TLC requests exclusion from Australian credit gambling ban
The Lottery Corporation has recently submitted an appeal requesting to be excluded from the proposed credit card online gambling ban in Australia.
The submission was directed to the local parliament’s Committee on Environment and Communications, which was carrying out an inquiry into the recently introduced gambling legislation amendment bill. The bill in question has proposed outlawing the use of credit cards, both directly and through third-party payment solutions like wallets, for all forms of online gambling due to the financial risks the practice exposes gamblers to.
In its submission, the lottery operator showed its support of the proposal, however, in a form that would exempt lottery operators from the ban due to the relatively lower-risk nature of the pastime when compared to other forms of gambling and betting.
TLC mentioned the average weekly spending of lottery players on the pastime at 11.75 Australian dollars as evidence of the “recreational nature” of the lottery and cited its research that discovered that the most popular reason why their players enjoy the pastime is that “they’re a bit of fun”.
Additionally, the company also mentioned that it was able to generate tax revenue of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the 2023 financial year, along with over 600 million dollars in commissions to its network of distribution associates, which largely comprised of small businesses.