Protecting Problem Gamblers With Regulations

Australia is one of the biggest gambling nations in the world. So, it is no surprise that gambling addiction is also a big problem. The government has emphasised its seriousness in protecting problem gamblers with new regulations that will come into effect.

Gambling Addiction – Comprehensive Reform

The new legislation will include 11 preventative measures to safeguard Aussie gamblers from gambling addiction. These include prohibiting credit lines and banning the competitive offering of incentives to sign-up.

Prohibiting Credit Lines

Many operators in Australia offer gamblers who have emptied their bank accounts credit. This is clearly in no way a benefit for the player because there are no guaranteed wins. So, while the player is chasing losses, they are usually also getting deeper into debt.

Competitive Sign-up Incentives Ban

Sign-up incentives come in all sorts of forms. While some casinos will offer players money to play their games for real money, others will offer free spins on some of the games. This is obviously tempting, especially for problem gamblers because it is an opportunity to play for real money while spending little to nothing.

Protecting Problem Gamblers – Self-exclusion As a Mechanism

In efforts of protecting problem gamblers, there will be a national self-exclusion register. This will assist gamblers in managing the problem themselves. Australians who struggle with gambling addiction are encouraged to join the online gambling self-exclusion register. The government allows individuals who register themselves to do so for a minimum of three months. However, they can choose how long they want their exclusion to last.

Keeping Track of The Results

The new regulations were proposed as a solution, so there are also goals to monitor the results. The results of the regulations will be observed, and further problem gambling research will be conducted.

Australian gamblers can benefit a great deal from this new legislation as it can play a major preventative role. Protecting problem gamblers is not just about helping those who are experiencing (or have experienced) it, but also to prevent it from even happening. Gamblers who have had to deal with problem gambling know all too well how easy it is to go down the rabbit hole. At some point, they were also non-problem-gamblers.