Australia Introduces Law to Ban Credit Cards for Gambling

The government of Australia announced today that they've introduced a bill that would ban the use of credit cards and other credit-related products by gamblers to deposit to online betting accounts.

The bill is known as the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023 and would bring Australia's online gambling industry in line with the land betting industry, which already prohibits such deposits. The bill would also give the Australian Communications and Media Authority the ability to enforce any new rules that pass through.

Of note is the possibility of operators facing stiff fines of $234,750 AUD for not adhering to the rules. There will be a six-month grace period after the bill is signed into law for operators to drop credit card deposits before fines will be imposed.

This is the latest attempt to alter the gambling laws related to credit cards in the country, as former consultations and recommendations were made in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Australia has also worked to limit gambling-related harms in other ways, including monthly statements that give wins and loss totals, as well as introducing a new self-exclusion registry, and advertising taglines that are shown to be more effective.

Regarding the bill, Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services said, "You can't use your credit card to place a bet for land-based gambling and the same rules should apply for online gambling too. We're serious about protecting vulnerable Australians from the harm we know online gambling can cause. Any platform breaching the new rules will face penalties.

"We know minimizing the harm caused by online gambling is not a set-and-forget exercise and I look forward to working with my state and territory counterparts on what comes next to continue this positive change."

Casino Listings News is following the bill's progress and will update readers as appropriate.