AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sven Burchartz and Jessica Bell, Kalus Kenny Intelex
to offer designated sports betting services and receive a financial benefit in exchange. This also allows those SCBs to share information with betting operators – for example, in order to protect and support integrity in their sport. The intention of such a framework is to promote confidence in Austral - ian sports and any associated betting activities. 1.4 Disciplinary Framework Each of the major sporting codes in Australia has developed and implemented its own integrity unit, tribunal or similar body to manage disciplinary pro - ceedings against athletes. The steps taken by each of those bodies in respect of investigating and penalis - ing doping, integrity, betting and other offences differ among the codes. By way of example, Rugby Australia has implemented a mandatory reporting scheme under which “partici - pants” in rugby (including players, coaches, manag - ers, and agents) are required to immediately report any breaches of its Anti-Corruption and Betting Policy to an appointed Integrity Officer. That Integrity Officer is then empowered to investigate the breach, issue a written breach notice to the relevant participant and, if requested, establish an integrity tribunal to conduct a hearing in relation to the alleged breach. One of the most notable sports-related commercial rights to be exploited in Australia relates to ticketing. The Australian ticket market is significant and com - prises both primary and secondary markets. The term “primary ticket sales” refers to a situation where tickets are first sold by an official ticket seller, whereas the term “secondary market” refers to a situ - ation where those primary tickets are resold. The Secondary Ticketing Market The secondary market for tickets in Australia com - prises two main components, as follows: 2. Commercial Rights 2.1 Sports-Related Rights Ticketing Rights
• authorised on-selling, whereby sporting bodies, such as Tennis Australia or the AFL, authorise other entities, such as travel companies, to purchase tickets to a sporting event and on-sell them to their customers; and • ticket scalping, whereby ticket scalpers resell tick - ets at an elevated price. Scalping There is no federal legislation making scalping ille - gal in Australia. Instead, ticket resale for sporting and entertainment events is regulated by various consum - er protections under the Australian Consumer Law and state/territory-specific legislation, which set out the manner and terms on which tickets can be resold and may impose restrictions or even prohibitions on scalping in that jurisdiction. By way of example, in Victoria in 2022, amendments to the Major Events Act 2009 made it an offence to advertise or sell a ticket package to a declared event without the written authorisation of the seller. The amendments also require that resellers of all tickets to declared major events now state the face value, the asking price and the seat details of tickets in sale advertisements. Merchandising and Hospitality Beyond ticketing, clubs, teams, event organisers and governing bodies commonly monetise their intellectu - al property through merchandising and premium hos - pitality. Intellectual property (including names, logos and colours) is licensed for use on apparel, equipment and memorabilia, with rights protected through trade mark law and contractual arrangements. Premium hospitality packages, such as corporate boxes, VIP seating and exclusive access, are typically managed centrally and licensed to authorised providers under strict conditions to preserve exclusivity and prevent unauthorised resale. 2.2 Sponsorship Terms In Australia, many sports sponsors use their sponsor - ship rights as a marketing tool. Sponsors generally leverage the platform that a sports rights-holder can offer in order to increase public awareness of their brand and, in turn, the value of their business. The affiliation with a sports rights-holder can, in certain cir -
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