Multiple questions raised
Australian investigative journalists have published a report labeling the country’s online gambling regulator as unfit for the role, while also raising conflicts of interest questions.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday shared a report by its Four Corners unit. It contained allegations against The Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC).
last published an annual report in the early 1990s
Framing the allegations were facts that regulated digital betting markets in the US and UK might find staggering. Namely, that the body responsible for regulating betting firms with a combined annual turnover of around AU$50bn ($33bn) only meets once every month, has no full-time employees, and last published an annual report in the early 1990s.
While the details paint a picture of a regulator out of touch or behind the times, the allegations that the NTRWC is riven with conflicts of interest, is biased towards the gambling industry, and is on record for “lengthy delays in dealing with complaints” has far more serious ramifications for the commission.
Too close for comfort
The NTRWC regulates over 40 online licensees including Bet365, Ladbrokes, and Sportsbet, a relationship the Four Corners report alleged was “too close.”
The report claims that in 170 of the NTRWC’s published investigative findings into licensees since 2017, two thirds were found not guilty of any violations, while the commission has never suspended or terminated any betting firm’s license.
The ABC quoted independent MP Kate Chaney as stating: “There’s a really cosy relationship between the NTRWC and the industry.” Chaney was part of a federal parliamentary inquiry into reducing gambling harms that recommended a new national online regulator and ombudsman to replace the de-facto regulator NTRWC.
“It seems like it’s a body that’s much more about serving industry than serving the community,” Chaney said at the time. An under-resourced body, according to consumer advocate Lauren Levin, who in the report questioned:
“How do you run a regulator for the country that’s got the highest per capita gambling losses in the world without full-time staff?”
Levin compared this to the UK gambling regulator’s 300+ employees and investigators. NTRWC chair Alastair Shields and six other commissioners comprise the regulator’s only full-time staff.
Shields lowered?
Chair Shields has come under fire for his gambling industry links in the past, but nothing compared to the scrutiny he now faces. Shields in 2018 told commissioners he had a Sportsbet account and belonged to a syndicate that owned race horses, while in April he admitted to taking a gift from a betting firm.
According to the ABC, Shields recently refused repeated requests by Four Corners for an on-camera interview after the NTRWC’s September meeting, in response to questions about taking hospitality, conflicts of interest, and the long delays in wrapping up the body’s investigations.
likened the NTRWC to a “chocolate teapot”
Levin essentially blasts the NTRWC as being unequipped for proper consumer protections because it was established for the sole objective of growing the gambling and horse racing industry. Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie meanwhile stated he couldn’t think of another business sector in Australia so weakly regulated. Wilkie likened the NTRWC to a “chocolate teapot.”
“It’s useless,” he explained.
