Australia Wants Year-Long Online Keno and Foreign Lotto Review

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the launch of a review into the way online keno and foreign-matched lotteries are currently regulated in the country. 

The review, which follows the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications’ recommendation, is needed to better grasp the impact of these games on the community and establish whether regulatory adjustments are needed to keep online gambling harms to a minimum. 

The Year-Old Review, Part of an Extended Agenda 

The committee asked for a year-old review of keno-style lotteries under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) that will feature consultations with advocates of gambling harm minimization, academics, charity and community bodies, newsagents, states and territories, and representatives of the wagering industry itself. 

The review will not only assess the actual size and nature of foreign-matched lotteries and online keno in the land Down Under, but will also evaluate the impact of these current and emerging activities, the experiences they offer to customers (deposits losses, failure to pay winnings), various policy alternatives including digital and credit payment bans, and what an “excluded lottery service” means according to the IGA.

Belonging to a more complex agenda aimed at cutting online gambling harms, the review joins other projects including the introduction of mandatory ID pre-verification for new online accounts, the launch of the national self-exclusion register BetStop, as well as the ban imposed on the use of credit cards for online betting starting June 2024.

More steps on the “comprehensive agenda” include the introduction of mandatory minimum classifications for computer game content that resembles gambling starting September 2024, “nationally consistent staff training,” the replacement of the “ineffective ‘Gamble Responsibly’ message” on wagering ads with new taglines based on evidence, and the requirement that online wagering companies send monthly activity statements to customers featuring their wins and losses.

The Growth of Online Keno and Foreign-Matched Lotteries, “Particularly Concerning”

According to the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, the growth and current availability of these lotteries and online keno options “is particularly concerning.”

Rowland emphasized the need to “understand the impact these two products” on “vulnerable Australians and small businesses” as well as the community as a whole while explaining the resulting feedback will guarantee potential changes will be “well-balanced and fit-for-purpose.”

Similarly, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth MP said the Australian government “takes gambling harm seriously” while guaranteeing their commitment “to protecting consumers, including their families and the community, from gambling-related harm.”

In mid-June, the country announced a maximum fine of AUD 234,750 ($155,000) on gambling companies that failed to comply with the new regulations regarding the ban on crypto and credit card use online.