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A new bill in Australia’s Northern Territory could bring some of the biggest changes yet for online bookmakers licensed in the jurisdiction, including mandatory deposit limits for younger customers and fresh restrictions on industry practices.
If approved, the proposal would apply to dozens of operators licensed in the Territory, many of which serve customers across Australia, according to ABC Australia.
The legislation has been put forward by independent MLA Justine Davis and would affect around 50 online betting companies regulated by the Northern Territory. That list includes major brands such as Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and Bet365.
At the centre of the proposal are new limits on how much younger adults can deposit into their betting accounts each month. Customers aged between 18 and 21 would be restricted to monthly deposits of $500, while those aged 22 to 24 would face a $1,000 cap.
Northern Territory already acts as the main regulator for many online bookmakers, with operators long attracted by its comparatively low tax environment. As a result, any new obligations imposed through the Territory’s licensing framework could affect businesses and bettors across the country.
An end to bonus bets and VIP schemes
In addition to deposit limits, the bill would also crack down on promotional tools commonly used by online bookmakers. Davis is seeking a full ban on gambling inducements, a move that would cover offers such as bonus bets and VIP programs.
The proposal goes further than recent federal reforms, which prohibited operators from directly marketing inducements to new customers during the first 14 days after an account is registered and introduced Adstop, a national register that will allow Australians to opt out of online wagering advertising. Davis argued that stronger action is still needed at the territory level.
Under her proposed rules, NT-licensed bookmakers would be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent gambling-related harm.
The bill also targets penalties, and if approved, the maximum disciplinary action available to the Northern Territory regulator would increase from $194,000 to $10 million or 10% of annual revenue, depending on the circumstances of the breach.
“So we now are in a real position where we can actually show some leadership in the Northern Territory and say, ‘Here are some simple changes that we can make,” she stated. “The changes are not going to stop gambling, but they are going to prevent harm being done to people, both here in the Territory and across Australia.”
Bill boasts many backers
Support for the bill has continued to grow ahead of its introduction to parliament next week. A group of 33 advocacy organisations and community leaders have signed a letter calling on the Northern Territory government to back the proposal, adding to the momentum behind the reforms.
The backing is not limited to local campaign groups. Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie is among those supporting the legislation and argued that the proposal addresses issues that have not yet been fully tackled at the national level.
“It genuinely will go some considerable way to doing the federal government’s job and it would put the Territory front and centre with reform that would trickle through the rest of the country,” he said, according to ABC Australia.
The proposal has also attracted support from Shadow Racing Minister Chansey Paech, who informed Davis that Labor would support the bill. Labor backbencher Dheran Young later stated on social media that the party was proud to “support” the measures.
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has also confirmed the government would review any proposal on its merits, but suggested there were limits to what lawmakers could achieve through regulation alone.
Image credit: Orderinchaos, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
