Name and shame warning for online gambling operators
News on 29 Nov 2017
News on 29 Nov 2017
John Rau, deputy premier and attorney General for the South Australian provincial government, made some startling if unsubstantiated allegations against online gambling operators in the provincial parliament this week, threatening to name and shame non-compliant operators, and calling for a crackdown on advertising and cold calling that allegedly targets minors.
Rau wants operators to obtain ID verification and proof of age before allowing punters to gamble, saying that It should be just as hard to establish a betting account as it is to establish a bank account.
“A person can easily open an account with online gambling services without verification of their age or other relevant details,” he said. “Under current rules providers can have up to 90 days to verify a person’s identity. This may obviously not occur before a lot of money has been wagered.”
Rau wants to see increased enforcement on advertising or “cold calling” to minors or people who are barred from gaming in licensed venues because of addiction.
He told parliament that he had received “disturbing” reports of online gambling providers “sending unsolicited advertisements to children and, I believe, to other vulnerable people to encourage them to open an account and to participate in online gambling”.
“We have unsolicited bait advertising, cold canvassing and no proof of age or identity being required to commence betting. Imagine if this were the case with tobacco or alcohol,” he said.
Rau urged anyone who had been targeted by an online gaming company in breach of the rules to report it, pledging:
“I will be publicly outing any operators who are identified.”
A review of the state’s gambling sector, undertaken by former judge Tim Anderson, has been delivered to the State Government but is yet to be made public, according to local media reports. Thus far the provincial government has not committed to any of the changes recommended by the judge, a situation that Rau said was due to changes also being considered by the federal government.
