Hills and Lads departures lead to Australia trade body shutdown
AWC says William Hill's decision to leave in June had left the organisation much "less representative"
The Australian Wagering Council (AWC) has launched a consultation to consider the creation of a new industry trade body following the recent departure of William Hill from the organisation.
William Hill left the group on 30 June due to what the AWC described as “commercial reasons”, with its departure coming just over 12 months since Ladbrokes had also vacated.
Current members of the AWC now include Sportsbet, bet365, Unibet and Betfair.
In a statement yesterday, Ian Fletcher, chief executive of the AWC, said the trade body would not continue in its current form as it could no longer be deemed representative of the entire industry.
“At the time [of Hills’ departure] I made clear that this made the Australian Wagering Council less representative than I would like, and suggested that we used the William Hill departure to consult on a wider, renewed trade body,” he said.
“Other members agreed with that analysis, and also agreed that we would use the rest of the year to consult on a refreshed organisation.
“We are doing that actively â but we are now only six weeks into that process, so it’s just too soon to talk about where those conversations are heading.”
News of the AWC’s consultation comes after Australia’s Northern Territory Racing Commission recently ended hopes it may reverse its decision to ban in-play betting online after instructing operators to stop offering âclick-to-call’ products.
Earlier this year the Australian government pledged to maintain the country’s ban on online in-play wagering and introduce legislation to close loopholes which has enabled online operators such as William Hill and Ladbrokes to offer in-running betting.