AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jamie Nettleton, Samuel Gauci and James Dommett, Addisons
Addisons Level 10 2 Park Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Tel: +61 289 151 000 Email: gambling@addisons.com Web: www.addisons.com
1. Introduction 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes Legislative and Regulatory Review The focus in 2025 has been the continuing review of the Australian gambling regulatory framework. This process commenced around seven years ago with the implementation of the National Consumer Protection Framework (NCPF) (for online wagering operators) and reviews of various aspects of the business con- ducted by leading casinos. This has seen the Australian gambling regulatory regime develop, implement and now ensure enhanced compliance with measures that centre around respon- sible gambling and the suitability of operators (includ- ing their ownership structure and the persons involved in the conduct of the gambling business), as well as address money laundering risks. Gambling regulators and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (“AUSTRAC”) (the Aus- tralian federal regulator responsible for ensuring com- pliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter- Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (the “AML/CTF Act”) and the corresponding Rules (the “AML/CTF Laws”) have been active in ensuring continued compliance with relevant laws (including recent amendments) forming part of the Australian gambling regulatory framework. The Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commis- sion (NTRWC) has been active in overseeing compli- ance with the Racing and Wagering Act 2024 (NT) and the Racing and Wagering Regulations 2024 (NT)
(together, the “NT Wagering Laws”, which came into effect on 1 July 2024). The NTRWC has published numerous decisions that were pending from com- plaints received under the previous regulatory frame- work. The NTRWC has updated licence conditions to reflect the changes to the NT Wagering Laws and its interpretation of the licence conditions. Prior to the federal general election held earlier this year in Australia, it was anticipated that the Australian federal government would set out its response to the recommendations of the report of the Federal Parlia- mentary Committee chaired by Ms Peta Murphy MP, entitled “You win some, you lose more”, relating to the online wagering sector (the “Murphy Inquiry”). The fed- eral government did not announce its response prior to the election; however, despite being re-elected, the federal government has not announced its response as at the date of writing, and it is anticipated that its response will be released shortly. Prior to the federal election and the release of the Mur- phy Inquiry’s report, there had been statements from officials of the federal government and media reports indicating that further restrictions on the advertising of online wagering services would be implemented. The enforcement actions taken by AUSTRAC against leading Australian casino operators following investi- gations into their compliance with the AML/CTF Laws concluded with significant penalties being imposed by the Federal Court of Australia – AUD450 million for Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth, and AUD67 million for SkyCity. The last of these cases, against
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