BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Australia’s Impressive Gambling Industry in 2024
WORDS: Ocean Road Editorial Staff PHOTOGRAPHY Photoholgic on Unsplash
Despite Australia being the 55th most populated country in the world with just under 27 million inhabitants, it finds itself near the top of a lot of gambling lists, including having the highest percentage of gamblers at 80%, and the third highest user penetration of online gamblers at 21.2%.
As a sports-loving nation, Australia has a strong sports betting industry, as well as being home to a selection of casinos and other land-based betting facilities.
Online gambling expert Raymond van Wyk also says the best new online casinos for Australian consumers, as listed by Techopedia, offer attractive features such as modern design and technology, innovative games and features, and generous welcome bonuses. New online casinos are revolutionising the way that Australians bet, with state-of-the-art technology used to provide easy access to a selection of betting markets, traditional casino games, and exciting pokies.
Australia’s Gambling Industry
Australian sports and racing markets are extremely popular with the public enjoying cricket, rugby, and football betting, as well as enjoying tracks like the Flemington Racecourse which is home to the world-famous Melbourne Cup.
Electronic gaming machines, or “pokies” are often described as the national obsession and are home to 18% of the world’s gaming machines.
Each Australian territory has the autonomy to regulate its own gaming industry, and the industry saw Australians wager $150 billion during the 2020/21 financial year. This year saw the machines earn £12 billion in revenue.
New South Wales has the highest number of machines in operation, as well as the highest number of venues with more than 87,000 machines in just under 2,200 betting locations. This resulted in player turnover exceeding $85.7 billion.
In 2001, the Australian Commonwealth Parliament passed the Interactive Gambling Act banning online operators and the advertising of real-money online gambling sites.
Despite this, it is not an offence for Australians to access online gambling sites or for Australian operations to offer services to consumers in other jurisdictions.
Australians accessing offshore sites like those mentioned previously are estimated to account for almost a third of all gambling turnover.
The popularity of gambling in Australia is also helped by the decision not to tax winnings. This is because gambling is recognised as being a recreational activity rather than a profession, with operators being taxed instead. Tax rates vary based on the territory, gambling activity, and gross revenue.
Australian Gambling Jurisdictions
Australia’s 8 territories divide responsibility for gambling regulations, with Victoria’s gambling industry being governed by the VGCCC (Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission) which is an independent authority that deals with compliance and licensing.
Victoria’s Office of Liquor and Gaming is tasked with legislation, policy, and regulation.
New South Wales Liquor and Gaming Authority oversees compliance and licensing with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority and NSW Independent Casino Commission taking responsibility for machine gaming and casinos respectively.
Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia all have their own gaming and liquor authorities, with the Gambling and Racing Commission covering the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia’s Attorney-General’s Department allocating responsibility for their gambling licensing, policies, and compliance to the Consumer and Business Services.
Australian Gambling Protections
Online gamblers are protected by territory governments and the Australian government under the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering.
This provides a selection of minimum protections for online gamblers. There are 10 measures in place to protect consumers, these are:
- Lines of credit are prohibited
- Consumers are prohibited from using payday lenders to fund gambling
- Customer verification processes take a minimum of 3 days
- Online operators are prohibited from incentivising gambling opportunities
- Account closure processes must be displayed
- Online operators must offer deposit limits that players can set
- Monthly statements will be issued to keep consumers aware of their online gambling activity
- Staff working in the online gaming industry must be properly trained
- Consumers must have access to the national self-exclusion register
Conclusion
The Australian gambling industry is one of the most active industries in the world per capita. While this is great news for the gambling industry, the Australian government and individual territories take the matter of consumer protection very seriously and there are protections in place for users.
Devolved regulatory frameworks allow territory governments to manage their own jurisdictions to the best of their capabilities, maximising revenue via taxation, and facilitating a competitive industry that provides Australian gamblers with a lot of choice.