Impact analysis of option one Key saves/benefits: This option has no increase or decrease in regulatory burden or costs. Key costs/disadvantages: There will continue to be fragmented regulation across jurisdictions for online wagering inducements, which is inconsistent with responsible gambling. There will continue to be confusion around how inducements are defined for the purposes of online wagering, including the use of different definitions across jurisdictions, making it difficult for online wagering operators to comply with the different regulations. Option two: minimum standards for restricting inducements This option proposes a strong set of core minimum standards for consumer protection, around the offering of inducements by online wagering providers. These minimum standards are consistent with responsible gambling and will apply across Australian jurisdictions. In line with stakeholder concern and research, the below minimum standards seek to create a national definition of inducements, require consumer choice to opt-in to receive permitted inducements and seek to prohibit the inducements which were identified as likely to cause the most harm. The list of inducements below is intended to be refined during this consultation process. Specifically, the minimum standards regarding inducements canvassed under this option could include the following features: prohibiting inducements to sign up to open a new account prohibiting the matching of customer deposits or offering of free bets prohibiting inducements that require any winnings to be before they ‘turned over’ can be withdrawn require new and existing account holders to opt-in to receive marketing material about inducements, and allowing account holders to optout (or unsubscribe) at any time require any marketing of inducements to clearly articulate all the terms and conditions pertaining to the inducement, noting that this will require further consultation require a better definition of inducements to aid in the distinction between inducements to gamble, and the legitimate marketing strategies used by wagering operators to promote their services—one option is to adopt the NSW definition of inducements, which states: An inducement is an offer, whether accepted or not, that has the capacity to encourage a person to participate, or participate frequently, in gambling activity. This includes the opening of a betting account.
Impact analysis of option one Key saves/benefits: This option has no increase or decrease in regulatory burden or costs. Key costs/disadvantages: There will continue to be fragmented regulation across jurisdictions for online wagering inducements, which is inconsistent with responsible gambling. There will continue to be confusion around how inducements are defined for the purposes of online wagering, including the use of different definitions across jurisdictions, making it difficult for online wagering operators to comply with the different regulations. Option two: minimum standards for restricting inducements This option proposes a strong set of core minimum standards for consumer protection, around the offering of inducements by online wagering providers. These minimum standards are consistent with responsible gambling and will apply across Australian jurisdictions. In line with stakeholder concern and research, the below minimum standards seek to create a national definition of inducements, require consumer choice to opt-in to receive permitted inducements and seek to prohibit the inducements which were identified as likely to cause the most harm. The list of inducements below is intended to be refined during this consultation process. Specifically, the minimum standards regarding inducements canvassed under this option could include the following features: prohibiting inducements to sign up to open a new account prohibiting the matching of customer deposits or offering of free bets prohibiting inducements that require any winnings to be ‘turned over’ before they can be withdrawn require new and existing account holders to opt-in to receive marketing material about inducements, and allowing account holders to optout (or unsubscribe) at any time require any marketing of inducements to clearly articulate all the terms and conditions pertaining to the inducement, noting that this will require further consultation require a better definition of inducements to aid in the distinction between inducements to gamble, and the legitimate marketing strategies used by wagering operators to promote their services—one option is to adopt the NSW definition of inducements, which states: An inducement is an offer, whether accepted or not, that has the capacity to encourage a person to participate, or participate frequently, in gambling activity. This includes the opening of a betting account.