Aus government to review online gambling laws

The Australian government is planning a review of its online gambling laws in order including investigating removing restrictions around in-play betting and the ban on online casino.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald today, social services minister Scott Morrison will lead the review into the framework, which currently prevents licensed operators from offering in-play betting.

Recent moves by operators to circumvent the online in-play ban, along with a significant offshore gaming market, have raised questions over the country’s online gambling laws which date back to 2001.

The SMH reported that the review, which is yet to be formally announced, will canvas opinion from gaming operators, betting agencies and problem gambling stakeholders, and suggested it will be completed before the end of the year.

It said the review will also look at laws around online casino gambling, a product which is not licensed in Australia but offered to residents via many unlicensed offshore sites.

However Sydney-based gaming lawyer Jamie Nettleton said a review of this type is likely to take some time before seeing the light of day.

“The difficulty which the government will face in convening an enquiry of the type reported is that it will be immediately subject to criticism: is it broad enough, will it be effective, how long will it take to report and so on,” he told eGaming Review.

“The issues that really need to be addressed are not the narrow points highlighted but the fact that Australia’s regulatory regime remains inconsistent with numerous leading overseas regulatory regimes relating to online gambling and the recommendations of various inquiries to date.”