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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2821 ..

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I certainly am aware, as I think all Ministers are around Australia, that Internet gambling is a reality worldwide. It is not something you can address at an ACT level. It obviously does have to be addressed nationally. Mr Speaker, a paper was put together a couple of months ago by the respective Ministers nationally to look at addressing this problem. The paper is being made available right now to the public in the ACT for information and comment. I would be very happy to provide members of the Assembly, if I have not done so already - - -

Mr Moore: I think you have. That is what I am referring to.

MRS CARNELL: Okay; that is good. It is a draft concerning the regulatory model for interactive home-based gambling products. What we are trying to do nationally is create a situation where products can be licensed. We are not suggesting for a moment that that will stop unlicensed products being available on the Internet. It will not. That is simply one of those problems with the Internet. Having licensed products on the Internet, ones that have been through the appropriate processes, will be a way of providing revenue to the States and Territories from the gambling that is taking place. Most importantly, people who use Internet gambling services may be confident that the entity they are dealing with is reputable and has appropriate bona fides. That is the approach that we are trying to take nationally.

We are also ensuring that registered Internet providers provide services only to people who are over the age of 18. We are also looking at provisions to address problem gambling and also the banning of credit gambling. But, again, all of those things will be able to be put in place only with registered outlets. Then we will have to make sure that the community generally is aware that if they have dealings with an Internet gambling outlet that is not registered they have no comeback at all if the outlet does not pay up or does not do what it said it would do.

MR MOORE: I have a supplementary question. So it is a licensing system, not a regulating system as you have been claiming. How do you intend to deal with under-age gambling, when all that anybody needs is a credit card to access any one of a wide range of gambling possibilities like the example I quoted?

MRS CARNELL: Again, I fully agree, and I think everybody does, that this is a very real problem. As you have seen from the paper that was put out, it is one of the issues that are being addressed as part of this approach. There is no way that Australia can stop people accessing Internet sites around the world. We all know that that simply is not possible. Gambling is not illegal around the world and on that basis you cannot exclude it as you can some illegal activities. People who are under the age of 18 will be considered as part of the whole approach. After an appropriate consultation period with appropriate people, I hope there will be a strict State-based licensing and inspection system. We will make sure that the people who do have licences have undertaken to comply with particular rules and regulations. It is not an easy area, Mr Moore. I think it is appropriate that relevant Ministers from States and Territories are taking this issue very seriously.

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