Emails have raised questions about ACMA’s independence in responding to offshore gambling advertising.
Australia.- The communications and media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has come under scrutiny over its probe of an unlicensed offshore gambling operator’s sponsorship of Northern Territory Cricket (NTC).
Australian media have obtained documents under freedom of information laws revealing that, an ACMA senior media advisor contacted NTC after receiving a journalist’s inquiry into sponsorship of the 2023 Top End T20 Series by the bookmaker Dafabet. The advisor enquired “if it might be worth discussing our approaches to make sure we are on the same page.”
In a subsequent email, the advisor added that coordinating responses would help avoid “the risk of everyone looking silly if we contradict each other.”
ACMA later told the journalist that it had “contacted NT Cricket to let them know about the advertising prohibitions in the Interactive Gambling Act,” but that no formal investigation was underway.
The case has revived criticism from consumer and gambling policy advocates. Lauren Levin, director of the Gambling Policy Hub, said the correspondence suggested the watchdog was reluctant to enforce its powers. “Looking silly is the least of ACMA’s problems. Being an inconsequential regulator is far worse,” she said.
ACMA has rejected claims that it is too close to the industry. A spokesperson said its actions are “designed to stop unlawful conduct, deter future breaches and protect consumers from harm”. It said that “NT Cricket was not under investigation by the ACMA at the time of media enquiry” and that the regulator’s response “was not changed in any way” by its interactions with the cricket body.
Emails have raised questions about ACMA’s independence in responding to offshore gambling advertising. Australia.- The communications and media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has come under scrutiny…
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