Australian Bookmakers & Clubs Team Up Against Problem Gambling

Responsible Gambling Awareness Week kicks off in Australia.

The Responsible Gambling Awareness Week is picking up steam across Australia as one of the country’s leading bookmakers and a number of top clubs have join in on the action.

Sportsbet gaming operator has just announced its plans to invest $1.5 million in a nation-wide advertising campaign designed to combat problem gambling.

The campaign will run for four weeks and will promote the company’s ‘take a break’ service during one of the busiest periods of the betting season with the upcoming spring racing carnival and beginning of the new cricket season.

New Self-Exclusion App Launched

Said service gives online bettors an option to user the gaming app for self-exclusion purposes, either for a set period or time or permanently.

Sportsbet CEO Cormac Barry believes that players with a gambling problem will be more likely to close their accounts via the application, rather than having to inform someone of their troubles.

At the same time, Financial Counselling Australia aims to create a national self-exclusion register as they want the leading gaming operators to do more in an attempt to single out players with gambling addiction and refer them to suitable treatment facilities.

Six AFL Clubs Sign Responsible Gambling Charter

Elsehwhere, six Victorian AFL sides have signed a responsible gaming pledge on Monday, with Collingwood, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Essendon committing themselves to promoting responsible gambling and not to offer any gambling-related prizes to their fan base.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) charter aims to protect the youth from gambling risks and minimize the exposure of gambling activities at sporting venues around the country.

VRGF chief executive Serge Sardo claims that over 140 sporting clubs all over Victoria are now part of Gambling’s not a Game program, even though some of them still earn some cash from the poker machines, which have generated over $22 million at Hawthorn-owned gambling establishments in 2014.

Meanwhile, Jane Garrett, Minister for Gaming and Liquor Regulation, is worried by the numbers that show that sports betting operators have spent $149 million in advertising purposes last year alone, which is a $44.5 million increase year on year.

The Victoria gambling tax revenue is expected to soar to more than $2 billion in 2018/19, while the VRGF budget was cut by $2 million for the duration of four years, the decision that has been heavily criticized by the opposition.