Regulator raises concerns over Australian gambling self-exclusion register
The Northern Territory Racing Commission says it will continue with its own system unless changes are made to ACMA’s BetStop.
Australia.- The Northern Territory Racing Commission (NTRC), which oversees most online gambling firms in Australia, has vowed to maintain its own self-exclusion system unless modifications are made to ACMA’s national BetStop initiative. That raises the possibility of multiple self-exclusion lists coexisting.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced the launch of BetStop last July. The new national gambling self-exclusion register would allow people to register to be excluded from all Australian licenced online and phone wagering services.
The NTRC has acknowledged that its own Excel-based system is outdated and labour-intensive but it’s concerned that BetStop takes up to 72 hours to authenticate new customer details, potentially allowing a vulnerable person to use an alias to gamble for up to three days before their identity is confirmed.
The NTRC said: “It is the commission’s experience that self-excluded persons who are in the grip of gambling addiction will go to extraordinary lengths to circumvent a system designed to prevent them from opening an account and using it to gamble.
“The commission considers that one way to mitigate these concerns is for a national agreement to require customer verification before gambling may commence, rather than the current 72-hour verification timeframe.
“Such a requirement would have the added benefit of assisting in the prevention of opening of accounts by persons under 18 years of age.”
A spokesperson for communications minister Michelle Rowland said: “The BetStop system has been subject to extensive final testing and trialling, including with industry. This has been necessary to provide secure and trusted protection for at-risk gamblers.”
