Ladbrokes Australia blasts national self-exclusion scheme delays
Operator wants Northern Australia scheme adopted nationally
Ladbrokes Australia has called delays in the roll-out of a national self-exclusion scheme in Australia “frustrating” and called on fellow bookmakers to do more to help develop a system.
The company, together with Bet365, Sportsbet and BetEasy, has been working with the Australian government and industry advocacy group Responsible Wagering Australia to implement several responsible gambling reforms, including the all-state all operator self-exclusion scheme.
However, there has been no confirmation of who will develop the self-exclusion scheme and how it would operate. Media reports say that Sportsbet and BetEasy have been working on a proposal with government officials, but nothing has been confirmed.
Citing the lack of progress, Ladbrokes general counsel Patrick Brown said that the “design and implementation of most multi-operator self-exclusion schemes fails due to complexity,”.
Ladbrokes is calling for the national adoption of a self-exclusion scheme currently in place in Northern Australia, where most Australian online operators are currently licensed.
Among the other reforms are a voluntary opt-out scheme which allows gamblers to set betting limits when they sign up to an online site and a general ban on offering incentives to open online betting accounts or when a bettor refers another bettor to an online site.
Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) executive director Steven Conroy reaffirmed the RWA’s commitment to the project saying: “All RWA members are strongly committed to this and currently offer simple to use self-exclusion options at an operator level whilst the federal government is implementing the national self-exclusion register.”
A National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering is currently in the process of being approved by the various Australian states, with an implementation timeline reportedly to be unveiled in the coming weeks.