Australia to Ban Lottery Bets

Australia is about to introduce a new legislation that will effectively prohibit betting on lottery games as newsagents and clubs who sell lottery tickets worry that their ticket sales will plummet and make them lose money. The announcement has been warmly accepted by the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association. If it es, the bill could cause operators such as Lottoland to leave the country.

The lobbying by retail sports, pubs and newsagents seems to have paid off – they were urging Australia’s federal government to ban the betting on the lottery draws. Mitch Fifield, Australia’s Communications Minister comments: “The government has formed the view that permitting betting on these services, also known as ‘synthetic’ lotteries, undermines the longstanding community acceptance of official lottery and keno products. These products enjoy community as they generate an income stream for small retail businesses and make a significant contribution, through license fees and taxation, to the provision of public services and infrastructure by state and territory governments.”

He added: “Traditional lotteries and keno games are popular and longstanding recreational gambling products that form an important income stream for thousands of small businesses across Australia, including newsagents, pharmacies, pubs and community clubs.”

His announcement was met by appraisal by the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association, saying this it is a “big relief” for more than 15,000 people employed by more than 4,000 businesses.

Lottoland Australia officials think this is the wrong move by the government. CEO Luke Brill expressed his opinion: “While we understand the concerns expressed by some newsagents, the proposed legislation is both misguided and unnecessary. The fact is that Lottoland does not offer betting opportunities on any Australian lottery, so our offering does not have a direct impact on newsagents.”

Source:

“Australia to ban lottery bet”, igamingbusiness.com, March 27, 2018.