In a recent Vixio Forensic Explainer, ‘Australia: A Compliance Cautionary Tale’ Addisons partner and gambling industry specialist Jamie Nettleton spoke with Vixio’s contributing editor for Asia, Martin Williams. Martin traces how a series of compliance catastrophes in land-based casinos in Australia have led to the point where the entire Australian gambling industry, offline and online, finds itself in the midst of a regulatory crackdown.
The Australian gambling regulatory scheme is, to an outsider, pretty overwhelming, and a significant barrier to entry. “And that is because of the multiple regulators with which you need to engage and which you need to understand,” Jamie Nettleton told Vixio.
“There is significant operational overlap between not only federal and regional gambling regulators, but also, potentially, the regulation of unfair practices at the state and federal levels. Regulatory standards are also becoming “stricter and stricter” across the board”, he said.
The article also commented on the possibility that Australia may consider the introduction of an online gambling regulator at the Federal level, as contemplated in the Murphy report over a year ago.
Jamie Nettleton commented that some online gambling regulation already occurs at the Federal level in Australia and, although this does not include licensing, various functions are performed by the ACMA. He added that, although the industry would value consistency in regulation, and federal politicians and bureaucrats would place more trust in a federal authority, it is not clear if overturning regional licensing and regulation would result in a net benefit.
“It’s completely a poisoned chalice,” Jamie Nettleton stated, because the federal government would inherit regulatory controversies with little fiscal or reputational reward.
For the industry, there is also the possibility of a national regulator becoming more powerful and punitive than the current structure of regional division and overlap allows.
“With the increased regulatory action that’s being taken by the states and territories, the operators may welcome some form of consistency, but then on the other hand I’m not sure they want to have someone with all that power,” he said.
“This system is overly opaque, with overlapping and muddled responsibilities, duplication, and gaps,” he said. “A national regulator could provide coherence in licensing and regulatory approaches, likely improving safer gambling outcomes while facilitating industry innovation.”
But there is a real question whether this is an outcome that would be welcomed by the Federal Government. Indeed, in comments made yesterday morning, Social Securities Minister Amanda Rishworth indicated that the formation of a national online gambling regulatory was not a topic being discussed currently between the Federal and State/Territory governments to achieve a more unified approach towards gambling harm minimisation.
For access to the full article, visit https://gc.vixio.com/insights-analysis/australia-compliance-cautionary-tale