Tasmania government to ban lottery outcome betting

The Tasmanian government has ordered the drafting of legislation designed to ban lottery outcome wagering in the Australian island province, one of the first to take this action since online lottery provider Lottoland started making waves in the country.

Tasmania follows the lead of South Australia in taking the prohibition route, with New South Wales and Victoria reportedly also considering similar action.

Lottery outcome wagering, labelled “synthetic lottery” in the land Downunder, is an online gambling model where players bet on the outcome of an official lottery rather than directly buying tickets in it.

Predictably, the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association applauded the government decision, with Tasmanian general manager Ben Kearney voicing concerns about the proliferation of online bookmakers and their push to capture customers of existing registered lotteries.

The Tasmanian Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, Roger Jaensch, had earlier announced that the provincial government would draft legislation immediately to ban lottery outcome wagering, revealing that in doing so it would consult with other Australian states.

“It could prove difficult to control on a state level, but South Australia has done it. We will start technical and legal work straight away,” he said. “There is a difference between buying a ticket in the lottery and online gambling where consumer protections do not apply. This form of product is not welcome here.”

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