NT Bill Would Cap Deposits, Ban Betting Inducements
Independent Northern Territory MLA Justine Davis will introduce a private member's bill to the NT parliament on October 14 that would impose monthly deposit caps, a ban on gambling inducements and sharply higher penalties on the online bookmakers licensed in the Territory, according to Davis' own published consultation draft and an ABC News report on October 8.
The Northern Territory acts as Australia's de facto national gambling regulator because more than 50 online bookmakers, including some of the country's largest, are licensed there for tax reasons rather than because most of their customers live in the Territory.
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Deposit caps, an inducement ban and a tenfold penalty rise
Davis' Racing and Wagering Amendment (Harm Prevention) Bill would cap monthly deposits at AU$500 for customers aged 18 to 21 and AU$1,000 for those aged 22 to 24, give operators a positive legal duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent customer harm, and raise the maximum disciplinary penalty for breaches from AU$194,000 to AU$10 million or 10% of annual revenue, whichever is greater, she said on her own campaign site.
The bill would also ban gambling inducements such as free bets, bonus bets and VIP treatment, make harm prevention an explicit purpose of Territory gambling law, and tighten conflict-of-interest rules for the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission, the body that licenses and oversees the bookmakers.
Davis says federal reform did not go far enough
"The Northern Territory has a particular responsibility to act. Because so many of Australia's biggest online gambling companies are based here, the NT's weak laws cause harm right across the country," Davis said, as quoted by ABC News.
Davis has argued that the federal government's own gambling reform package, passed by parliament in August, did not go far enough because it stopped short of creating a national regulator recommended by the 2023 Murphy inquiry into online gambling harms.
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby told ABC News the Country Liberal Party government would consider "sensible proposals" on their merits.
Davis' bill will need support from both the CLP government and the Labor opposition to pass; Labor is likely to refer it to the NT Legislative Scrutiny Committee for review before deciding whether to back it, a step that would delay any vote.
A regulator already under pressure
The push follows years of scrutiny of the NT Racing and Wagering Commission's capacity to regulate dozens of major operators with no full-time staff.
Attorney-General Boothby's own amendment bill, assented to in June, had already stripped the Commission of its racing and greyhound-industry functions and barred commissioners from holding betting accounts or owning racehorses, after an earlier ABC Four Corners investigation into the regulator's conflicts of interest.
Brands such as Bet365 and Ladbrokes are among the NT-licensed operators that would fall under the tighter rules if the bill passes, alongside the rest of the Territory's licensed sportsbooks.
