One of the key recommendations of an independent review into sports integrity and online gambling that was carried out in 2018 is set to be diminished following the gambling industry’s negative and unfavourable response.
The Sport Integrity Arrangements of the Wood Review of Australia once called for real-time detection of betting fraud and response capability. However, a recent Regulatory Impact Statement into the proposed ASWS (Australian Sports Wagering Scheme) warned that the country’s Government has taken into consideration the implementation of a non-real-time data platform, which is designed in a way that provides sporting bodies, gambling operators and federal investigators to share information regarding punters. Such an activity would allow suspicious accounts to be cross-matches by the providers of gambling services.
Previously, betting operators have warned that the implementation of any scheme would seriously affect their operations and supported the adoption of a non-real-time scheme.
According to reports, this is only one part of the gambling companies’ opposition to the ASWS, which has been the most important part of the Wood review in 2018. The Australian gambling sector has explained that it supports the overall concept of an Australian Sports Wagering Scheme. However, operators were not convinced by the current policy of the Government that is trying to impose stricter regulation over the industry.
“Layered” Regulation in Australia Makes Gambling Industry Reforms Quite Challenging
James Duncan, the general manager of external affairs at the body representing the majority of sports betting companies in the country – Responsible Wagering Australia – shared there were already strong integrity systems in the country and the problem with regulation was mostly with overseas operators. In his opinion, the country needs to address the major threat and spent time and resources to unravel some unsolved issues linked to overseas providers rather than trying to re-regulate a system that is not only highly regulated but is also functioning well.
Currently, Sport Integrity Australia is the body that oversees the ASWS. So far, almost AU$2 million from last year’s budget was redirected to the scheme’s development.
At the time, Richard Coldbeck, the Sports Minister, has estimated that the Australian Sports Wagering Scheme would bring together different regulatory approaches across the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth, state and territories in order to make sure that a single and unified framework is unveiled to protect the integrity of sport. The implementation of such a scheme is also aimed at making Australian sporting competitions more capable to resist to manipulation tactics that have been constantly evolving over the years.
The intervening period has seen a proposal developed, with the competent authorities sharing plans with gambling operators. Unfortunately, it has been almost 4 years since the completion of the Wood review and there is still no information on when the scheme is expected to be delivered.
Currently, online sports betting is officially suspended at the federal level under the provisions of the Interactive Gambling Act, unless the operator offering this kind of service is licensed by a state or territory. The operating permits are likely to be issued by the Government of the Northern Territory, which has been the preferred jurisdiction of the majority of gambling operators.
It is exactly the multiple “layers” of regulation that makes the task of bringing some reforms to the industry so challenging. The 2020 discussion paper for the ASWS conceded online in-play betting, as well as the criminalisation of match-fixing, while horseracing and offshore wagering were believed to have clear interdependencies with the Australian Sports Wagering Scheme but were still excluded from the new scheme’s scope.
- Author
Daniel Williams
