Federal Government rolls out gambling self-exclusion register today
The federal government's "bet stop" register launches today, allowing gamblers to block wagering service providers. It's the tenth and final measure recommended by the national consumer protection framework for online wagering, but groups like Financial Counselling Australia say it's some way short of what's needed. Its Policy and Campaigns Director Lauren Levin says it gives gamblers a sense of control.
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TVTranscript
00:00 We've been going for eight years since we first brought up this idea.
00:06 And it means that people can take control.
00:08 That if they've had enough of gambling, if it's worrying them, if their spouse is upset
00:14 with what's happening in their family, they can go press pause, they can choose their
00:19 period, say, "OK, I'm going to do three months."
00:22 Or some people say, "Gambling's just done so much harm, I'm ready, I never want to see
00:27 it again," and they can choose the forever button.
00:31 And what it means is that it stops the advertising, which is really, really important.
00:39 And it means that the gambling companies can't let them gamble.
00:43 If they go on and try, they won't be able to do it.
00:46 And it just gives people some breathing space.
00:49 We had a big inquiry that had its report a couple of months ago, and they came out saying
00:54 that we should ban all ads.
00:57 I recently went to Europe and I spoke to gambling regulators in eight countries, and they are
01:02 just way ahead of us.
01:04 Belgium has banned all ads, all inducements.
01:07 They've even banned marketing of gambling companies, sending those annoying texts to
01:13 people who are signed up.
01:14 We've got to be more ambitious, and we've got to have a national strategy.
01:18 We've got to have a minister who lives and breathes gambling policy.
01:22 And I really think we've got to defeat the self-talk that says, "Oh, it's just all too
01:26 hard and gambling's ingrained."
01:28 And all these other countries have had gambling for hundreds of years.
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