Asia Pac

The Australian government has published its ‘official response’ to online gambling reforms sought by the late Peta Murphy.

The much-awaited response has been published two years after Labor MP Peta Murphy submitted her 2024 parliamentary inquiry into gambling harms and federal interventions, titled “You win some, you lose more: the impact on those experiencing gambling harms”.

The inquiry was the final parliamentary project undertaken by Murphy, who passed away in December 2023.

Her recommendations on federal gambling reform were widely expected to shape the agenda of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, following commitments made by the Labor Party during its 2022 Australian election campaign.

Murphy called to end the “normalisation of gambling”

Australia’s online gambling laws were heavily scrutinised by Murphy, who questioned whether the existing regulatory framework and operating conditions were effective in reducing harms and extending support across the country’s six commonweal..

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is reportedly investigating Entain Australia & New Zealand after the operator allegedly sent emails sent to inactive customers warning them to place a bet or risk monthly inactivity fees.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Ladbrokes Australia brand also failed to disclose the customer’s legal right to close their account through the government’s self-exclusion website, BetStop, and have their money returned.

This is just the latest in Entain’s Australian troubles, after the operator recently entered into a court-enforceable undertaking after more than 500 breaches of national self-exclusion rules were discovered as part of a separate ACMA investigation.

The Sydney Morning Herald stated that Entain ‘sends the emails to customers who have been dormant for 18 months, warning them it will begin charging a $5 a month fee for holding their money’.

The report added that the ACMA confirmed it was reviewing to see if the ema..

Entain Australia & New Zealand is working with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after the body discovered more than 500 breaches of national self-exclusion rules in Australia.

As a result, the Ladbrokes and Neds operator entered into a court-enforceable undertaking following an ACMA investigation.

The ACMA found that Entain had:

Opened accounts and provided wagering to people registered with BetStop.

Opened new accounts for individuals registered with BetStop.

Failed to adequately promote BetStop in customer texts and emails.

As a result, the ACMA has accepted a comprehensive 18-month court-enforceable undertaking from Entain, as the company will commit to an independent review of its compliance systems and processes and implement any recommended improvements.

An Entain Australia spokesperson said: “We take all our regulatory responsibilities seriously. These matters arose during the early stages of a new national system, and we have worked constructiv..

Entain’s Australian brands Ladbrokes AU and Neds AU are in hot water after an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found more than 500 breaches of national self-exclusion rules.

The UK-headquartered company has now entered into a court-enforceable undertaking, with the ACMA finding that its brands opened accounts for people registered with Australia’s national self-exclusion register BetStop.

It is also said to have failed to close wagering accounts for self-excluded customers.

“When someone signs up to BetStop, wagering companies must close all of that person’s accounts held within their services,” said ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood.

“In this case, Entain’s systems did not adequately identify and link all wagering accounts held by those customers across its services, including one account that remained open for more than a year after the customer had self-excluded.

“When people register for self-exclusion there should be no way for them to open new..

Politicians in Bangladesh have vowed to launch a nationwide crackdown on gambling and online betting, emphasising that coordinated action is looming for the sector.

Action will begin following the closure of the country’s parliament on 30 April, with assertions made by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who promised a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on gambling, alongside drug use, in response to concerns raised by Zainul Abdin Farroque, parliamentary member for the Noakhali-2 constituency.

“To save the youth from destruction, the government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy,” said Ahmed, who promised that law enforcement agencies will conduct coordinated operations to dismantle networks linked to drugs and gambling.

Most forms of gambling remain illegal in Bangladesh under the Public Gaming Act of 1867, meaning online gambling operates in a grey area with no local regulation.

Ahmed’s call to arms over curtailing online gambling comes despite Bangladesh last year passing the Cyber Security..

Australia’s communications watchdog has blocked a slew of websites operating outside the country’s licensed market, including the imaginatively named Mafia Casino.

In total, 19 online gambling platforms and affiliate sites have been blocked by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), as an unyielding approach is taken by Australian officials to unlicensed operators.

The latest sites blocked are: Bass Bet, BetWhale, CasinOK, Cleobetra, Diva Spin, FatPirate, Free Spinz, Gransino, JackBit, Legiano, Mafia Casino, Magius, Monster Win, NewLucky, Nonbetstop.com, Slotexo, Talismania, Tiki Casino and Vegas Hero.

The agency stated: “The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, it’s unlikely to have important customer protections. This means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money.”

Blocking a myriad of websites is a tough challenge for regulators, as it leads to a whack-a-mole style predicament with operators rebrand..

This morning, PM Anthony Albanese declared that Australia will implement “strong and decisive actions” to curb gambling advertising and protect young and vulnerable audiences.

A matter that has dogged Albanese tenure as PM since 2023, is resolved as the Labor government has committed to back five measures aimed at a ‘drastic reduction of exposure’ of gambling ads to the Australian public.

Beginning 1 January 2027, the government will restrict “gambling advertising on broadcast television to no more than three ads per hour between 6am and 8.30pm, alongside a full ban on such advertising during live sports broadcasts within those hours.”

The headline reform directly targets what gambling reformists describe as the “normalisation loop” between sport and betting — an issue that has driven a nationwide campaign calling for federal intervention.

Labor’s reset is built around five core restrictions that redefine how, where and to whom gambling marketing can be shown:

Broadcast TV limits:..

Community calls in New Zealand led by an opposition MP to ensure that comprehensive player safety measures are included in the country’s new gambling bill were addressed during today’s reading.

Lemauga Lydia Sosene, a Labour politician and the party’s spokesperson, has become a key figure in campaigning for community returns to be prominently featured in New Zealand’s online gambling legislation.

Sosene, together with the community groups she represented, achieved success on that front late last year when the government agreed to include a mandatory 4% levy on online casino profits to be invested back into the public – with a following revision whether that rate should be put up.

Now, the Labour MP seems to have scored another win as her campaigning to ensure that sufficient steps are taken to minimise gambling harm appears to have contributed to the New Zealand government giving this extra attention in the upcoming bill, which passed the second-to-last-parliamentary stage today.

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Authorities in the Philippines are set to target a group of social media influencers for allegedly promoting illegal online gaming platforms.

During a press briefing, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre (CICC) confirmed that ten influencers are under suspicion, including names such as Perkz Gaming, Jam Magno, Vic Desucatan and Wampipti.

The action is being taken alongside PAGCOR, the country’s gaming regulator, and Digital Pinoys, a government-backed digital advocacy group, and follows similar warnings fired at a group of 30 influencers in November.

At the time, CICC’s Chief Undersecretary, Renato Paraiso, warned that the influencers could be charged with violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, Presidential Decree No. 1602, which prescribes stiffer penalties on illegal gambling, and Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code on estafa.

If prosecuted, the influencers could face fines and potential imprisonment under the Philippines’ cybercrime and gaming reg..