CLUBS should be the sole operator of online casino games if they are
legalised, with the community-benefit model of pokies revenue flowing to
local clubs to be applied, the pokies lobby says.
Online casino games, including poker, are at present illegal,
but a recent interim review of interactive gambling laws recommends a
liberalisation of online gambling, with online poker hosted by
Australian companies to be trialled over five years. Other casino-style
games would remain banned.
Conservative estimates show at least 130,000 are playing online poker on overseas websites despite the current law.
Clubs Australia - the group that spearheaded the campaign
against mandatory precommitment on pokies machines - says prohibition is
failing, with Australians estimated to spend $1 billion on illegal
overseas gambling websites every year.
Modelling for the group shows that over the next decade local punters
are expected to spend more than $17.9 billion on these sites.
In a submission to the review, Clubs Australia says that
should casino games be allowed, clubs should be the sole operator
because they are best placed to provide effective harm minimisation.
''Such a model would at the least feature existing club
gambling policies such as a ban on credit card betting, a ban on
inducements to gamble and a ban on advertising to non-club members.''
''A locally based, club operated online gaming model would
provide Australians a legitimate avenue for consumers to exercise their
gambling preferences, and engage in an enjoyable activity within a safe
and regulated environment.''
There is also an economic argument for legal online sites,
with Clubs Australia's modelling estimating the government could make
$4.7 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years, with club-operated
gaming to generate $34 million in community funding over five years.
A major argument against proposed pokies reform last year was
the damage mandatory precommitment would do to funding of local sports
clubs, which receive money from pokies revenues.
''Unlike gambling in a licensed venue where gambling occurs
in a social context and under the supervision of trained staff, online
gambling takes place in social isolation without any supervision,'' the
submissions says.
Clubs Australia executive director Anthony Ball made it clear
that the group was not lobbying to allow casino-style gambling online.
''However, we strongly believe that if the federal and state
governments choose to go down that path, then the safest way is through a
club-based, not-for profit-model.''
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