ACMA Launching National Gambling Self-Exclusion Register
The Australian Communication and Media Authority has appointed tech company Engine Australia to develop a national gambling self-exclusion register. With this project a significant jump forward is being made in helping troubled players regain control of their destructive behavior, as up until now it was fairly simple for self-excluded players to circumvent the controls and continue to play at other casinos around the country.
There is a structural change coming to the way Australia’s largest casinos handle self-exclusion requests from players. A new platform built by Engine Australia will unify the self-excluded register so players can be better protected from the torment of compulsive gambling. ©besteonlinecasinos/Pixabay
Engine has won the contract from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to develop the software that will run the country’s National Self-Exclusion Register. This breakthrough technology will enable gamblers who need a time-out to exclude themselves from all licensed online-casino platforms simultaneously. Unlike before when players would need to contact each of the operators individually to make their intentions known.
There will be a multitude of flexibilities available with the self-exclusion register. Australians will be able to opt-out of all gambling products for a period of three months or extend the period up to a permanent exclusion. The specific ban will apply to all gambling and betting services available at licensed operators online and via phone call-ins. As a secondary feature, operators will remove the contact details of self-excluded persons from their marketing communication lists, so these persons won’t receive any promotional material trying to temp them back.
The chairwoman of the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) weighed in and threw her support behind the scheme. Appointing the firm Engine Australia to oversee the project has also attracted a wave of support. Clearly, this is a company that recognizes the significance and importance of such public infrastructure projects. When the register is properly implemented, it is expected to drastically enhance the current customer protection protocols. By offering players a guaranteed way out, massive reductions in cases of compulsive gambling are hoped to be a result.
The Self-Exclusion Register to go Live in 2022
As we previously mentioned, the Australia Communications and Media Authority will be taking several precautionary measures to ensure that these regulations are upheld. When a customer decides they no longer want to participate in gambling any longer, it just takes a simple correspondence with their operator and they’ll customarily be added to the self-exclusion register. This will make sure all gambling accounts held with licensed operators are closed and any outstanding deposits are returned.
Engine Australia, the software company tasked with delivering the project, is considered to be more than capable in terms of stability and infrastructure. Analysts investigating the potentials of this new scheme have compared the effort to that of GAMSTOP in the UK which runs a similar self-exclusion system in their domestic market. The priority of the ACMA is now to move this project into its second phase, consulting with betting operators across the country to ensure that the system’s design and operating logic are correctly implemented.
Another step that progressives the initiative in the right direction is the fact that local advocacy groups and customers are involved in the development cycles. Having the opportunity to weigh in on the design and delivery of a game-changing software product for safer gambling is a pure victory for these groups. Protecting the interests of consumers is at the very heart of the initiative, so including the end-users at this early phase is, without doubt, the most important step being taken currently.
Given that this project has already been mapped out and planned in extensive detail, we can expect to see the first version of Engine Australia self-exclusion register later this year. The beta version will be used to test the design and customer protection capabilities of the solution. After this preliminary stage is concluded we can expect the full version to be released by the middle of 2022.
At first, the implementation will seek to distribute the self-exclusion register backend to as many gambling operators as possible. The key to making this system work will be for all licensed sportsbooks to comply with the initiative and enable customer self-exclusion requests to be handled in the appropriate fashion.
Players will still be able to contact gambling operators directly if they are not satisfied with something unique to that service, this will allow them simply to exclude from that specific service and remain a potential customer at other services. But if true exclusion from all licensed gambling in Australia is what the customer seeks, then Engine Australia will have you covered.
