Aussie Gambling Regulator Faces Allegations of Unscrupulous Practices

Gambling laws in Australia are complex, with no single overarching statute regulating gambling activities or a single central gaming authority. Instead, gambling down under is regulated at the state, territory and federal level.

The Northern Territory (NT) is the home of Australia’s $50 billion online gambling industry, with 43 betting firms based in the jurisdiction in order to benefit from its low taxes.

This effectively means the NT Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC) is responsible for overseeing these companies and acts as the de facto online gambling regulator for the industry nationwide.

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Concerning Industry Connections

Australia’s Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission is facing mounting criticism amid allegations that it is too close to the very gambling industry it regulates. The Darwin-based regulatory body licenses more than 40 top online bookmakers, including sites like Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and Bet365.

Incredibly, the authority oversees an annual turnover of AU$50 billion, but has no full-time staff and meets only once a month. In addition, it last published an annual report in 1993. Consumer advocates have accused the commission of having conflicts of interest, stating that several commissioners have owned racehorses or have ties to the betting sector.

The chairman, Alastair Shields, admitted that he had accepted hospitality from bookmakers and held a personal Sportsbet account, which is unremarkable on the surface as such practices are not explicitly illegal, but would have at one time disqualified him from serving on the body.

 Widespread Conflict of Interest

Six of the past ten commissioners have owned or co-owned racehorses, including Amy Corcoran, who divulged that her husband shared ownership of a horse with Matt Tripp, one of Australia’s most prominent betting company execs. Corcoran now works for a bookmaker she once helped regulate.

Critics contend that such conflicts have forged a regulator that is simply too close to the companies it is supposed to monitor, raising speculation about fairness and transparency, with two-thirds of the NTRWC’s decisions since 2017 clearing operators of wrongdoing.

Astoundingly, the commission has never revoked or even suspended a bookmaker’s licence, with one official, Phil Timney, describing the authority as the industry’s “regulator of choice” and boasting that it had “never cancelled a licence” and was “open for business.”

Too Cosy for Comfort

Consumer advocates have charged that the ‘cosy relationship’ that exists between the regulator and the industry they are meant to oversee leaves Australian gamblers vulnerable, with one prominent gambling reform campaigner, Lauren Levin, inquiring:

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“How do you regulate a country with the world’s highest per-capita gambling losses without a single full-time staff member?”

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie made his feelings known, slamming the regulator, calling the body “as useless as a chocolate teapot.”

 All Credibility Destroyed

The commission’s tattered credibility is also due to its record of inaction, as much as its questionable practices and blatant conflicts of interest.

Complaints can take years to resolve, and many investigations have been quietly dropped, so it is hardly surprising that such a permissive regulatory environment has drawn Australia’s major industry players with its lax jurisdiction and tax incentives.

A federal parliamentary inquiry in 2023 touted sweeping reforms, including the establishment of a national gambling regulator and a dedicated ombudsman to handle consumer affairs, but two years down the line, there has been no response from the Albanese government.

For the sake of the industry, and especially on behalf of all Australians wagering their hard-earned money, we can only hope that the growing controversy surrounding the NTRWC’s questionable practices, perpetual inaction, and nonchalant administration sparks meaningful change.