Report Recommends the Australian Government “Prohibit All Online Gambling Inducements and Inducement Advertising”

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia (July 10, 2023) — According to local media reports the racing industry and betting companies risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue if a recommendation in a recent report into online betting is adopted.

The ‘Telegraph‘ reported the House of Representatives standing committee on social policy and legal affairs in June handed down its report on online gambling and its impacts on problem gambling, including 31 recommendations that mostly focused on betting advertising.

The report followed a parliamentary inquiry and proposed that all betting ads should be banned in phases over three years under a four-step model. While that recommendation has been criticised by the betting industry, sports bodies and television networks, the nine-person bipartisan committee unanimously supported the 31 recommendations.

But it is another recommendation, described by one betting industry executive as a “ticking time bomb”, that has worried the wagering industry the most.

Recommendation 16 in the report advises the Australian government to “prohibit all online gambling inducements and inducement advertising, and that it do so without delay”.

Gambling industry sources have said up to about 30 per cent of betting turnover for some companies is inducements, including bonus bets for customers, money-back offers on certain bets and other special offers such as the increasing of odds on particular races or events.

If inducements are banned, wagering industry executives have warned that while their revenue will be dramatically reduced, the revenue that flows to state governments via point of consumption taxes and funding to the racing industry based on betting turnover will also be slashed.

One source said $100m in point of consumption taxes could be lost.

Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents bookmakers such as bet365, Betfair, Entain, Sportsbet and PointsBet, said there was also a risk that punters would turn to banned foreign operators as a result of the mooted ban.

SOURCE: The Telegraph.