Clubs Australia and online gambling

At present there are, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of Australians playing online casino games on overseas based online gambling sites.  These people are estimated to be spending around $1 billion annually, and with numbers constantly on the increase it is likely that nearly $8 billion will be spent over the next ten years.

With some talk of there being a possibility of online casino games being legalised sometime in the future, Clubs Australia advocate that clubs should be the operators of online casino games.  They claim that the clubs would be in the best position to make sure that any potential harm would be kept to a minimum.

Their feelings are that they already have a tried and tested model in place, and such things as banning the use of credit cards for gambling and advertising restrictions could be carried over to online casino games. Punters could take part in such gambling activities in the comfort of their local club and within a safe environment.

One of the main arguments for the legalisation of online gambling sites is that the government would be likely to benefit from nearly $4 billion in tax revenue in the next decade, and clubs would benefit to the sum of $34 million which would find its way into struggling local community projects and sports.

However, the only online casino game that is likely to see any relaxation in rules in the near future is online poker, with a five year trial expected to start running in the near future.

Overseas online casinos are unlikely to see any drop in Australian customers any time soon.  Unless the government does something to regulate the online gambling market they will continue to lose huge amounts of tax revenue which could be put to use in any number of ways, including tackling problem gambling.