The Albanese Government has launched a comprehensive review into the regulation of online keno and foreign-matched lotteries as part of its ongoing efforts to minimize the harms associated with online gambling.

This review aims to deepen the Government’s understanding of the impacts these types of lotteries have on the community and to evaluate whether regulatory changes are necessary. An Issues Paper has been released to inform the review process.

Understanding Online Keno and Foreign-Matched Lotteries

Keno is a traditional game of chance where players select numbers to win prizes. Historically played in clubs and pubs, keno is now also available online in some Australian States and Territories. Foreign-matched lotteries allow Australians to participate in lottery draws conducted overseas.

The review follows a recommendation by the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications, which suggested a 12-month review into the regulation of keno-type lotteries under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA).

Scope and Consultation of the Review

The Government will conduct targeted consultations as part of this review, seeking input from various stakeholders, including harm minimization advocates, community and charity organizations, academics, State and Territory governments, newsagents, and the wagering industry.

The Issues Paper addresses several key areas:

• The nature and size of the online keno and foreign-matched lotteries market in Australia.
• The impact of existing, new, and emerging keno-type and foreign-matched lotteries.
• Adverse experiences of customers, including loss of deposits or non-payment of winnings.
• The relevance of the definition of an ‘excluded lottery service’ under the IGA.
• Policy options such as credit and digital payment bans or other restrictions to reduce gambling harms.

Ongoing Efforts to Combat Gambling Harm

This review is part of the Government’s broader agenda to tackle online gambling harms in Australia. The Government is also working through its response to the House of Representatives Inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.

Recent Measures to Reduce Gambling Harm

Several measures have already been implemented to mitigate gambling harms:

• Launching BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, with over 22,000 Australians self-excluded from online wagering and promotions as of April 2024.
• Mandating customer ID pre-verification for all new online wagering accounts to prevent children from gambling and to protect those registered with BetStop.
• Banning the use of credit cards for online wagering, effective from June 2024.
• Introducing mandatory minimum classifications for gambling-like content in computer games, starting in September 2024.
• Replacing the ‘Gamble Responsibly’ message in wagering advertising with new, evidence-based taglines.
• Implementing nationally consistent staff training for online wagering companies.
• Requiring online wagering companies to send monthly activity statements to their customers, detailing wins and losses.

Government Commitment to Reducing Gambling Harm

Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, stated: “The Albanese Government has a comprehensive agenda to minimize online wagering harms. The growth and availability of online keno and foreign-matched lotteries is particularly concerning. It is important to understand the impact these two products are having on the community, including vulnerable Australians and small businesses. Feedback will ensure any changes the Government may make are well-balanced and fit-for-purpose.”

Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, added: “Our Government takes gambling harm seriously and we are committed to protecting consumers, including their families and the community, from gambling-related harm. This includes continuous review and work to address all drivers of gambling harm such as the regulation of online keno and foreign-matched lotteries. Our Government has already taken major steps to minimize and combat the increasing prevalence of people experiencing gambling harm in Australia and will continue to do so.”

Source:

Review into the impact of online keno and foreign-matched lotteries, minister.infrastructure.gov.au, July 15, 2024.

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The 2019-founded Austrian Players’ Aid Association, also known as the Spielerhilfe Association, has recently slammed Austrian Lotteries for allegedly allowing underaged players to buy instant win products.

No Age Controls in Place 

According to the association aimed at advocating for better player protection in the country while offering media education and advice, 55% of all children who were used in their testing purchases had no problem buying the respective products, in spite of being aged between 12 and 14. 

The Spielerhilfe, therefore, slammed Austrian Lotteries for failing to perform the necessary age verification procedures during the purchases. 

Starting July 10, 2023, Austrian Lotteries has imposed an age limit of 18, abolishing the previous age limit of 16 for purchasing lottery tickets and other products. 

In the past years, the legal age of gambling has represented a controversial topic in many parts of the world. In March 2022, some of Michigan’s casino properties decided to lower their gambling age to 18 from 21. 

Spielerhilfe Carried 175 Test Purchases in Three Federal States 

Austrian Lotteries, which features Allwyn-owned Casinos Austria as the major shareholder, has allegedly sold the instant win products to minors in the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria, and Lower Austria where Spielerhilfe carried 175 test purchases throughout the current year. 

The children part of the testing were sent to buy scratch cards and other lottery products sold by Austrian Lotteries’ retail outlets. The action was used as a means of verifying their compliance with the regulations in the industry.

Spielerhilfe’s chairman and spokesperson, Christoph Holubar, commented that Austrian Lotteries “apparently has big problems controlling its sales partners”. He added that the protection of minors was yet to be guaranteed, since in over 50% of all purchases initiated by children, they were given the green light to buy the products. 

Holubar also mentioned the example of the Salzburg branch of Austrian Lotteries whose retail outlets served clients over the age of 16, in spite of the existence of the 2019 Salzburg Youth Act which banned individuals under the age of 18 from taking part in games of chance. 

The chairman commented that the lotteries’ actions ignored the federal state’s “legal situation.” He further explained that the company “apparently risked that its contractual partners would continually violate applicable laws” while committing administrative offenses.

So far, Spielerhilfe has referred 34 violations of responsible gaming regulations to the authorities in Salzburg.

At the start of September, Premier Lotteries Ireland was fined $160,000 for breaching its licensing conditions regarding self-exclusion. At the time, Carol Boate, the chief of the Irish lottery regulator that imposed the fine, also emphasized the need for robust measures that would eradicate underage gambling and lower the risk of problem gambling.

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The UK Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code and the British Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP) unveiled technical updates to their rules on lotteries advertising. The two bodies noted that the changes will not have an impact on advertising policy and practice and are instead intended to make the rules clearer for Code users.

In 2020, the two bodies introduced changes to the policies, allowing for lotteries to support good causes benefitting children. At the same time, the changes allowed people who are or seem to be under 25 to be included in promotional materials if that helps to illustrate the good causes.

As noted by the two bodies, it is unreasonable to prohibit lotteries from depicting beneficiaries of their good cause initiatives.

The Wording Was Not Clear Enough

However, a recent ASA casework discovered some vague wording that might cause the Codes to be wrongly interpreted. A number of rules that were supposed to apply to both people who are under 25 and people who seem to be under 25 were not properly worded. As a result, only the first of the rules stated that in full. Subsequent rules refer only to under-25s, which might cause confusion about the inclusion of people who appear to be under 25 in ads.

To make sure that everything is absolutely clear, the CAP and BCAP revised the wording for example, rule 17.15 which used to state “Marketing communications for lotteries must not feature anyone who is, or seems to be, under 25 years old (under-25s) participating in gambling” has been changed to instead read “Marketing communications for lotteries must not feature anyone who is, or seems to be, under 25 years old participating in gambling.”

The full list of changes is available on the official website of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority.

The ASA noted that CAP and BCAP’s rules and guidance are reviewed periodically just so they are clear for Code users. In addition to the technical updates, the two bodies also introduced amendments to the accompanying guidance, improving clarity. A marked-up version of the document is also available on the ASA’s website.

In other news, the ASA just opened fire against Ladbrokes, which allegedly violated the authority’s rules on gambling advertising. According to the regulator, the operator had posted Tweets that might have appealed to young people. The new probe came just after the authority slammed an ad featuring Jake Paul as “irresponsible.”

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Starting June 1, the fresh Crown corporation will be responsible for supervising all gaming-related activities with the purpose of implementing more cohesive and better-streamlined strategies. 

While players themselves might not notice any immediate changes in regard to Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan’s (LGS) activity, the province’s minister of parks, culture, and sport Laura Ross believes the LGS is likely to make a difference in the industry. 

She explained that the decision to bring together Lotteries and Gaming came as a result of online gaming triggering the need to strengthen and improve the gaming regulation and the gambling world as a whole in Saskatchewan. 

The New Crown Corporation to Observe Gaming Policies & Management 

According to the new changes, Lotteries will no longer be a part of the Ministry of Parks, Culture, and Sport. Officially, the Crown came to be by way of Orders in Council starting June 1, 2023. Ross explained the role of the fresh commercial corporation as overseeing “the gaming policy and management in the province”.

Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation will, therefore, no longer act as a designated subsidiary of Crown Corporation. At the same time, the LGS will be included as a designated subsidiary of Crown Corporation. 

As an immediate effect, Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation will be replaced by Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan while fully complying with all securities and categories of securities according to the respective Order. Moreover, SaskGaming will turn into a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lotteries and Gaming of Saskatchewan.

PlayNow Is Saskatchewan’s Only Legal Online Betting Platform 

The same minister also emphasized that British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)’s PlayNow was the sole online betting service acting legally in the province at the moment, further explaining that the rest of the currently operating betting services and sportsbooks were in a “gray” area in terms of regulations.

Ross added that it was mandatory to encourage people to opt for the PlayNow website, “the only legal site” in Saskatchewan since gambling was officially introduced in Canada. In January, BCLC announced it would benefit from an additional boost for the PlayNow.com brand via OpenBet in the same province.

In March, when the new legislation welcoming the new Crown was announced, the minister responsible for all major Crowns, Don Morgan, explained that the LGS would enable them to keep up with the fast-evolving gaming scene. 

At the same time, Morgan explained that they would hold on to the unique character of enjoying a plethora of different operators in the region, with names like SaskGaming, Sask.Lotteries and SIGA mentioned by the minister. 

The Crown’s maximum debt limit has been capped at $130 million while Regina will be the head office of the newly founded LGS. 

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The murder of a young woman has shocked the Philippines. Rizia Mae Pardillo Ycot, 24, was serving her shift as a Small-Time Lotteries (STL) vendor in the city of Cotabato City when she got shot in the head by a heinous criminal. The suspects are the criminal gangs running illegal lottery operations.

STLs are legal lottery booths that offer forms of legal lottery gaming to local customers. Unfortunately, local gangs believe STLs are undermining their illegal gambling operations and have come to detest the booths.

The pressure on STL vendors is, sadly, nothing new. Many people working in the sector have reported having been threatened by gangs on countless occasions. Locals are almost certain that Ycot was shot by a gang member as her assailant did not steal anything. The crime was likely meant to scare other STLs into giving up on their business.

While the local gangs have previously refrained from murdering STL vendors to prove a point, it seems that illegal operators in the Philippines are now ready to do anything if that will keep them in power.

Halting Lotteries Will Allow the Police to Investigate

Now, several weeks after Ycot’s murder, Bruce Matabalao, mayor of Cotabato City, has ordered the temporary shutdown of all lotteries in the city. In the wake of the recent killing, city officials are concerned about the well-being of STL vendors.

The decision to halt STL operations in the city comes as Querubin Manalang, director of the city police, asked Matabalao to take action. Matabalao thus ordered the arrest of anyone selling any type of lottery, regardless if they were authorized to do so or not.

Lotteries will remain shut down until officials form a plan to tackle the issue and investigate Ycot’s murder. Manalang, who proposed the measure, said that the temporary stopping of operations will provide his team with the time it needs to do its job.

Other Recent Developments

In other news, the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) sector recently became the object of public criticism. According to a survey, the majority of Filipinos believe that POGOs are harmful to society and the economy and encourage a sinful lifestyle.

In the meantime, the PAGCOR, a body that regulates gambling in the country, just terminated its contract with an allegedly fraudulent auditing firm. As it turned out, the company, Global ComRCI, had provided fake documents during its application for becoming PAGCOR’s third-party auditor.

The regulator will audit POGOs by itself until it finds a new partner.

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