Online growing 15 percent yearly
The government of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has cut a deal with the states that will ban online bookies from offering lines of credit to gamblers Down Under. The crackdown on gaming will also establish a self-exclusion registry for compulsive gamblers and a “pre-commitment” program that would allow bettors to voluntarily limit wagers.
Australian Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said the agreement is necessary and overdue. “The rate of problem gambling in the online space is three times higher than elsewhere,” he said. “And online gambling is growing by 15 percent per annum. This means that the problems of the future are all coming from online punting unless we have better protections in place.”
More than $1.4 billion was bet online in the country last year, according to the website Yogonet.com.
According to Casino News Daily, there are more than 800,000 betting accounts across the nation, and AU$1.4 billion was wagered online last year.
