A lot of changes can be expected in the online betting and gambling market until the next federal elections in Australia. Recently as per local media reports online betting on live sports will be banned in Australia till the federal elections get over. This will result into heavy losses in the betting and gambling industry and too many sports gambling operators. This betting ban means that all the bookmakers offering the “click to call” and other live betting systems like William Hill, Ladbrokes and Bet365 will be out of business for sometime or shut down.
At this time it is difficult to state anything about the online betting in Australia as nothing has been decided yet. As per the Australian Government they have not yet decided whether they will permanently ban online betting or they will revisit this issue once the federal elections get over. This move brings clouds of uncertainty over the online betting industry in Australia. TabCorp and Tatts group recently even argued about the legalization of in-play betting in the country will lead to unbalance the playing field which means in the terms of taxation. They have to reveal how much they are paying to Government and sporting bodies in taxes and licensing fees as compared to their foreign owned NT licensed counterparts. However corporate bookmakers have been pushing for liberalization of in-play and are stating that this move will lead to the flow of money to illegal offshore operators and thus resulting in heavy losses both to the operators and the Government.
There is another group which is arguing that this move will bring problems for gambling and racing industry and will drift away from wagering on races to sport. Coalition MPs who were reportedly briefed by the Human Services Minister Alan Trudge were supportive of this move which was taken by the minister of banning betting till Federal Elections. Government informed MPs that they will adopt a three-stage approach in handling this issue where firstly they will look into consumer protection, then will address the issue of offshore bookmakers and then finally will make a decision on liberalization of in-play in sports betting.
So overall this seems to be long wait for the Australian betting and gambling industry to revive and see better days ahead.
