By Nick Toscano
Prominent bookmaker Ladbrokes has ignited a new stoush in Australia’s online gambling sector, splitting from rival betting companies over plans for a national self-exclusion scheme for people trying to quit gambling.
The country’s biggest online-only bookmakers — including Sportsbet, BetEasy, Ladbrokes and Bet365 — have been working with governments through their industry group Responsible Wagering Australia to develop a suite of stronger responsible gaming reforms, the most important of which is a scheme permitting punters to ban themselves across states and all wagering sites at once on smartphones, computers and tablets.
Ladbrokes is at the centre of a feud over a proposed self-exclusion scheme for gamblersCredit: AAP
Other reforms include a voluntary opt-out scheme for gamblers to set betting limits when they sign up, and a ban on offering “inducements” to tempt Australians to open online betting accounts or to refer a friend to open one.
Federal Social Services Minister Dan Tehan is expected to announce within weeks that the National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering has been approved by the states and territories and will set down an implementation timeline.
But with uncertainty surrounding who will develop the nationally consistent self-exclusion scheme and how it would operate, wagering industry sources say Sportsbet and BetEasy (formerly CrownBet) have been working with government officials on the development of a proposal.
Ladbrokes supports a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, but this week blasted the “frustrating” delays in rolling one out. The Australian arm of the UK-based betting company insists a model already in force in the Northern Territory, the jurisdiction where most online bookmakers hold their licences in Australia, has proved effective and should be replicated by other governments.
“The design and implementation of most multi-operator self-exclusion schemes fails due to complexity,” Ladbrokes general counsel Patrick Brown said.
“Ladbrokes calls on Sportsbet and BetEasy (CrownBet) to work within Responsible Wagering Australia on multi-operator self-exclusion.”
In the UK, the gambling watchdog has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the country’s newly introduced self-exclusion system, GamStop, and has hit out at flaws allowing self-excluded gamblers to continue receiving bookmakers’ promotional material.
Ladbrokes position puts it at odds with the two biggest members of Responsible Wagering Australia, the industry group led by former Labor Party heavyweight Stephen Conroy, and has raised questions internally over whether Ladbrokes will remain a member.
Some wagering sources believe Ladbrokes, ranked the fourth most popular online bookie behind Sportsbet, TAB and BetEasy, is also unhappy about the incoming ban on sign-up inducements which it relies on to attract new customers. They said Ladbrokes joined the Conroy-led association just over a year ago, and has been privately accused of not sharing the same “proactive” approach of other member organisations to “protect the sustainability of the industry”.
Former ALP senator Stephen Conroy heads up a lobby group for Australian online betting companies.Credit: Andrew Meares
Mr Conroy said Responsible Wagering Australia had been a leading supporter of the new consumer-protection reforms and would continue to work actively with government leaders to implement its measures.
He said the national self-exclusion register, to be funded by the industry, was an integral part of the reforms and “must be easy to use and apply across all operators”.
“All RWA members are strongly committed to this and currently offer simple to use self-exclusion options at an operator level whilst the federal government is implementing the national self-exclusion register,” Mr Conroy said.