{"id":379243,"date":"2025-12-29T23:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/379243\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T23:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:59:10","slug":"sportsbet-fined-313000-by-nt-racing-and-wagering-commission-for-systemic-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/379243\/","title":{"rendered":"Sportsbet fined $313,000 by NT Racing and Wagering Commission for ‘systemic failure’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s largest online bookmaker Sportsbet has been fined more than $313,000 for failing to protect thousands of customers from potential gambling harm.<\/p>\n

The company was found to have breached its licence conditions by failing to provide 6,131 customers with “activity statements” over an 18-month period between 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n

The monthly statements from online bookmakers to customers are mandatory, to provide sports betting customers with a detailed breakdown of their gambling habits.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s de facto online gambling regulator, the NT Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC), fined the company $313,140 for the breaches, which it described in its decision notice last month as “appropriate and proportionate”.<\/p>\n

\"Side<\/p>\n

Under industry regulations, online bookmakers are required to provide sports betting customers with a detailed breakdown of their gambling habits. (Getty: svetikd)<\/p>\n

The NTRWC said Sportsbet\u2019s breaches represented “a distinct and recurring failure to comply with a core consumer protection requirement”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ongoing nature of the contraventions demonstrates a systemic failure in the licensee\u2019s governance and assurance framework,\u201d the decision reads.<\/p>\n

The NTRWC said the penalty reflected “the seriousness of the conduct”, which it found had led to a “heightened potential for consumer harm”.<\/p>\n

Sportsbet blamed “several technical issues” on its failure to produce 51,525 statements in total and told the commission it “regrets the incident” and “sincerely apologises” to affected customers.<\/p>\n

The NTRWC also found Sportsbet did not report the breaches until five months after it had investigated its internal technical problems, which the commission said “reduc[ed] transparency and limit[ed] the commission\u2019s ability to assess the issue in real time”.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Alastair Shields says the NTRWC “will continue to take firm enforcement action to ensure compliance”. (ABC News: Pete Garnish\u00a0)<\/p>\n

In a statement on Monday, NTRWC chair Alastair Shields said the “assessment of multiple breaches has resulted in a substantial total fine, underscoring the seriousness of the non-compliance and the commission\u2019s response to it”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The commission will continue to take firm enforcement action to ensure compliance and promote a safer wagering environment,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Shields said the commission had not been notified of any legal challenge to its decision.<\/p>\n

‘A slap on the wrist’<\/p>\n

Head of Monash University\u2019s Gambling and Social Determinants Unit, Charles Livingstone, said while Sportsbet\u2019s breach was “fairly serious”, the fine amounted “at best, to a slap on the wrist” for the company.<\/p>\n

“A fine of $313,000 is certainly big for the NT regulator, but for Sportsbet it’s virtually nothing, given they generate literally billions in revenue every year,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a very modest amount.”<\/p>\n

In 2024 the NT parliament brought in new maximum penalties available to the NTRWC, lifting them from $27,450 to $472,500.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charles Livingstone says a $313,000 fine is “virtually nothing” for a company the size of Sportsbet. (ABC News: William Howard)<\/p>\n

But a Four Corners investigation earlier this year<\/a> found that because of lengthy delays at the commission, recent decisions had been made under the old legislation, meaning fines remained low, and it had never cancelled or suspended a bookmaker’s licence due to disciplinary action.<\/p>\n

Professor Livingstone said the Sportsbet fine showed the NTRWC was trying to “demonstrate a commitment” to being a robust regulator.<\/p>\n

“However, I’m unpersuaded,” he said.<\/p>\n

Landmark case to recover gambled stolen millions<\/a><\/p>\n

A landmark legal case against three of Australia’s biggest online betting agencies has been filed in the Federal Court, aimed at recovering millions of dollars’ worth of stolen money that was gambled away and kept by corporate bookmakers.<\/p>\n

“If the commission wants to demonstrate effectiveness it needs to be properly resourced, undertake active investigations, and be prepared to suspend or cancel licences.<\/p>\n

“Until those changes occur, it remains wide open to accusations of being ineffective and a jurisdiction of convenience.”<\/p>\n

Mr Shields said Sportsbet’s breaches “occurred while the now repealed Racing and Betting Act 1983 was in force” meaning the company was fined under the old system.<\/p>\n

“The range of penalties available to the commission under the Racing and Wagering Act 2024 includes considerably higher fines,” he said.<\/p>\n

Sportsbet did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s largest online bookmaker Sportsbet has been fined more than $313,000 for failing to protect thousands of customers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[204223,204226,64,63,615,139617,139616,12459,99,204225,6012,8036,30917,36987,14839,21944,99203,204227,9959,25213,44068,204224,8867,1098,204219,204228,204220,47796,204221,28390,204222,143552],"class_list":["post-379243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-activity-statements","tag-alastair-sheilds","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-betting","tag-bookie","tag-bookmaker","tag-breach","tag-business","tag-charles-livingstone","tag-commission","tag-consumer-protection","tag-enforcement","tag-fine","tag-four-corners","tag-gambling","tag-harm","tag-ineffective","tag-law","tag-legislation","tag-licence","tag-monash","tag-northern-territory","tag-nt","tag-ntrwc","tag-penalties","tag-racing-and-wagering","tag-regulator","tag-sports-bet","tag-sportsbet","tag-systemic-failure","tag-technical-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}