Australian Government Rejects Commission's Gambling Report

The Australian government has made it's mind up about gambling by the sounds of the statements made by the Community Minister, Jenny Macklin. The federal government will not support the Productivity Commission recommendations regarding online gambling laws in Australia. The long awaited and expensive Productivity report on gambling was unbiased and logical. It said that prohibition would not work and regulations should be created to keep the industry safe and responsive to any problem gambling situations.The minister unequivocally said the recommendation would not be supported on SBS television recently.

Minister Jacklin used the term 'pre commitment' technology in her public announcement to tackle problem gambling at land based pokies. The phrase ‘pre-commitment’ refers to responsible gambling practices. Operators set limits before the slot machine is activated thus keeping the problem gambler from going beyond a set amount.

The Productivity Commission’s said that land based ‘pokies’ maximum bet should be cut to $1 and that a there is a maximum of $20 which is significantly down from the current $10,000. New technology could be employed to facilitate the control measures.

"The community wants us to address this issue of problem gambling", Macklin said there may be no need for other regulatory measures, there was however 'important work to be done to develop pre-commitment.'

Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is embroiled in a controversial internet censorship issue, he recently said Australia would establish a regime to examine the impact of gambling over the internet and mobile phones. The report said that Australians spent over $19 billion a year on gambling in 2008-09, for an average cost of about $1500 per gambler. Minister Jacklin also commented on the position of the states , "We will discuss these issues with states and territories...there are various rules about caps on machines, so we have to discuss that with them,"