Online gambling soars to $1 billion
KENT ACOTT, The West Australian March 11, 2011, 2:25 am
Online gambling has reached epidemic proportions in Australia, with punters spending more than $1
billion on internet betting every year.
The surge has prompted fresh calls to regulate - rather than outlaw - online gaming, amid fears
Australians are playing on "unsafe" overseas sites.
The main forms of online gambling are wagering (betting on horse and dog races, sport and special
events) and gaming (poker, casino games and virtual gaming machines).
Online wagering is legal, but in 2001 the Federal Government banned the provision of online gaming
services to customers in Australia.
However, the Interactive Gambling Act did not stop Australians from accessing foreign services.
Sally Gainsbury, of Southern Cross University's Centre for Gambling Education and Research, said the
laws had done little to curb online gaming.
She said more and more Australians were playing on sites owned by companies in Malta, Gibraltar and
Canada.
"Prohibition has not been very effective," Dr Gainsbury said.
"We know that 30 per cent of Australians over 16 have gambled online, investing about $1 billion in
2010 - and that's probably an underestimate.
"The advantages of regulating this industry would be the safeguards that could be introduced - to
protect the punter - as part of any licensing arrangement. We would also know who was playing,
identify risk behaviour and intervene where appropriate."
Centrecare acting executive manager (counselling), Rod West said problem gambling online was
beginning to increase.
He said improved accessibility and increased awareness of online gambling was having an impact,
particularly on young gamblers.
Last year, the Productivity Commission reported that international gaming sites were being accessed
increasingly by Australians.
Its report said Australian laws had the effect of "driving consumers to international sites, some with
poor harm minimisation features and unscrupulous business practices".
"Regulated access to domestic or licensed overseas online providers - rather than prohibition - has
potential benefits," it said.
"It could achieve many of the benefits of online gambling to consumers, while diverting consumers
away from unsafe sites to ones that met stringent probity and consumer safety standards - thus reducing
the risks of harm to online gamblers." However, the report did not recommend complete liberalisation.
""A gradual approach to managed liberalisation that began with a relatively "safe" form of online
gambling - poker card games - would be appropriate," it said.
This is not a view shared by the Federal Government.
It does not support the liberalisation of online gaming, including online poker.
But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has promised to examine the regulatory approach taken
by other countries to online gaming.
WA Racing and Gaming Minister Terry Waldron said there was no doubt the growth of online
gambling had been a feature of the market in recent years and of particular concern to legislators
looking to instigate programs to deal with problem gambling.
Former casino consultant and self-confessed online gambler John Beagle has been lobbying for
liberalisation of online poker for many years.
Mr Beagle, a former president of the Australian Casino Association, said online poker was more than a
game of chance and required an element of skill.
He said it was ludicrous that enthusiasts were forced to play on sites based in Ireland or the Isle of
Man, sending millions of dollars overseas.
"It is a sociable game, because you are playing against other individuals around the world, using your
skills and your intelligence," he said.