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The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) represents the Australian Government's response to community concerns about the availability and accessibility of gambling in Australia. An overview of the development of the Government's position on interactive gambling and the IGA is provided below.

Productivity Commission report and Prime Minister's announcement

On 16 December 1999, the Prime Minister released a report by the Productivity Commission entitled Australia's Gambling Industries. A key finding of the report was that the availability of gambling services on the Internet represents a 'quantum leap' in the accessibility of gambling, and has the potential to exacerbate problem gambling.

Ministerial Council on Gambling and moratorium

The first meeting of the Ministerial Council on Gambling took place on 19 April 2000 and was co-chaired by Senator Jocelyn Newman, then Minister for Family and Community Services, and Senator Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. At this meeting, the Commonwealth called on States and Territories to join it in a voluntary 12-month moratorium on new interactive gambling services. The purpose of the moratorium would be to pause the development of the industry while an investigation of the feasibility and consequences of a permanent ban took place. With the exception of New South Wales and Western Australia, the States and Territories refused.

On 19 May 2000, Ministers Newman and Alston announced that the Government would pursue legislation to impose a 12-month moratorium on new interactive gambling services in Australia, with effect from that date.

In the meantime, the former Senate Select Committee on Information Technologies had conducted an inquiry into online gambling in Australia. The Committee's report, Netbets: a review of online gambling in Australia, was released on 16 March 2000.

Interactive Gambling (Moratorium) Act 2000

The Interactive Gambling (Moratorium) Bill 2000 was introduced in the Senate on 17 August 2000 and referred to the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee. The Committee released its report on 4 September 2000. The Bill was subsequently not supported by a majority of Senators on 9 October 2000. The Hansard of Senate debate is available.

The Government recommitted the Bill at the committee stage in the Senate on 5 December 2000 and moved an amendment to exempt online wagering. The Bill was passed by the Senate, as reported to the media and was subsequently passed by the House of Representatives on 7 December 2000.

The Interactive Gambling (Moratorium) Act 2000 (File size: 76Kb) imposed a moratorium on new interactive gambling services from 19 May 2000 to 18 May 2001.

Report on the feasibility and consequences of a ban

During the moratorium period, the National Office for the Information Economy conducted the study into the feasibility and consequences of banning interactive gambling (236KB PDF Format)

It also tendered for consultancies on the economic impacts and the technical feasibility of a ban, and incorporated material from a survey commissioned by the Department of Family and Community Services. Econtech's economic report, The Benefits and Costs of Banning Interactive Gambling (94KB PDF Format) and Comtech's technical report, Options and Impacts of Banning Interactive Gambling Content (585KB PDF Format) are available, as is the survey report, The Impact of Banning Interactive Gambling Services: A Survey of Australian Residents (270KB PDF Format). All documents are in PDF format.

Senator Alston released the final NOIE report (PDF) on 27 March 2001 and announced the Government's intention to pursue a permanent ban on interactive gambling.

Interactive Gambling Act 2001

On 5 April 2001, the Government introduced the Interactive Gambling Bill 2001 into the Senate. The Bill was referred to the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee, which reported on 23 May 2001. The Committee also published submissions to the inquiry.

In the Senate on 28 June 2001, the Government moved a package of amendments, including exemptions for most types of wagering and lotteries, gaming services provided in a public place, an extension of the prohibition to offshore interactive gambling service providers, and an advertising ban. The Bill was passed the same day by the Senate, and subsequently the House of Representatives and received Royal Assent on 11 July 2001.

The Act can be accessed through the Comlaw website and the explanatory memorandum is available as a PDF document (206KB).

• Document ID: 9161 |
• Last modified: 6 February 2008, 2:22pm