Online and telephone betting

The Victorian Government, working jointly with states and territories and the Australian Government, has developed the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering in Australia (the NCPF) to reduce the harm from online wagering by providing nationally consistent minimum protections for people using legal online wagering service providers in Australia.

The NCPF has been implemented in Victoria by a Ministerial direction issued under section 4.8A.2 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003.

Under the direction, new provisions came into effect in Victoria on 26 May 2019. These provisions relate to inducements, direct marketing, account deposit limits and account closures.

Further provisions on activity statements, account history, gambling messages and staff training will come into effect from 26 May 2020.

Under the requirements which came into effect on 26 May 2019 in providing services to Victorian residents betting operators

• must not offer credit, vouchers or other rewards to an account holder as an incentive to refer another person (such as family and friends) to open a betting account;
• must not offer complimentary or free bets unless the winnings received from that bet can be withdrawn by the account holder (i.e. the winnings cannot be subject to a requirement that the account holder continue to bet with those winnings);
• must not send direct marketing to consumers without their express consent (opt-in), ensure that there is an easily accessible and usable process for customers to unsubscribe (opt-out), not send direct marketing to customers who have unsubscribed and not provide any credits, vouchers or rewards to customers to encourage them to opt in;
• must ensure that all customers opening a new account either set a limit on the amount of money that can be deposited into their betting account (deposit limit) or opt out of setting a limit;
• must ensure that (from 26 May 2020) all existing customers either have set a deposit limit or have opted out;
• must provide consumers with simple and easy-to-use tools, with clearly explained and prominently displayed processes, to allow them to set deposit limits;
• must not allow a person to deposit money into a betting account which would breach a deposit limit they have set; and
• must ensure customers can simply and easily close a betting account if they choose to do so and must not offer any credit or other reward to encourage customers to keep a betting account open.

The full Harm Minimisation Directive can be accessed here  (PDF, 518.49 KB)(PDF, 518.49 KB).

Future changes

Further measures will come into effect on 26 May 2020. In summary, from this date betting operators will be required to:

• provide account holders with betting activity statements annually at no cost;
• provide persons with betting account history information on demand at no cost
• display approved responsible gambling messages on account websites, internet applications, direct marketing material and advertising
• ensure that all relevant staff involved in the provision of wagering services complete responsible service of interactive wagering and betting training (and refresher training).

Penalties and enforcement

Under the Gambling Regulation Act 2003, a wagering service provider must comply with a harm minimisation directive that applies to them. Failing to comply may attract a penalty of up to 60 penalty units ($9,671.40).

Victorian residents who believe the new rules have not been complied with should contact the relevant wagering service provider or lodge a complaint online through the VCGLR.