The Nick Xenophon Team, a party led by South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, believes that the newly introduced federal betting regulations could create comfortable conditions for a growth in betting activity in licensed gambling venues.
The group submitted its concerns to the Australian government late on Tuesday as part of a Senate-led probe into the proposed gambling bill. Under the new regulations, in-play betting options will be allowed to be provided within licensed premises through electronic devices loaned out by said premises.
Here it is important to note that there is no specific definition of what electronic devices stands for in the legislation. According to Senator Xenophon and his party, the implementation of the new law could eventually result in an increased use of different hand-held devices within gambling facilities as bettors will be able to place their bets more quickly and easily.
Proponents of the legislative proposal argue that in-play wagering inside venues would be the better option for betting customers as they will be able to place their wagers in the presence of trained staff, within specified trading hours, and only by means of cash and its equivalents.
The Nick Xenophon Team, on the other hand, believes that although the recently introduced regulatory measures mean well and are intended to minimize harm, they are not likely to yield much positive results. According to the Senator Xenophon-led group, staff members at gambling venues rarely interfere with bettors’ activities, even when it is obvious that a given customer wagers to an excessive degree.
The new legislation also contains provisions that would no longer allow online gambling operators to take advantage of a loophole that had previously made it possible for them to offer in-play click-to-call betting options.
The creation of a customer protection framework has also been included in the gambling bill. The framework would include the establishment of a self-exclusion register, a voluntary pre-commitment scheme (although some officials called for a compulsory one), and the prohibition of credits offered by gambling operators to their customers in order to be able to bet for a longer time.
The new law may turn out to be particularly unfavorable to offshore gambling operators as they would be required to obtain a license so as to be able to provide online gambling operations to Australian customers.
