Australia’s leading wagering entertainment group Tabcorp announced it plans to introduce a cutting-edge AI video surveillance technology across 400 of its branches in an attempt to restrict the access of minors to gambling. The sophisticated surveillance software was tested for eight weeks in three of the company’s Melbourne-based branches.
Armed with this technology, Tabcorp will be able to identify and prevent individuals under the legal gambling age of 18 from accessing and punting at its sports betting shops. The artificial intelligence software will alert the staff at Tabcorp’s agencies when potential minors have accessed a sports betting venue.
Tabcorp’s General Manager of Wagering Andy Wright confirmed the gambling giant was satisfied with the results of the eight-week tests and plans to introduce the new technology across its Australian agencies in the middle of next year.
Higher Risks of Underage Gambling in Retail Betting Shops
Mr. Wright explained there is a higher risk of underage gambling across retail betting shops where customers are able to pay in cash for their punts. This creates anonymity and makes it harder for the shops’ staff to identify bettors who are under the legal gambling age.
It is of essential importance for a gambling giant like Tabcorp to remain in full compliance with local gambling laws and its license terms, he said. Mr Wright proceeded to draw a parallel between the landbased and remote sectors of the gambling industry.
The prevention of underage gambling is easier online where customers are required to create accounts and then verify their age and identity before they are able to top up their real-money balance with debit or credit cards.
This is not the case in landbased wagering shops where punts can be easily made with cash either over the counter or via the self-service betting terminals. The presence of said terminals makes it more difficult to adequately control and prevent underage gambling because there is no interaction with members of the staff, who can ask the customers for identification documents.
In the meantime, Aussies are well-accustomed to the presence of surveillance cameras at institutions like retail shops, banks, bars, dance clubs, and service stations. During the eight-week tests, the surveillance cameras were strategically positioned at the betting venues’ entrances, scanning the faces of all customers who entered the premises.
The Surveillance Software Is Able to Detect Customers under the Age of 25
The artificial intelligence technology enables the betting venues to analyse the customers’ facial features, which are fed into the software that determines the entrants’ age. Provided that the software establishes a person is under the age of 25, it alerts the staff members of the shop.
The suspicious customer is then approached by an employee who requests them to provide some documents for age verification. The software makes it possible for the staff to receive real-time alerts on portable devices such as iPads.
During the trials, the staff of the retail shops placed signs at the venues’ entrances, warning clients that the surveillance software was being used, because Tabcorp did not want to compromise its privacy obligations.
Initially, there were concerns about whether or not the implementation of the technology would negatively impact the company’s turnover but apparently, this did not happen. Mr Wright hinted that rolling out the technology was rather costly for Tabcorp although he did not specify the exact amount the company has invested.
Tabcorp worked in partnership with the Eliiza artificial-intelligence company and three different developers of facial recognition software during the eight-week tests.
For the time being, the gambling giant does not plan on installing such cameras at retail terminals located in bars and clubs. The technology is to be used only inside landbased betting shops where operators are severely fined for accepting bets from minors. The maximum fine for one such offense in the state of New South Wales is AU$5,500 while the ceiling in the state of Victoria reaches the hefty sum of AU$19,800.
- Author
Olivia Cole
