Jamie Nettleton Gaming Guru

A Closer Look at Tasmania's Betting Exchange Law

To say that the decision to grant Britain's leading online betting business a license to operate in Tasmania has been a contentious one in Australia’s sports betting circles would be an understatement.

The racing industry and other state governments maintain that making a betting exchange a legal form of gambling will only encourage skullduggery--if punters are able to bet on a horse to lose, it is argued, it would increase opportunities for races to be fixed.

Tasmania's Gaming Control Act did not contemplate readily the operation of a licensed betting exchange.

Despite vehement resistance, the government of Tasmania has announced its intention to allow Betfair to operate legally in Tasmania. There have been media reports that the Tasmanian Parliament has now passed the Gaming Control Amendment (Betting Exchange) Bill to make provision for the licensing and operation of betting exchanges. The bill is likely to become law soon, possibly by the end of this year.

A summary of the amendments to the act proposed by the bill is set out below. . . .

Click here to view the full report, "Tasmania - Laws to Regulate Betting Exchanges - Overview," authored by Jamie Nettleton and Kate Erman of Addisons Lawyers.