The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has announced a comprehensive inquiry into the regulation of bingo, inviting Victorians to help shape a fairer and more modern bingo-playing environment. By working with industry stakeholders and the community, the Commission aims to understand the challenges within the sector and explore ways to improve regulatory and industry practices, ensuring that bingo remains a social, safe, and fair activity.

Commercially run bingo generates significant revenue, with reported earnings of $107 million in FY23, surpassing Keno’s $61 million. Bingo is a popular game among many communities, offering social interaction and the potential for prizes, with a portion of the proceeds designated to fund charities.

Adapting to Modern Bingo

“Recent years have seen the commercial bingo landscape modernize, shifting from traditional paper-based gameplay to electronic enhancements with substantial jackpots,” said Fran Thorn, Chair of the VGCCC. “Given this evolution, it is crucial for us to assess and address issues of fairness, integrity, and the potential for gambling harm, particularly among at-risk groups such as seniors, First Nations communities, women, and lower-income individuals.”

Despite regulatory oversight, the Commission continues to receive reports and allegations of unlicensed operators and potentially fraudulent activities. The inquiry will examine whether current bingo regulations are fit for purpose, the susceptibility of cash-based transactions to criminal activities, and the extent to which profits support community organizations.

Community Participation and Inquiry Focus

“This is an opportunity to understand how bingo works and how it is evolving with technology. We understand the social outlet that bingo provides for many community members. We want to understand the risks, reduce the potential for harm, and put a stop to any behaviors threatening the integrity and fairness of the game,” Thorn added.

The VGCCC is inviting all interested parties, including customers, industry participants, community organizations, and concerned citizens, to participate in the inquiry and contribute to shaping the future of Victoria’s gambling landscape. The Commission’s Strategic Inquiries Unit (SIU) will support the inquiry, focusing on understanding risks and emerging issues within the gambling industry and seeking ways to improve practice and regulatory oversight.

Focus Areas of the Bingo Inquiry

The inquiry will concentrate on the bingo sector, particularly in commercial settings and charitable fundraising contexts. Bingo is regulated under the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 (Vic) to ensure community organizations benefit from profits, practices that undermine public trust are eliminated, and bingo center operators act fairly in providing commercial fundraising services.

The inquiry will address several key areas:

• Understanding the customer experience of playing bingo in fundraising and commercial settings.
• Examining the role of bingo in fundraising, including the involvement of charities and not-for-profit entities.
• Investigating the practices of entities and individuals within the bingo industry.
• Identifying ways to improve regulatory and industry practices.

Why Focus on Bingo?

Bingo is enjoyed by people of all ages and can provide social connections and cognitive benefits such as improved memory and concentration. It is also a significant means for community and charitable fundraising. However, the landscape has changed considerably in recent years, with a shift from paper-based to electronic gameplay and larger jackpots.

The VGCCC has received reports of unlicensed operators and potential fraudulent activities, raising concerns about whether community and charitable organizations are receiving their fair share of profits. This has led to questions about the fairness, integrity, and potential for gambling harm, particularly among vulnerable groups such as seniors, women, people on low incomes, and certain First Nations and migrant communities.

The VGCCC is committed to preserving the integrity of bingo operations and ensuring they remain social, safe, and fair for all Victorians. To participate in the inquiry, the VGCCC will engage with the industry and community through discussion papers, venue visits, surveys, and meetings with interested parties.

Source:

“Keeping bingo social, safe and fair”. VGCCC. June 6, 2024.

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Gambling is identified as a public health issue in Australia, considering that hundreds of millions of dollars are lost to the activity on a monthly basis. The growing popularity of gambling activities pushed lawmakers to take action and attempt to curb the rate of problem gambling and gambling harm by overhauling the existing regulations.

Now, a new inquiry by the Victorian Labor government urges the Commonwealth Government to implement meaningful changes to protect consumers from excessive gambling and harm.

The new 240-page document describes findings for the prevalence, harm and benefits of gambling and liquor, the regulation of gambling, the prevalence and harm of online gambling as well as reducing gambling harm. Besides detailed findings, the report outlines important recommendations, calling for robust changes to the established regulations with the ultimate goal of protecting the consumers.

Issued by the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, the new report describes a worrying trend about the impact of sports betting and excessive gambling advertising, calling for changes to prevent and reduce gambling harm. Sarah Connolly MP, the Committee’s chair, wrote about the positive changes in Victoria involving the reduction of harm related to alcohol and gambling products. Yet, she warned that more needs to be done to protect communities across Victoria.

According to Connolly, the government needs to step up and implement further changes that safeguard users from gambling and alcohol-related harm. Overall, the new inquiry issued 61 recommendations that according to the Committee, can bring meaningful changes. “More appropriate regulations and safeguards are needed to protect Victorians, especially our children and young people,” wrote Connolly.

Restricting Primetime Gambling Advertising

The newly released report cited data from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, which revealed that in 2021, an average of 948 gambling ads were broadcast daily via free-to-air TV. During family viewing hours between 6 PM and 8:30 PM every weeknight, an average of 148 gambling ads were broadcast.

Considering this data, the inquiry recommended stricter rules for primetime gambling advertising. The inquiry proposed the implementation of rules such as the ones that were recently adopted by the South Australian Government.

When it comes to sports betting, the inquiry identified it as the “fastest growing form of gambling in Victoria and the fastest growing form of online gambling in Australia.” Citing data from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, the inquiry reiterated that more than AU$1.2 billion ($792.7 million) is lost to sports betting annually. Moreover, it warned that some 44% of the adults in Australia admitted to gambling on sports or racing in 2022.

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Australia has slammed some of its biggest sportsbooks over their alleged tendency to restrict winning players’ activity. Amid an ongoing inquiry into the impacts of online gambling, some sportsbooks admitted to limiting transactions and deposits in certain cases.

The inquiry was launched last year as Australia seeks to better understand iGaming and how it affects problem gamblers. The inquiry’s main goal is to determine whether the current regulations are sufficient to protect Australian players from harm.

Sportsbet Restricts Players Who Have an Advantage

As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Barni Evans, the chief executive officer of Sportsbet, addressed the matter in a tense discussion with committee chair Peta Murphy.

Evans listed a few reasons why Sportsbet may ban a customer or set limits to their transactions. For example, the sportsbook will always intervene if it determines that a player is betting on behalf of other individuals. In addition, customers who are using “privileged information” to gain an edge will also be subjected to interventions.

Evans added that customers on a cooling period between setting deposit limits will not be allowed to make transactions. If such people are betting into highly illiquid volatile markets, Sportsbet will reduce the stake they can make. Finally, if a customer exhibits signs of gambling harm, Sportsbet will once again intervene.

Murphy then asked directly whether Sportsbet would limit players who are winning consistently. Evans admitted that while Sportsbet is not opposed to “mathematically gifted customers,” it seeks to look after the majority of its customers and will restrict players who are using privileged information.

Evans, however, claimed that Sportsbet would never limit the activity of players who are not using privileged information.

Entain Sometimes Imposes Restrictions on Some Customers

The inquiry also questioned Steven Lang, Entain’s director of regulatory strategy and safer gambling. He said that when customers are betting on an Australian racing event, his company cannot apply any restrictions. However, when it comes to other events, Entain may impose some restrictions “on a small number of customers.”

Lang confirmed that this does happen from time to time.

Despite what Evans claimed, Nick Minchin, chair of Responsible Wagering Australia, said it still seems that some customers have been blocked simply because they were winning too often. Even if this is the case, he added that this does not seem to be a standard practice that has been adopted by all companies.

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A joint appearance of Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) executives before an online gambling inquiry that is seen as key to further regulation tightening led to speculation that both sporting bodies are changing their stance against changes.

AFL’s chief executive officer, Gill McLachlan and his NRL counterpart, Andrew Abdo, will appear together during a public hearing on Tuesday in Canberra as part of the online gambling inquiry initiated by the government to determine whether further tightening of the gambling regulation is needed, reported Australian Financial Review.

Their appearance side-by-side is stirring rumors within the gambling industry that the country’s top sports administrators will present a united front on the proposed tightening of the betting advertising rules despite the submissions made by their respective sporting codes claiming that the current regime is appropriate and needs no further regulation.

“Since the sport codes made their written submission, we have received substantial evidence contradicting their claim that the current rules around [the] promotion of online sports betting are appropriate,” commented the chair of the inquiry, Labor MP Peta Murphy.

Pleased to see that both executives agreed to appear together, Murphy noted that “this will be their opportunity to tell the committee and the public whether they have considered that evidence and the broader community sentiment.”

Change of Position Is Likely

McLachlan implied that there may be a change in AFL’s recommendation that no further changes be made during a Melbourne radio interview in which he admitted that the amount of gambling advertising was “probably too much” and “in your face.”

He also explained that the league’s set of restrictions “are being reviewed at the moment, hinting that “probably they will be wound tighter,” but underlining that the AFL does not “believe in prohibition because all it does is drive it underground or offshore and that has its own set of problems.”

A recently released survey by the Australian Gambling Research Centre showed that more than half of Australians supported an outright ban on gambling advertising. Data also revealed that 41% of the survey respondents had been exposed to gambling advertising four or more times per week.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies also posted the results of a survey showing that three in every four Australians had gambled at least once in the past 12 months, 38% of which doing it on a weekly basis, claiming that at least half of those gambling are at risk of experiencing gambling-related issues.

Other industry executives set to appear before the inquiry will be the CEOs of Tabcorp and Sportsbet, Adan Rytenskild and Barni Evans, former Queensland premier Anna Bligh for the Australian Banking Association, and ex-federal cabinet minister who chairs the industry Responsible Wagering Australia group, Nick Minchin.

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