Tasmania looks to ban lottery betting

Tasmanian Government will rapidly write new legislation in order to ban lottery betting on the island.

The Australian territory of Tasmania has joined New South Wales and Western Australia in the race to outlaw lottery betting sites, whilst South Australia has already taken the required action to do so.

Roger Jaesnch, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, said: "It could prove difficult to control on a state level, but South Australia has done it. We will start technical and legal work straight away. There is a difference between buying a ticket in the lottery and online gambling where consumer protections do not apply. This form of product is not welcome here."

Disapproval for lottery betting predominately stems from small business owners and retailers who currently stock the traditional national lottery games. The belief is that shop revenues are being affected.

Ben Kearney, Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association Tasmanian General Manager, said: "We can certainly find solutions and I applaud the Government's decisive actions."

However, it would seem that critics of such sites are not supported by either gambling commissions or lottery sales figures.

Lottoland CEO, Nigel Birrell, debunked many of these myths stating: “There is no evidence to support the claim that we are having a significant impact on sales in either Europe or Australia. For example, in Australia, Lottoland accounts for less than 1% of Tatts' overall revenue. In the United Kingdom, both the Government (DCMS) and the Gambling Commission have both publically stated that there is no evidence to suggest that Lottoland is having an impact on the National Lottery or Good Causes - our sales account for less than 0.1% of Camelot’s revenues.”

Despite the lack of evidence to support the claims of Jaesnch and Kearney, there is no denying that the Australian government is in a period of review and prohibition when it comes to the gambling industry. It would appear that lottery betting is at risk of being banned across Australia, much like the nation's recent removal of online poker.