William Hill blasted over failing to close problem gambler's account

Tom Waterhouse's online sports-betting company, William Hill Australia, has been rebuked by its regulator for potentially "systemic" failures to comply with responsible gambling regulations.

William Hill's struggling Australian outpost, which is currently up for sale, was brought before the regulator after complaints about its recent dealings with a problem gambler.

Tom Waterhouse is CEO of global bookmaker William Hill's Australian business.Credit: Louise Kennerley

The problem gambler, who was trying to stop betting, had attempted to "self-exclude" from William Hill and  ban himself from betting with them again. But despite his requests the company twice failed to close his accounts, and continued to send him gambling promotional material.

The Racing Commission in the Northern Territory, the jurisdiction in which William Hill is licensed, heard that in the first instance after the customer had self-excluded, he was later allowed to re-open one of his accounts and place more bets.

He again contacted the company to self-exclude, but an error allowed one of his three accounts to remain open and he continued to gamble.

The man contacted William Hill a final time in September to self-exclude, and his account was closed, but the bookmaker continued to send him promotions.

"It appears that there were a number of failures on behalf of the bookmaker to adequately discharge their responsibilities," said Andrew Maloney, the racing commission's presiding member.

"Having failed once may be contributed to human error, however, to fail again, and in the similar circumstances, raises questions to the combination of errors being systemic."

The commission noted the "serious nature" of William Hill's multiple failings, and handed down a penalty of $18,326.

"It is without doubt that the bookmaker had the requisite knowledge of their client being a self-excluded problem gambler and their systems and process have failed in this regard," the ruling said.

The penalty comes as Australia's state and federal governments edge closer to establishing a national self-exclusion register, as part of a suite of reforms aimed at curbing problem gambling.

The register, to be funded by the industry, would allow gamblers to voluntarily ban themselves from betting with any bookmaker on smartphones, computers and tables. It would also allow gamblers who recognised they were at risk of developing a problem to nominate their exclusion period.

William Hill Australia, led by Mr Waterhouse as the chief executive, is under a strategic review and has been up for sale since January, with its British parent company saying the Australian division has proven unable to cope with tougher government rules and taxes.

Rival Australian wagering companies, CrownBet and Sportsbet, are understood to be the final two bidders in the running to snap up William Hill Australia's assets.