The gambling sector in Australia has responded to the country’s measures to fight Covid-19 pandemic with massive closures of its casinos, pubs and clubs. The shutdown has seen 194,000 poker machines in the country stop operation, with neither the venues nor the machines hosted there being expected to reopen in the near future.
Apart from that, the massive closures mean that the 15-25% of Australian residents who use poker machines will not be able to access the terminals during the lockdown, with the pokies set to lose approximately AU$7.5 billion in revenue in case that the shutdown lasts for six months. As Prime Minister Scott Morrison has explained earlier in April, that is the amount local punters would normally lose to casino-, clubs- and pubs-based pokies over a six-month period.
Experts have noted that some poker machine users would not find it hard to go without pokies for some time. However, others, mostly the ones who are addicted to the electronic gaming terminals, the shutdown could be a chance to deal with the dangerous gambling habit that has inflicted significant harm to their lives. Unfortunately, experts have explained that the shutdown could push high-risk gamblers to online gambling that could make it even harder for them to control their betting habits.
Of course, there are already poker machine players who already have online accounts. In any case, analysts have explained that online bookies would make efforts to persuade such people to start using their websites more regularly during the coronavirus crisis.
Social Isolation Could Boost Addictive and High-Risk Gambling Online
According to experts, so-called psycho-social stress is one of the major drivers of addictive and high-risk gambling. Social isolation could make the situation more stressful and more people could soon become bored, especially if social distancing measures remain for a few months.
Furthermore, access to unanticipated large sums of money could also be a contributing factor to people’s choice to start gambling online, as the Federal Government revealed its decision to allow local people to withdraw up to AU$20,000 from their super accounts over the current and the following financial years. This decision, however, could be dangerous for the ones who find it hard to control their gambling habits.
On the other hand, gambling companies have not been sitting on their hands in the situation of self-isolation and social distancing due to Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Some anti-gambling campaigners, gambling regulatory bodies and even politicians worldwide have shared their concern that online gambling operators could bombard users with adverts in an attempt to induce risky gambling on the Internet. Some UK Members of Parliament have even called for the Government to implement a maximum betting limit weekly for Brits’ betting accounts after the closures of the brick-and-mortar gambling venues across the country.
Anti-gambling campaigners in Australia believe that stricter measures that have been adopted in order countries should be replicated by local authorities as well. According to them, if online gambling does increase in Australia during the offline gambling facilities’ closures, the consequences for local people could be extremely serious and would last for quite some time.
As Casino Guardian already reported, the major sporting events, leagues and championships on a global scale have shut down, with players finding it a lot harder to find something to bet on. That is why punters may feel tempted to gamble online, and even on some casino-style games in European countries.
Although the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has already started asking local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block certain gambling websites, local people can still access offshore gambling sites. Using such websites to gamble is not a criminal offence for the time being.
Various Gambling Options Still Available to Australians Online
Online gambling has provided Australian users with access to a multitude of national and international events. For example, local bookmakers have been heavily promoting horse racing, which is still one of the few sporting events available on a global scale. Apart from that, some obscure sporting events have emerged and are being advertised, such as Ukraine-based Table Tennis Cup.
Australian users are also able to bet on so-called “returned to action” markets, as well as on e-sports, including the international ESL Pro League, and on various reality TV series, too.
There has been some evidence on a global scale that punters are shifting from pokies or other brick-and-mortar gambling services to online gambling. The revenue lost from the poker machine closures, however, could not be compensated by the one generated by online gambling services. Still, such gambling revenue would be helpful for bookmakers as it would push them up from the bottom lines.
Apart from all this, bookmakers have been considered among the largest media advertisers on the territory of Australia. Now, with their offline operations being shut as part of the Government’s measures to prevent further spread of the coronavirus infection, there is no evidence at all to suggest they will stop running adverts during the Covid-19 crisis. On the contrary, experts have shared expectations that gambling companies would try even harder to persuade people to start gambling online with them during the self-isolation.
This has been considered particularly problematic considering the recent evidence that young men and children are more susceptible to the marketing strategies used by gambling companies’ advertisements.
Federal Government of Australia Could Impose Further Restrictions on the Online Gambling Sector
Still, despite these trends, the Australian authorities have a number of policy options in case they decide to be more proactive in the regulation of online gambling in recent years. The Federal Government could make separate states, which are currently the ones that issue licences and regulate both retail and online gambling companies, to adopt a special consumer protection framework.
Perhaps, it would be sensible from the federal authorities to implement some new measures as quickly as possible in order to make sure Australians are well-protected against gambling-related harm. The Australian Bankers Association (ABA) has recently called for support to the measure involving certain restrictions on the use of credit cards in online gambling.
Thanks to the implementation of consumer protection framework, credit betting has also been banned, while credit cards cannot be used in EFTPOS and ATM machines in land-based gambling venues. However, there are no such restrictions regarding credit card use in online gambling services, which is why campaigners have been insisting for further restrictions to be brought to the sector.
Another possible solution to some of the existing issues in the sector is the implementation of an upper limit on deposits to gambling accounts, as British anti-gambling campaigners have insisted. Such a measure could be applied to both the amount and the frequency of deposits made by players to fund their gambling activity online. Furthermore, a maximum bet limit could be implemented to set some restrictions on players’ gambling behaviour online.
The simple act of ceasing online gambling operations across the Australian states is another option, of course. There has already been an increase in online gambling participation rates, and high rates of gambling have been associated with increased rates of intimate partner violence. The latter has also increased during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.
- Author
Daniel Williams
