The first national self-exclusion register for digital and phone gambling of Australia has taken a massive step forward with the appointment of Engine Australia to deliver the project.
Engine has been appointed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to establish and run the country’s National Self-Exclusion Register. The latter will provide local people with the opportunity to ban themselves from all licenced interactive gambling service providers simultaneously.
The Register will make it possible for Australian people to exclude themselves from gambling for a period between 3 months to on a permanent basis, with the exclusion covering all licenced betting services available online and on the phone. Furthermore, gambling operators will be suspended from direct advertising and promotion of their services to consumers who have taken part in the Self-Exclusion scheme.
Nerida O’Loughlin, ACMA chair, welcomed the appointment of Engine Australia as the body to operate the Register and described the appointment as a significant step toward critical consumer protection. Ms O’Loughlin explained that the register is expected to really help people who need some assistance so that they change their gambling habits and is set to complement the customer protection measures that have already been in place.
New Self-Exclusion Register Expected to Start Operation in Mid-2022
As explained by the chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, if a person decides to self-exclude, the rules of the register will make sure their account is closed and they get their money back. Also, such customers will not be targeted by any more promotion or advertising activity.
Engine Australia is considered having the stability to deliver the self-exclusion service that matches the quality of GAMSTOP, the self-exclusion register of the UK. As explained by ACMA’s chair, the project now moves to the next phase of its development, with the Authority set to start extensive consultations with stakeholders in order to make sure all parties involved in the project are engaged with the interactive betting industry on the system’s design and the register’s operation rules.
The ACMA and Engine Australia are also set to work with local customers and advocacy groups in order to make sure that the new national self-exclusion register meets consumers’ needs and protects their interests.
The newly-appointed operator of the Register, Engine Australia, is now set to start working on the initial design and development of the customer protection solution. The service trial is expected to begin later in 2021, while the anticipated official launch of the register set for the middle of 2022.
During the implementation of the register, Australians will be able to contact individual gambling operators to self-exclude from their services or just register with other self-exclusion programs, which already exist, with some of the covering the biggest corporate gambling companies in the country.
- Author
Daniel Williams
