{"id":777036652,"date":"2026-01-09T09:13:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777036652"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:32:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:32:42","slug":"australian-media-regulator-faces-scrutiny-over-handling-of-offshore-gambling-cricket-sponsorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/australian-media-regulator-faces-scrutiny-over-handling-of-offshore-gambling-cricket-sponsorship","title":{"rendered":"Australian media regulator faces scrutiny over handling of offshore gambling cricket sponsorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emails have raised questions about ACMA\u2019s independence in responding to offshore gambling advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- The communications and media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has come under scrutiny over its probe of an unlicensed offshore gambling operator’s sponsorship of Northern Territory Cricket (NTC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian media have obtained documents under freedom of information laws revealing that, an ACMA senior media advisor contacted NTC after receiving a journalist\u2019s inquiry into sponsorship of the 2023 Top End T20 Series by the bookmaker Dafabet. The advisor enquired \u201cif it might be worth discussing our approaches to make sure we are on the same page.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a subsequent email, the advisor added that coordinating responses would help avoid \u201cthe risk of everyone looking silly if we contradict each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACMA later told the journalist that it had \u201ccontacted NT Cricket to let them know about the advertising prohibitions in the Interactive Gambling Act,\u201d but that no formal investigation was underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case has revived criticism from consumer and gambling policy advocates. Lauren Levin, director of the Gambling Policy Hub, said the correspondence suggested the watchdog was reluctant to enforce its powers. \u201cLooking silly is the least of ACMA\u2019s problems. Being an inconsequential regulator is far worse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACMA has rejected claims that it is too close to the industry. A spokesperson said its actions are \u201cdesigned to stop unlawful conduct, deter future breaches and protect consumers from harm”. It said that \u201cNT Cricket was not under investigation by the ACMA at the time of media enquiry\u201d and that the regulator\u2019s response \u201cwas not changed in any way\u201d by its interactions with the cricket body.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> ACMA blocks 12 more illegal gambling sites<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emails have raised questions about ACMA\u2019s independence in responding to offshore gambling advertising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777028009,"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 Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is under scrutiny following revelations that it sought to coordinate responses with Northern Territory Cricket regarding media inquiries into an unlicensed offshore operator's sponsorship. Critics argue this suggests a reluctance to independently enforce the Interactive Gambling Act against unlawful advertising. ACMA maintains its actions are designed to deter breaches and protect consumers.","focusai_entities":"Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), Northern Territory Cricket (NTC), Dafabet, Gambling Policy Hub, Lauren Levin","focusai_location":"Australia, Northern Territory","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.8), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"ACMA Governance Review?","query":"What specific governance framework adjustments or enforcement mechanisms will ACMA implement to demonstrably enhance its independence and address perceived reluctance in prosecuting breaches of the Interactive Gambling Act by offshore operators, particularly concerning advertising prohibitions?"},{"label":"Offshore Market Impact?","query":"How will this heightened scrutiny of ACMA's enforcement posture influence the market entry strategies and B2C advertising practices of other unlicensed offshore iGaming operators targeting the Australian market, and what are the potential competitive implications for licensed domestic operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156],"tags":[6093,289,25074],"class_list":["post-777036652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","tag-acma","tag-australia","tag-sponsorship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036652","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777036652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777036663,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036652\/revisions\/777036663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777028009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777036652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777036652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777036652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}