Within Part 7A, section 61BA as amended by items 87
to 91 will define a designated interactive gambling
service advertisement as any writing, still or moving picture, sign,
symbol or other visual image, or any audible message, or any combination of two
or more of those things, that gives publicity to, or otherwise promotes or is
intended to promote:
a) a
designated interactive gambling service or
b) designated
interactive gambling services in general or
c) the
whole or part of a trade mark in respect of a designated interactive gambling
service or
d) a
domain name or URL that relates to a designated interactive gambling service;
or
e) any
words that are closely associated with a designated interactive gambling
service (whether also closely associated with other kinds of services or
products).
Items 92–98, 100–104 and 107–114 of
the Bill then amend references to an interactive gambling service
advertisement to a reference to a designated interactive gambling
service advertisement. The effect of the amendments is to extend the
prohibition on advertising in the IGA to include the types of services
that are unlicensed regulated interactive gambling services. Currently
section 61DA of the IGA provides for two criminal offences:
- first,
a person commits an offence if the person broadcasts or datacasts an
interactive gambling service advertisement in Australia and the broadcast or
datacast is not permitted by section 61DB (which permits accidental or
incidental broadcast or datacast) or by section 61DC (which permits broadcast
or datacast of advertisements during flights of aircraft)[126]
- second,
a person commits an offence if the person authorises or causes such a broadcast
or datacast.[127]
In either case, the maximum penalty for contravention is 120 penalty units,
being equivalent to $21,600.
Item 117 of the Bill updates the reference to a
gambling service advertisement to a reference to a designated interactive
gambling service advertisement. Items 118 and 121 of the Bill
insert proposed subsections 61DA(1A) and (3) respectively into the IGA
to create civil penalty provisions that parallel the existing criminal offences
in that section. Where the civil penalty provisions are contravened the maximum
penalty is 180 penalty units being equivalent to $32,400.
Currently section 61EA of the IGA provides for two
criminal offences:
- first,
a person commits an offence if the person publishes an interactive gambling
service advertisement in Australia and the publication is not permitted by section
61EB (which permits the publication of periodicals distributed outside
Australia); section 61ED (which permits accidental or incidental publication);
section 61EE (which permits publication by person not receiving any benefit);
and section 61EF (which permits publication of advertisements during flights of
aircraft)[128]
- second,
a person commits an offence if the person authorises or causes such an
advertisement to be published in Australia.[129]
In either case, the penalty for contravention is 120 penalty units, being
equivalent to $21,600.
Item 126 of the Bill updates the reference from an
interactive gambling service advertisement to a reference to a designated
interactive gambling service advertisement. Items 127 and 129 of
the Bill insert proposed subsections 61EA(1A) and (2A) respectively into
the IGA to create civil penalty provisions that parallel the existing
criminal offences in that section. Where the civil penalty provisions are
contravened the maximum penalty is 180 penalty units being equivalent to
$32,400.
Appendix A: Recommendations of the O’Farrell Review
Recommendation 1: Commonwealth, State and Territory governments
should recommit to Gambling Research Australia to ensure that research funds
are directed towards maximising the information available to policy makers,
academics, the community and industry about the nature, prevalence and impact
of gambling across Australia.
Recommendation 2: A national policy framework, comprising
agreed minimum standards, be established to provide consistency in the
regulation of online wagering and to improve the effectiveness of consumer
protection and harm minimisation measures across the nation.
Recommendation 3: Until the proposed national framework is
established and operating, consideration of additional in-play betting products
should be deferred and legislative steps taken to respect the original intent
of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
Recommendation 4: A national self-exclusion register that
applies across all online operators should be developed, either by an expansion
of the Northern Territory register or through a new national system. The costs
associated with such a register should be borne by online operators.
Recommendation 5: Operators should be required to offer
customers an opportunity to set voluntary limits on their wagering activities.
Consumers should be prompted about setting or reviewing limits on a regular
basis.
Recommendation 6: Operators should be required to apply
additional consumer protections where ‘credit’ or deferred settlement betting
is available.
Recommendation 7: Links between online wagering operators
and payday and other lenders should be discouraged.
Recommendation 8: Users should be regularly sent online
statements detailing their wagering activity including total wagered, winnings
and losses. These statements should also be readily accessible through the
operator’s website.
Recommendation 9: As part of the national policy
framework, the current 90 day verification period should be reduced to at least
45 days.
Recommendation 10: All staff involved with online users
must undertake appropriate training in the responsible conduct of gambling –
provided through an accredited provider.
Recommendation 11: That the national policy framework
include consistent, enforceable rules about advertising of online gambling.
Recommendation 12: The national policy framework should
ensure that advertising of online services using social or digital media
platforms is subject to similar regulatory controls as other media.
Recommendation 13: The national policy framework should
introduce a system to allow for the development and use of nationally
consistent and standardised messaging to assist efforts to ensure responsible
gambling.
Recommendation 14: The current single national telephone
number and web portal – Gambling Help Online – should be refocused to operate
more consistently across all States and Territories, and provide a stronger
pathway to other support services for problem gamblers and their families.
Recommendation 15: Further research should be undertaken
on the impact of betting restrictions on illegal offshore wagering and the
identification of options to improve the situation.
Recommendation 16: A national policy framework that
leverages off existing Commonwealth, State and Territory agencies should be
implemented and enforced in a similar vein to the National Policy on
Match-Fixing in Sport.
Recommendation 17: The Act should be amended to:
- improve
and simplify the definition of prohibited activities
- extend
the ambit of enforcement to affiliates, agents and the like
- include
the use of name and shame lists published online to detail illegal sites and
their directors and principals and to include the use of other Commonwealth
instruments to disrupt travel to Australia by those named
- allow
ACMA, where appropriate, to notify in writing any relevant international
regulator in the jurisdiction where the site is licensed
- allow
ACMA to implement new (civil) penalties as proposed by the 2012 DBCDE Review and
- include
a provision that restricts an operator providing illegal services to Australian
consumers from obtaining a licence in any Australian jurisdiction for a
specified future time period.
Recommendation 18: Treasury and other relevant agencies should
work with banks and credit card providers to identify potential payment
blocking strategies to disrupt illegal offshore wagering. Additionally, the
recommendation from the 2012 DBCDE Review of the Interactive Gambling Act
2001 relating to ‘safe harbour’ provisions be adopted to support these
efforts.
Recommendation 19: ACMA should seek to pursue voluntary
agreements with ISP and/or content providers to block identified sites
fostering illegal wagering activity within Australia. Failing this, consideration
should be given to legislative options for applying website blocking to disrupt
the use of offshore operators.
Source: B O’Farrell, Review
of illegal offshore wagering, (O’Farrell Review), Department of Social
services, Canberra, 18 December 2015, pp. 150–160.
[1]. Note:
the terms interactive and online with reference to gambling are generally
interchangeable in gambling literature and will be so used in this Digest.
[2]. Note:
the terms interactive and online with reference to gambling are generally
interchangeable in gambling literature and will be so used in this Digest.
[3]. Section
51(v), Commonwealth
of Australia Constitution Act.
[4]. Productivity
Commission (PC), Australia’s
gambling industries, Final report, 10, PC, Canberra, 26 November 1999.
For a history of gambling in Australia see J O’Hara, A
mug’s game: a history of gaming and betting in Australia, New South
Wales University Press, Sydney, 1988.
[5]. PC,
Australia’s gambling industries, op. cit., p. 1.
[6]. Ibid.,
p. 5.
[7]. Ibid.,
p. 2.
[8]. Ibid.,
p. 3.
[9]. Ibid.
[10]. Ibid.,
p. 51.
[11]. Senate
Select Committee on Information Technologies, Netbets:
a review of online gambling in Australia, The Senate, Canberra,
March 2000.
[12]. Ibid.,
p. 42.
[13]. Ibid.,
p. x.
[14]. R
Alston (Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts), Study
into interactive gambling ban, media release, 7 July 2000.
[15]. National
Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), Report
of the investigation into the feasibility and consequences of banning
interactive gambling, NOIE, Canberra, 27 March 2001.
[16]. Parliament
of Australia, ‘Interactive
Gambling (Moratorium) Bill 2000 homepage’, Australian Parliament website.
[17]. K
Jackson and M Tapley, Interactive
Gambling (Moratorium) Bill 2000, Bills digest, 50, 2000–01, Department
of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 20 October 2000.
[18]. R
Alston (Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts), Interactive
gambling ban, media release, 27 March 2001.
[19]. Parliament
of Australia, ‘Interactive
Gambling Bill 2001 homepage’, Australian Parliament website; B Pearson, ‘Online
gambling bill branded illogical’, The Australian Financial Review, 5
May 2001; and S Mitchell, ‘We
win on overseas gaming sites’, The Australian, 10 April 2001.
[20]. Department
of Social Services (DSS), Review
of illegal offshore wagering, (O’Farrell Review), DSS, Canberra, 18 December
2015, p. 35.
[21]. Joint
Select Committee on Gambling Reform (JSCGR), adaption of figure in Department
of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Review
of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001: call for submissions, Department
of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Canberra, 2011, p. 3.
[22]. PC,
Gambling,
Inquiry report, 50, 2 vols., PC, Canberra, 26 February 2010, p. 15.20.
[23]. T
Cummings, ‘Online gambling and the review of the interactive gambling act – my
analysis’, Cyenne, blog, 1
June 2012.
[24]. PC,
Gambling, op. cit.
[25]. Ibid.,
p. 15.2.
[26]. Ibid.,
pp. 15.6 and 15.7.
[27]. Ibid.,
p. 15.15.
[28]. Ibid.,
p. 15.18.
[29]. Ibid.,
p. 15.21.
[30]. Ibid.,
p. 15.22.
[31]. Ibid.,
p. 15.29.
[32]. JSCGR,
‘Information
about the Committee’, Committee webpage.
[33]. JSCGR,
Interactive
and online gambling and gambling advertising: interactive Gambling and
Broadcasting Amendment (Online Transactions and Other Measures) Bill 2011,
Second report, 8 December 2011.
[34]. Government
attempts to block websites have been controversial and attempts to filter pornographic
and/or violent materials have been made since Bulletin boards first appeared in
the 1990s. For more information on attempts to block Internet sites, see P
Pyburne and R Jolly, Australian
Governments and dilemmas in filtering the Internet: juggling freedoms against
potential for harm, Research paper series, 2014–15,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 8 August 2015.
[35]. JSCGR,
Interactive and online gambling and gambling advertising, op.
cit., p. 140.
[36]. Ibid.,
p. 334.
[37]. Betchoice,
Submission 43, pp. 14–15, cited in JSCGR, Interactive and online
gambling and gambling advertising, op. cit., p. 208.
[38]. FamilyVoice
Australia, Submission 11, p. 3, cited in JSCGR, Interactive and online
gambling and gambling advertising, op. cit., p. 210.
[39]. JSCGR,
Interactive and online gambling and gambling advertising, op.
cit., p. 211.
[40]. Council
of Australian Governments (COAG) Select Council on Gambling Reform, Communique,
COAG meeting, Canberra, 27 May 2011.
[41]. Department
of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), Review of the
Interactive Gambling Act 2001, Final report, DBCDE, Canberra, 2012, p.
6.
[42]. Ibid.,
p. 14.
[43]. Ibid.,
p. 6.
[44]. Ibid.,
pp. 17–19.
[45]. Quoted
in DBCDE Review, Ibid., p. 14.
[46]. N
Xenophon, Submission on the interim report of the DBCDE Review, pp. 1–2, as
cited in the DBCDE Review, op. cit., p. 15.
[47]. S
Gainsbury, Submission on the interim report of the DBCDE Review, p. 4, as cited
in the DBCDE Review, op. cit., p. 16.
[48]. N
Xenophon (Independent Senator), Online gambling sell-out: the Government is softening us up to
expose more Australians to online gambling,
media release, 29 May 2012.
[49]. S
Conroy (Minister for Broadband, communications and the digital Economy), Strengthened
consumer protection for online gambling, media release, 12 March 2013.
[50]. Liberal
Party of Australia and the Nationals, The
Coalition’s policy to help problem gamblers, Coalition policy document,
Election 2013, p. 6.
[51]. B
O’Farrell, Review
of illegal offshore wagering, (O’Farrell Review), Department of Social
services, Canberra, 18 December 2015, p. 31.
[52]. Interactive
Gambling Dataset 2015, Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association, Isle of Man in
O’Farrell, Review of illegal offshore wagering, op. cit., p. 44.
[53]. Australian
Wagering Council, Submission to the O’Farrell Review, cited in O’Farrell, Review
of illegal offshore wagering, op. cit., p. 52.
[54]. Internet
betting on the rise, Roy Morgan Gambling Currency Report, article no. 5468,
6 March 2014, cited in O’Farrell, Review of illegal offshore wagering,
op. cit., p. 52.
[55]. O’Farrell,
Review of illegal offshore wagering, op. cit., p. 53.
[56]. Ibid.,
p. 96.
[57]. Ibid.
[58]. Ibid.,
p. 107.
[59]. Ibid.
[60]. Ibid.,
p. 21.
[61]. Ibid.,
p. 23.
[62]. Ibid.,
p. 24.
[63]. Australian
Government, Government
response to the 2015 review of the impact of illegal offshore wagering,
April 2016, p. 7.
[64]. Ibid.
[65]. A
Tudge (Minister for Human Services), Gambling Ministers agree to consumer protection framework for online
wagering, media
release, 25 November 2016.
[66]. Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills, Report,
8, 2016, The Senate, 9 November 2016.
[67]. Senate
Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation, ‘Interactive
Gambling Amendment Bill 2016’, Inquiry homepage.
[68]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
digest, 9, 2016, The Senate, 23 November 2016, p. 4.
[69]. Additional
comments by Senator Xenophon, 1 December, JSCGR, Interactive and online
gambling and gambling advertising, op. cit., p. 386.
[70]. Ibid.
[71]. Chair’s
additional comments, JSCGR, Interactive and online gambling and gambling
advertising, op. cit., p. 374.
[72]. N
Xenophon, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, November
2015.
[73]. Ibid.,
pp. 3–4.
[74]. SJ Tasker, ‘Sportsbet referred to AFP’, The Australian, 14
July 2016, p. 21.
[75]. The
Australian Greens, Greens to end sports betting ad barrage, media release, 8 April 2016.
[76]. R
Wallace, ‘In-play bets to be banned, illegal bookies barred’, The Australian, 10 November 2016, p. 11.
[77]. Clubs
Australia, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, November
2015.
[78]. Digital
Industry Group, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 17 November
2015, pp. 1–2.
[79]. Communications
Alliance, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, November
2015, p. 3.
[80]. Australian
Wagering Council, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, November
2015.
[81]. Institute
of Public Affairs, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, December
2015, p. 4.
[82]. Bet365,
Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 15 November
2015.
[83]. Sportsbet,
Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, November 2015,
p. 3.
[84]. Ibid.,
p. 6.
[85]. Racing
Australia, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 16
November 2015, p. 3.
[86]. Ibid.,
p. 12.
[87]. Ibid.,
p. 13.
[88]. Canberra
Greyhound Racing Club, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 12 November
2015.
[89]. New
South Wales Trainers Association, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 13 November
2015, p. 1.
[90]. Victorian
Responsible Gambling Foundation, Submission
to DSS, Inquiry into the impact of illegal offshore wagering, 16 November
2015.
[91]. B
Keane, ‘Nanny state govt doubles down on failed online gambling ban’, Crikey, 22 August 2016.
[92]. eCommerce
on-line Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA), Submission,
no. 1, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications
Legislation, Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016,
2016, p .2.
[93]. Ibid.,
pp. 4–5.
[94]. Ibid.,
pp. 5–6.
[95]. Ibid.
[96]. Ibid.,
p. 6.
[97]. Australian
Psychological Society, Submission,
no. 2, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation,
Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, 21 November
2016, p .2.
[98]. Synod
of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia and Uniting Communities, Submission,
no. 4, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation,
Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, 21 November
2016.
[99]. Hillside
(Australia New Media) Pty Ltd t/a bet365, Submission,
no. 6, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation,
Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, 21 November
2016, p. 2.
[100]. Crownbet
and Betfair, Submission,
no. 8, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation,
Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, November 2016,
p. 4.
[101]. Ibid.,
pp. 5–6.
[102]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, p. 5.
[103]. Ibid.,
p. 37.
[104]. International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done in New York on 16 December
1966, [1980] ATS 23 (entered into force for Australia (except Art. 41) on 13
November 1980; Art. 41 came into force for Australia on 28 January 1994).
[105]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, op. cit., p. 11.
[106]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at pages 6–12 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill.
[107]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Report
9 of 2016, 22 November 2016, p. 39.
[108]. Australian
Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (ACMA Act).
[109]. The
detailed definition of the term authorised disclosure information
is contained in section 3 of the ACMA Act.
[110]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, op. cit., p. 46.
[111]. Tabcorp
Holdings Limited, Submission,
no. 18, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications
Legislation, Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016,
21 November 2016, p. 2.
[112]. Free
TV, Submission,
no. 11, to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Legislation,
Inquiry into the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, 22 November
2016, p. 2.
[113]. The
relevant games are those covered by paragraph (e) of the definition of gambling
service in section 4 of the IGA. That is, games of chance or of
mixed chance and skill played for money (or anything else of value), where the
customer pays to enter or play the game.
[114]. Tabcorp
Holdings Limited, Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment
and Communications Legislation, op. cit., p. 2.
[115]. The
Minister will make a determination by legislative instrument. Section 42 of the
Legislation Act
2003 provides that a legislative instrument is subject to disallowance
if either a Senator or Member of the House of Representatives moves a motion of
disallowance within 15 sitting days of the day that the legislative instrument
is tabled.
[116]. IGA,
proposed subsection 15AA(5).
[117]. IGA,
subsection 15(3). The defendant bears an ‘evidential burden’ in relation to
these matters. That is, he or she has ‘the burden of adducing or pointing to
evidence that suggests a reasonable possibility that the matter exists or does
not exist’ (section 13.3 of the Criminal Code Act
1995. If the evidential burden is discharged the prosecution is required
to discharge its legal burden to negate the exception beyond reasonable doubt.
[118]. IGA,
proposed section 64B, at item 139.
[119]. IGA,
proposed section 64C.
[120]. IGA,
proposed section 64A.
[121]. IGA,
proposed section 64D.
[122]. For
further information on the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014,
see C Raymond, Regulatory
Powers (Standardisation Reform) Bill 2016, Bills digest, 42, 2016–17,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 22 November 2016.
[123]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, op. cit., p. 58.
[124]. Ibid,
pp. 58–59.
[125]. Ibid.,
p. 64.
[126]. IGA,
subsection 61DA(1).
[127]. IGA,
subsection 61DA(2).
[128]. IGA,
subsection 61EA(1).
[129]. IGA,
subsection 61EA(2).
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