Australian online gambling operator Betchoice, trading as Unibet in the country, has been ordered to pay Aus$25,000 (£13,052/€15,372/US$17,115) in fines and costs for illegally offering gambling inducements to consumers in New South Wales.
Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court issued the penalty after a Liquor & Gaming NSW investigation found that Unibet had been running certain promotions on its website in the state.
One advert in February 2019 stated “Earn $50 CASH For Each Friend You Refer!”, while another advert on The Canberra Times website in November 2018 ran an offer of “Deposit $20, Bet with $100”.
The NSW Betting and Racing Act makes it an offence to publish a gambling ad that “includes any inducement to participate, or participate frequently, in any gambling activity (including an inducement to open a betting account)”. The maximum fine for such an offence is $110,000.
Such promotions can only be offered to registered betting account holders in the state. However, it was determined that as anyone who visited either the Unibet or newspaper website would have been able to see the adverts without having to log on to a Betchoice account, the operator was in breach of state law
“Betting operators have an obligation to ensure that all advertising complies with NSW laws on gambling advertising,” Liquor & Gaming NSW director of compliance operations Sean Goodchild said. “Inducements are known to increase the risk of gambling harm so any breaches are taken seriously.”
Unibet has faced similar punishment in New South Wales before, being fined $7,500 and ordered to pay $5,000 in professional costs for running an ad on its website offering a credit and reward as an inducement in August 2015.
The latest fine comes after the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling last month set out details of a new funding opportunity for PhD scholarships, post-doctoral fellowships and study grants to build capability and capacity in gambling research.
Using money from the Australian state’s Responsible Gambling Fund, the grants will be used to help improve the quality, diversity and impact of gambling research in communities across Australia.
Also last month, a new study by the Australian state’s government revealed that the percentage of adults in New South Wales who gamble has dropped by 12% since 2011. The NSW Gambling Survey 2019 found 53% of the adult population gambled over the past 12 months – down from 65% in 2011.
