When it comes to online gambling legislation, most of the world’s poker press focus their attention solely on America. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, passed in 2006, made it technically illegal for online gambling companies to offer their services in the United States. Down in the Southern Hemisphere, Australian players have been grappling with a similar law since 2001. The Interactive Gambling Act made it illegal for companies to offer real money internet gambling in Australia. As in the U.S., it is not illegal for citizens to play but it is illegal for the sites to let them. Australia also echoes the U.S. with the ineffectiveness of their ban. Many online poker and gambling sites continue to provide their services to millions of players with little or no sanction or regulation.
Now, a new report by the Australian Productivity Commission (PC) has recommended that online gambling be legalized, regulated, and taxed. Responding to a request from the Australian government, the PC have updated their 1999 inquiry into the gambling industry and have returned with a dense draft report. The report makes a large number of recommendations, many focused around the dangers of video poker. These computerized gambling machines account for 80% of problem gambling in Australia and have been the center of some heated media attention in the past few weeks.
Online gambling, on the other hand, is only responsible for 4% of all national gaming. Given the congenital ineffectiveness of the Interactive Gambling Act, the PC are afraid of Australian citizens being harmed by an unregulated industry. Just the kind of arguments the likes of the Poker Players Alliance and Barney Frank are making in the U.S.
Limiting the amount of gambling possible by a single person is a major sticking point in the Aussie gambling debate. “In its unregulated form, online gaming is available 24 hours a day, allows credit betting, [and] has no intrinsic restrictions on bet size,” the PC claim in their report. Having received numerous opinions and recommendations from gambling companies, the PC are set to advise that, “the Australian Government should repeal the Interactive Gambling Act, and in consultation with state and territory governments, should initiate a process for the managed liberalisation of online gaming.”
This initial report is only a draft, with an completed paper due in February 2010. Before concluding the final version, the PC will once again turn to the industry and collect their feedback on the suggestions made. The government is under no obligation to accept their recommendations of the Productivity Commission, but is likely to take all of its comments very seriously. The media have also been vocalizing their own thoughts on the issue. The Canberra Times quotes anti-gambling activist Reverend Tim Costello on online gambling. ”You can lose your home without leaving your home, liberalising that I think is really worrying.”
If online gambling is legalized, the country will likely opt for a system similar to the Italians. Having deconstructed their former gambling monopoly, Italy’s newly liberalized system requires that all companies operate from within the country. For example, players hoping to download the Italian language version of the PartyPoker software now have to navigate to PartyPoker.it, as that client cannot be found on PartyPoker.com. Forcing companies to have a base on sovereign soil ensures that they can be held accountable under law. Currently, most online sites make their homes in places like Malta and the island of Gibraltar.
The debate over this issue looks set to rage on. Although it is practically certain that new gambling regulations will be brought in to curb Australia’s problem gambling crisis, whether or not online gambling and poker will be included remains to be seen. Certainly, the potential for fully legal online poker in Australia is moving closer to a reality.