Today's bill, the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Lottery Betting) Bill 2018, enables me to place on record the issue around synthetic lotteries. As I was saying in my earlier remarks, this only allows customers to bet on the outcome of a lottery draw without the need to purchase a ticket in the official lottery draw. Unlike official lottery draws, ticket sales do not cover major payouts. Instead, these are covered by insurance policies. A contingency would include the drawing of a particular number in a particular position or in a particular sequence.
We know that in recent times, on a state and territory level, governments have been clamping down on synthetic lotteries. These include the Northern Territory government, who introduced a prohibition on betting on the outcome of Australian lotteries. This was a welcome step, but it has not gone far enough to address some of the raised concerns. Elsewhere, South Australia does not permit lottery betting services, and it appears that this has been effective in stopping these services being provided to SA residents. The Tasmanian, Victorian, New South Wales and Western Australian governments are considering similar steps.
It's clear from these overwhelming movements by the states and territories that prohibiting lottery betting services is the right thing to do. But it's the Commonwealth that has responsibility for online gambling matters and is best placed to implement a national position in relation to lottery betting services in Australia. This would be consistent with the National Consumer Protection Framework and the new credit betting prohibition in the Interactive Gambling Act that came into effect earlier this year. The act is intended to minimise the scope of problem gambling in Australia.
Lottery draws are permitted under the IGA, as there have traditionally only been a small number of draws conducted, with some seven draws conducted across the week, typically with a day's break in between. However, lottery betting services have now allowed consumers to bet on the outcome of up to 25 lottery draws being conducted around the world each week, with the promise of massive jackpots ranging up to hundreds of millions of dollars, which could lead to problem and at-risk gambling.
Further to this, the growing disruption to traditional lotto betting services is having an increased negative impact, as we've heard in the debate today, on newsagencies and other small businesses across Australia. They rely on the commissions from the sales of official lottery tickets. Over $350 million is earnt by some 4,000 newsagencies and official lottery agents across Australia. These businesses rely on this commission to earn an income and cover the costs of running a business, which include employing thousands of staff across the country. The concern is that synthetic lottery services entice customers away from these businesses with the promise of substantially higher jackpot amounts compared to those prizes that can be offered under the official lottery draw. What results is job losses and newsagents closing their doors.
This enables me to put on record the great work of our local small business newsagents. I know that for each and every one of us, when we move around the community, often newsagents are the lifeblood and the heartbeat of local strip malls and shopping centres. They are sometimes run by local family businesses and they form a real, integral part of the local small business network.
I am also pleased to see bipartisanship on this matter, as we know just how much problem gambling we are seeing as an impact on Australian families. It's estimated that 200,000 Australians have a high-level problem with gambling, while up to twice as many more have difficulties at a lower level. There's a ripple effect where corrosive habits can impinge on friends and family. According to problem gambling experts and people from Monash University in Melbourne, we know that the numbers extend to the 650,000 Australian account holders who can gamble all too easily through their mobile phones and on synthetic lotteries like Lottoland.
In closing, I'd like to quote Tim Costello from the Alliance for Gambling Reform, who said:
Just like the way online poker companies such as Pokerstars exited the Australian market after new federal legislation last year, Lottoland should do likewise rather than further deluging Australians with more gambling messages attempting to grow the dangerous online segment.
I particularly commend the shadow minister for communications, the member for Greenway, on her leadership on this issue, which will extend to give greater protections to businesses, consumers and all Australians from falling into the trap of problem gambling.
