Australian government to create national gambling self-exclusion register

Sunday 24th of November 2019

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston issued a statement on Sunday revealing that the government is preparing legislation to create an online National Self-Exclusion Register that will allow people to ban themselves from all online wagering sites and apps.

“As much as possible, government policy should preserve Australians’ ability to enjoy a punt while putting in place sensible and targeted measures to prevent and support gamblers facing significant risks of harm,” Ruston said.

“The National Self-Exclusion Register is a voluntary process where an individual can ban themselves from using all interactive wagering services across state boundaries for a period ranging from three months or permanently through one simple process. It is a measure that we believe will motivate gamblers to have periods where they do not gamble online at all as a way of changing their behaviour and minimising the risk they face of gambling-related harm,” she added.

Under the proposed register, interactive wagering service providers would be prohibited from directly advertising and promoting to a person registered for self-exclusion.

The government also released a baseline study into online wagering, undertaken by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, which found that 52 percent of participants were classified as being at risk of or already experiencing gambling-related harm.