Paul Fletcher, Federal Minister for Social Services in Australia, officially revealed that the Government is imposing stricter measures on the gambling sector as part of its efforts to tackle problem gambling.
Under the expanded crackdown on the sector, operators will now have only 14 days instead of 3 months on their disposal to verify their users’ identities. Minister Fletcher explained that there are currently more than 240,000 people who are considered at risk of getting hooked on gambling or who are already suffering from significant harm due to compulsive online gambling habits, so the Federal Government considered its obligation to unveil certain reforms in order to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
The announcement of the stricter regulatory regime follows a report, commissioned by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, which found that 25% of the bettors were under the legal age of 18 when placing their first sports bets. According to the report’s findings, about 70% of the bettors are already facing negative consequences of gambling-related harm or are at risk.
As written by Pro Bono News, the executive director of Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tony Mohr, described the three-month limit as “essentially ineffective”, which was one of the main reasons for the rule change. Mr Mohr explained that the 3-month limit which gambling operators had until now to make user identity checks do not equal a 3-month self-exclusion. In addition, it was not able to guarantee that underage individuals or players using someone else’s credit cards would stay away from gambling over that period of time.
Shorter ID Checks Limit Is Not a “Silver Bullet”
The problem with the 3-month limit for user identity checks is that players could lose a lot of money for such a long period of time, which makes it ineffective.
According to Mr Mohr, changes were necessary in the sector in order for the competent authorities to make sure that customers are provided with protection when it comes to problem gambling and gambling-related harm. Of course, the shorter user identity checks limits could not be considered a simple and magical solution for the complicated condition of the country’s gambling sector.
The thing is that the measure is not designed to prevent people from getting hooked on gambling before it happens, but it is still an important part of the Government’s gambling-related harm prevention program.
The Government is aware of the fact that the stricter measures under which the period given to gambling operators to execute the necessary checks of their users’ identities will be shortened from 90 to 14 days could bring some operational difficulties for companies, but something needs to be done as quickly as possible.
As revealed by Minister Fletcher, the newly-announced reduction is to be reviewed by the Federal Government in 12 months, as legislators are intending to cut the ID checks limits even further, to 72 hours.
- Author
Olivia Cole
