{"id":777022044,"date":"2025-01-16T06:04:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777022044"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:40:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:40:53","slug":"gambling-regulation-in-australia-vicbet-fined-for-breaching-customer-care-obligations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/gambling-regulation-in-australia-vicbet-fined-for-breaching-customer-care-obligations","title":{"rendered":"VicBet fined for breaching customer care obligations in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The online bookmaker was accused of offering and providing a bonus bet to a customer who had previously asked for their betting account to be closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- The\u00a0Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC)\u00a0<\/strong>has fined\u00a0online bookmaker VicBet\u00a0<\/strong>AU$130,000 (US$80,55) after the company admitted to\u00a0<\/strong>offering and providing an AU$1,800 (US$1,116) bonus bet to a customer after they asked for their betting account to be closed in September 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was also accused of repeatedly sending gambling promotional material to a customer after they permanently self-excluded from VicBet in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> VGCCC took 88 disciplinary actions in 2023-24<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VGCCC CEO Annette Kimmitt AM<\/strong> said, “Breaches can have serious consequences, not only in terms of punitive actions against the companies we catch out, but for people whose lives are affected by this behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is an egregious betrayal of trust, for example, to continue to send marketing materials to a person who has self-excluded from a gambling venue or closed a betting account.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the VGCCC, it is an offence for a bookmaker to encourage or offer any credit, voucher reward, or another benefit to induce an account holder to keep an account open after they have requested its closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, sending correspondence or marketing materials to customers who have self-excluded violates the Victorian Bookmakers\u2019 Association Code of Conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kimmitt said: “On these occasions, VicBet failed to live up to both its legal and social licences to operate, which include minimising the risk of harm to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Industry must respect the wishes of people who decide to have a break from, or quit, gambling. This means taking all reasonable steps to enforce harm prevention initiatives that customers commit themselves to, such as self-exclusion programs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VicBet was allowed to \u2018show cause\u2019 as to why disciplinary action should not be taken. Submissions from its legal representative were considered before a determination being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Christopher O\u2019Neill appointed as chair of Victorian gambling regulator<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The online bookmaker was accused of offering and providing a bonus bet to a customer who had previously asked for their betting account to be closed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777019885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has fined online bookmaker VicBet AU$130,000 for offering a bonus bet to a customer who requested account closure and repeatedly sending promotional material to a self-excluded individual. This enforcement action underscores the critical importance of adhering to responsible gambling regulations and upholding an operator's legal and social license.","focusai_entities":"VicBet, Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), Annette Kimmitt AM, Victorian Bookmakers\u2019 Association","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.95), affiliate_publisher (0.75), product_ux (0.8), tech_data (0.8), marketing_crm (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Systemic Compliance Failures?","query":"What specific systemic failures within VicBet's CRM and player management platforms allowed marketing communications to reach self-excluded and account-closed customers, and what remediation steps are being mandated?"},{"label":"Impact on Licensing?","query":"Beyond the monetary fine, what are the potential long-term implications for VicBet's operational license in Victoria, and could this incident trigger enhanced scrutiny or conditions on future license renewals?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,439],"tags":[23911,24153],"class_list":["post-777022044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-legal-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-victorian-gambling-and-casino-control-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777022044"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022165,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022044\/revisions\/777022165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777019885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}