The Australian government has published the results of its inquiry into online gambling, titled You win some, you lose more. Among a number of recommendations arising from the inquiry, the committee in charge has recommended that commissions from customer referrals from third parties to gambling providers be banned.
This measure comes in light of the ever-increasing nationwide concern of problem gambling, where an alarming rate of players are registering at online casinos in the hopes of maximizing on their AU no deposit bonus codes.
The Inquiry Into Online Gambling
Published by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, the results of the inquiry into online gambling, titled ‘You win some, you lose more, Online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm’ is now out. Since its release at the end of June 2023, the reporting of the inquiry has been delved into by journalists and analysts alike.
The aim of the inquiry was to uncover whether the current Australian legal frameworks are enough to protect the public from ongoing harm associated with online gambling and gambling advertising.
The results of the inquiry point to a number of recommendations for new regulatory changes to help in ongoing consumer protection in the digital age. These include the following recommendations:
- An Australian minister to be in charge of the industry
- Development of a national gambling harm reduction strategy
- A comprehensive online gambling education campaign
- Online gambling levy to be actively distributed into the right online gambling harm reduction streams
- These are part of a wider list of 31 key recommendations presented in the report paper by the committee.
The Recommendation On Commissions
Recommendation number 21 under the inquiry says that national regulation should prohibit any commissions to third parties or staff members thanks to referrals in online gambling.
To the average consumer, there might not be much awareness of third-party commissions from referrals to online gambling avenues. However, this is a widespread practice in Australia and around the world.
Websites typically have advertising displayed on their pages to help make revenue and generate income. With advertising on a page, site owners can get paid for every page view and significantly more from any clicks on ads. Advertising providers allow websites to select whether they allow gambling ads on their pages, as well as other more contentious advertising categories. Ads may also be specifically built into pages.
Gambling companies also regularly offer affiliate programs, where third parties can display advertising for the online gambling house. Here, significant rewards may be offered to the website for various activities that a site user may take. For instance, they may receive a fixed sum for any new signup to an online gambling service. They may receive a percentage portion of all lifetime losses for that player, up to even 30%. Some are totaled and paid out from each bet. Sometimes it is per X amount of players who sign up. The ins and outs and terms and conditions of online gambling affiliate programs are wide and varied and often a fairly good deal to other websites.
Commission-based Online Gambling Affiliates Are Everywhere
It’s not just small sites that are looking to make a dollar or two that are signed up to these affiliate commission-based programs. In recent reports, it was found that News Corp owns sports wagering odds sites that have a significant amount of online gambling advertising. The Australian news network includes brands like Sky News, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, and The Courier Mail. Rival news brand, The Guardian, has only just recently announced that they are banning gambling advertising within all of their online and print mediums worldwide. This ban was announced just prior to the publication of the Australian inquiry.
Australians will be familiar with splash banners for companies like SportsBet popping up on their screens, out and about at sporting events, and in other physical locations. Thanks to the growth of the online gambling industry, which now stands at around $50B per year, there is a lot of money to be made, signaling a claw for market share.
Will The Inquiry’s Recommendation Be Followed?
It is likely that many, or even most, of the recommendations arising from the inquiry will be rolled out by the Australian government. As the online gambling industry expands and digital avenues become more complex, so too will the rules and regulations surrounding gambling harm reduction, to accommodate for that growth. The cat is out of the bag with online gambling and its complexity, so there is no other approach but to tackle it from a similarly mature and complex framework. The question is simply how long it will take to implement these changes.