Six betting companies breached rules designed to protect problem gamblers from losing large sums of money while in the grip of addiction, an investigation by the media watchdog has found.
In one case, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that a gambler on the Picklebet platform was allowed to open an account just two minutes after the company was notified, by an industry-wide register, that he had asked to be excluded from gambling.
The authority concluded separate probes into Tabcorp, LightningBet, Betfocus, TempleBet, Picklebet and BetChamps which found that the wagering companies had failed to comply with BetStop, an opt-in, national self-exclusion register that allows people with gambling addiction to block themselves from betting sites.
The investigations were based on complaints from nine separate gamblers who had been able to create accounts with the various betting agencies despite self-registering with BetStop.
ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood said the breaches undermined the protections from the self-exclusion regime.
“The national self-exclusion register is designed to help people who are trying to avoid gambling services and stop gambling, but self-exclusion only works if wagering providers follow the rules,” Lidgerwood said.
“These rules have been in place for more than two years, and wagering providers should be taking their responsibilities seriously.”
Tabcorp, the biggest of the six companies, has paid a $112,680 fine and agreed to commission a third-party review of its customer verification processes, and train staff on their regulatory obligations as part of a court-enforceable undertaking.
A report last year by Equity Economics, a consultancy, found that Australians lost more than $31.5 billion annually to all forms of gambling. The report was commissioned by the Alliance for Gambling Reform and Wesley Mission, both of which have campaigned against the sector.
The authority’s investigative report found that Tabcorp’s internal control systems did not function as intended, and failed to stop people on the self-exclusion register opening new accounts.
The investigation into Tabcorp focused on two separate complainants. In one of the complaints the company had been informed three times by the regulator that the person was excluded, before they created an account using new information that no longer matched their record on the self-exclusion register. Tabcorp submitted that it was unaware the person was a registered individual until informed by the regulator as part of its investigation.
A Tabcorp spokesperson told this masthead the company acknowledged the authority’s findings.
“Tabcorp assisted the ACMA throughout the investigation and will continue to work closely with the regulator to ensure ongoing improved compliance,” they said.
Betfocus, LightningBet and TempleBet were each issued with remedial directions notices by the watchdog, requiring them to commission an independent audit of their internal systems and adopt any recommendations.
The authority investigation into Betfocus included evidence from three separate complainants and concluded that there were “gaps and deficiencies” in the bookmaker’s procedures to identify accounts linked to self-excluded people.
BetChamps, which received a formal warning, was found by the regulator to have sent an email promotion advertising betting for a coming race to a person who was on the self-exclusion register.
The authority is still determining what action to take against Picklebet.
In its investigative report, the authority found that Picklebet had allowed an individual on the self-exclusion register to open a new account just two minutes after the register operator had informed it that the person was excluded.
The watchdog said that this “suggests the ease in which the complainant was able to request to open an account with Picklebet”.
All of the gambling companies were contacted for comment.
The national self-exclusion register was launched by the Albanese government in 2023. Legislation was first introduced by then-Coalition communications minister Paul Fletcher five years earlier but the scheme was never implemented, despite support from the industry. As of late last year, about 30,000 people have registered.
Within months of the scheme going live, the communications authority warned betting companies that problem gamblers could circumvent their exclusion by using personal data that was not an exact match with details provided to the register.
Alastair Shields, the chair of the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission, told a 2023 House of Representatives inquiry that people who are addicted to gambling could exploit those loopholes in the system.
“It is the commission’s experience that self-excluded persons who are in the grip of a gambling addiction will go to extraordinary lengths to circumvent a system designed to prevent them from opening an account and using it to gamble,” he said.
ACMA said all contraventions occurred in 2024 and noted that companies could face stronger action in the future if they failed to comply with self-exclusion, including Federal Court proceedings to seek civil penalties.
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