The Australian Parliament is planning to enact a law that would ban the use of credit cards or digital wallets for betting and online gambling transactions in the country. Remember that credit cards can no longer be used in physical gaming establishments in Australia.
Andrew Wallace, a politician belonging to the Queensland National Liberal Party and chairman of the parliamentary committee on corporations and financial services, requested an investigation seeking possibilities to consider the amendment to the Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017 (‘Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017’ in Portuguese).
Wallace recently told Parliament that players who use credit cards in online games are at risk of high interest rates and high chances of financial losses. In addition, he urged the government to take corrective measures.
“We, as members of the government, control this space and we need to do better than we are doing now. Approximately $ 25 billion is spent on games each year. About six hospitals at Sunshine Coast University could be built each year. ”
From now on, the parliamentary committee will investigate a number of issues, such as the following:
- Adverse effects on consumers by using credit cards for online gambling;
- The extension of existing voluntary bans by Australian financial institutions;
- Existing forms of consumer protection;
- Regulatory structures in force in other jurisdictions.
Thus, the parliamentary committee has until July 30 to present its report.
Australian teams joined the campaign to encourage responsible betting
Recently, some sports teams in the country announced they were joining a responsible gambling campaign promoted by the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling.
Named ‘Reclaim the Game, Be Gamble Aware’ (‘Reclaim the game, be aware of the bet’ in free translation), the action focuses on supporting fans to follow matches without bet advertising.
The Sydney Swans, the club that disputes the Australian Football League (AFL), was one of the teams that supported the campaign, like Macarthur FC that joined the mobilization with the intention of promoting an active and healthy way of life among its fans.
