New South Wales revises two key gambling regulations

The Betting and Racing Regulation and the Totalizator Regulation will expire in September.

Australia.- The New South Wales Liquor and Gaming Authority has announced draft regulations to update the Betting and Racing Regulation and the Totalizator Regulation, which are up for statutory review ahead of their expiry in September. The new versions will be put to industry and the community for comment.

Both regulations include gambling harm minimisation measures such as counselling services, penalty notice prescriptions, allowable TAB shareholdings, and special exemptions. The ILGA said the revised regulations aim to align with changing industry and community expectations.

Anthony Keon, CEO of Hospitality and Racing, said: “The protections in the Regulations not only create sustainability for the industry but certainty for the community that licensees are fit to conduct gambling, that penalties are fair and proportionate and that there is communication and engagement with people who do experience gambling harms.

“Essentially, the Regulations support the legislation and are there to set the standards around the conduct of betting service providers so punters can freely pursue wagering as a safe form of leisure and entertainment.”

The draft Regulations propose:

• additional penalty notice offences, providing an alternative to court prosecution.
• prohibitions on inducement offers of free entry into a competition, conditional on having a betting account and ‘special odds’ offers.
• fee collection adjusted annually for inflation.
• requirements for sports controlling bodies to notify the Minister of changes in circumstances.
• enabling the Secretary to change the wording of mandatory counselling and gambling help notices as the evidence base evolves, without having to change legislation.

Feedback can be submitted until June 22.

In May, Liquor & Gaming NSW had said that online betting providers should face higher penalties for repeated illegal advertising, arguing that offenders see the current fines as a cost of doing business. Since 2018, the maximum fine for operators guilty of promoting inducements has been AU$110,000 (US$77,000), but the top penalty has never been handed out.

See also: Liquor and Gaming NSW fines Rob Waterhouse over illegal gambling ads