MEDIA RELEASE: Responsible Wagering Australia, (RWA) the peak body representing Australia’s online wagering industry welcomes the passage of the Interactive Gambling Act Amendment (National Self-exclusion Register) 2019 through the Federal Parliament today.

“This legislation enables the establishment of a National Self-Exclusion Register for online wagering in Australia, allowing problem gamblers to effectively exclude themselves from wagering with all Australian-licensed online wagering service providers, “ said Stephen Conroy, Executive Director, Responsible Wagering Australia.

“RWA’s Members already offer world-leading responsible gambling tools and protections for consumers, including the ability to Self-Exclude on an individual operator basis and other effective measures such as shortterm time outs, deposit limits and detailed activity history.

“The most recent independent academic research has found that online wagering has the least likelihood of harm developing of any form of gambling with other forms of gambling almost always being the original source of gambling problems when they do occur.

“This important legislation, passed with the strong support of industry, will help cement the position of online wagering in Australia as the world leader in responsible gambling and provide an important further safeguard to the small proportion of problem gamblers in the Australian population.

“RWA has been amongst the most prominent supporters of the National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering and we congratulate the Morrison Government for securing the passage of its landmark element, the National Self-Exclusion Register. RWA and its Members look forward to assisting the Government to roll the Register out as soon as possible,” said Mr Conroy.