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2022-2023-2024-2025
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
and
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of
Rebekha Sharkie MP
Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
OUTLINE
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
aims to lessen problematic online gambling among Australians by ensuring that users of
regulated interactive gambling services are aware of the information contained in their
account activity statements (their net position of wins and losses) by placing this
information in front of a user at all times during wagering activity on online applications and
websites.
In order to provide for a smooth transition for operators and customers, a six-month
implementation period is proposed to allow for the implementation of changes to systems
and processes. This period will also allow for engagement to occur with operators, peak
bodies and advocates for reducing gambling harm including in relation to the development
of any regulations to specify the activity statement information that is to be displayed to all
users at all times during wagering activity.
Since mid-2022, licensed interactive wagering service providers have been required to
provide an activity statement each month to their customers, comprising information such
as the amount spent, bets placed, wins and losses, overall net win/loss for the period and
figures illustrating wagering activity comparing the amount spent against net result over
time. In addition, a record of betting account transactions must also be available at all
times via a customer's 'My Account' window for online wagering customers. However, this
information is not presently required to be displayed to a customer during wagering
meaning they must actively seek it out.
Schedule 1 of the Bill addresses this by requiring the operator of a licensed interactive
wagering service to prominently display real time activity statement information on an
online gambling application or website at all times during use of the service. A note
clarifies that an operator could, for example, meet this requirement by displaying the
required information via a banner (minimum 10 point font size) at the top of the screen of
the app or website during wagering.
For the purposes of this requirement, is intended to prescribe by regulation the activity
statement information which shows the user's net win/loss position:
• Since the commencement of the provision
• During the current calendar year to date, and
• During the current month to date.
The Bill creates a criminal offence and corresponding civil penalty provision if a person
intentionally provides a licensed interactive wagering service to a customer in Australia
without displaying their real time activity statement information as required. For each day a
contravention continues, a separate offence is committed. There is an exception to the
offence if the operator can demonstrate that they took reasonable precautions and
exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention, the evidential burden of proving which
exception is upon the defendant given they are likely in the best position to do so.
The Bill will ensure operators must provide users with meaningful, timely and user-friendly
information at all times on a licensed interactive wagering service about their activity
including how much money they have lost with that service, in order to support them to
make informed decisions about their future wagering.
In order to minimise regulatory impact on interactive wagering service providers, the
provisions are aligned with information that has been required to be made available
through BETA monthly activity statements since mid-2022.
Background
Australians experience the world's biggest gambling losses per capita, with Queensland
Treasury reporting last year that national gambling losses for 2022/23 totalled $32 billion.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services heard that
there has been exponential growth in Australians' online gambling in recent years. Even
prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online
Wagering--Baseline Study Final Report found that online gambling was the fastest
growing gambling segment of the Australian gambling market. Spending on this sector
then accelerated rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a reported 67 per cent rise in
online gambling in Australia during the first week of April 2020. Increased use of
smartphones enables people to access interactive wagering services and their promotions,
in privacy, at any place and time.
Gambling-related social and financial harms can include extreme financial hardship, loss
of employment, bankruptcy, relationship breakdown, mental ill health, homelessness,
crime and imprisonment and even suicide. These harms impact not just the person
gambling but also their families, friends, colleagues, customers and the broader
community.
The stated aims of measures in the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online
Wagering in Australia are to empower consumers to make more informed decisions about
their gambling. For this reason, since mid-2022 licensed interactive wagering service
providers have been required to provide activity statements of bets placed and wins and
losses each month to their customers via email. Similarly, a record of betting account
transactions must also be available at all times for online betting customers via the
customer's My Account window - but they must be sought out, and are not required to be
displayed to customers at all times.
Requiring the provider to make information regarding a customer's current net position
(wins/losses) visible at all times in each online betting application and website will provide
users with meaningful, user-friendly information about their wagering activity including how
much money they are spending in order to help them to make informed decisions about
their future wagering activity.
For ease of implementation and to ensure minimal regulatory burden it is proposed for the
purposes of the new activity statement requirements to draw on data which the providers
are already required to collate and share with customers through monthly activity
statements, representing an individual's net position of wins and losses on that service
(online application or website):
• Since the commencement of the provision
• During the current calendar year to date, and
• During the current month to date.
Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short Title
1. Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Bill.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Act the day after the end of the
period of 6 months beginning on the day after Royal Assent. This is intended to
provide affected interactive wagering service providers and consumers time to
prepare for the introduction of the requirement for certain activity statement
information to be displayed at all times within wagering services.
Clause 3: Schedules
3. Clause 3 provides that the Act specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or
repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule. Any other item in a
Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 2 - Acknowledgement of losses
Interactive Gambling Act 2001
Item 1 - Section 3
4. Item 1 amends section 3, the simplified outline of the Act, with the insertion of
paragraph (g) which stipulates that licensed interactive wagering services must
ensure that customers have real time access at all times to information about bets
made, prominently displayed.
Item 2 - Section 16(e)
5. Item 2 amends section 16 of the Act, to enable a person to make a complaint to
ACMA if they believe another person has contravened the new requirement to
ensure that customers have real time access to information about bets made,
prominently displayed.
Item 3 - Section 21(1)(a)
6. Item 3 amends section 21 of the Act, to enable ACMA to investigate on its own
initiative or in response to a complaint whether a person has contravened the new
requirement to ensure that customers have real time access to information about
bets made, prominently displayed on a wagering app or website.
Item 4 - After Part 7B
7. Item 4 inserts a new Part 7C into the Act, prohibiting the provision of licensed
interactive wagering services without prominently displaying, at all times, real time
information about bets made.
8. Proposed new section 61RA is the simplified outline for Part 7C.
9. Proposed new 61RB provides definitions of:
• an activity statement which means a statement prepared by a licensed
interactive wagering service provider in accordance with State or Territory
legislation giving effect to the National Policy Statement of agreed commitments
to provide a National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering in
Australia;
• activity statement information which means the information required to be
included in an activity statement for the individual in accordance with the
National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering In Australia and
any requirements prescribed by regulations and requirements under this Part.
The activity statement information must include information about the
individual's total net losses and wins for the following periods:
a. the calendar month,
b. the calendar year, and
c. since the commencement of the provision.
• a licensed interactive wagering service that means a regulated interactive
gambling service that is a wagering service, has an Australian-customer link and
is not provided in contravention of subsection 15AA(3); and
• a licensed interactive wagering service provider which means a person who
provides a licensed interactive wagering service.
10. The proposed new requirements would apply only to persons who provide a
'licensed interactive wagering service' that is a 'wagering service' (within the
meaning of section 4 of the Act). They would not apply to regulated interactive
gambling services falling within paragraphs (c) - (f) of the definition of 'gambling
service' in section 4 of the Act, such as a lottery or a game of mixed chance and
skill, nor would it apply to face-to-face betting, which is outside the scope of the Act.
Requirements about accessibility of activity statement information
11. Proposed new section 61RC provides that a licensed interactive wagering service
provider must ensure that an individual has access to activity statement information
that covers their use of the service up to that time on the app or website; that this
activity statement information is updated in real time; that this activity statement
information is prominently displayed in accordance with regulations made for this
purpose; and the activity statement is displayed on the app or website at all times
when the individual is using the service and is not able to be removed, minimised or
covered by other content.
12. Activity statement information must already be able to be accessed at all times by a
customer in their account, in accordance with the National Policy Statement. In
addition, under the Bill, defined activity statement information will be required to be
prominently displayed on the user's screen at all times while using the app or
website, including the net position of wins and losses:
• the calendar month,
• the calendar year, and
• since the commencement of the provision.
13. Regulations can specify further details required to be displayed. A note to section
61RC provides as an example that the above activity statement information is
prominently displayed when it is included in a banner at the top of the screen of the
app or website in legible text of 10 point font size or more.
14. Section 61RC provides that a licensed interactive wagering service provider must
not charge a user any fee or other consideration in relation to the availability or
display of this information on their app or website.
15. Contravention of this requirement is subject to offence and civil penalty provisions,
outlined below.
Offence
16. Proposed section 61RC(3) provides that a person commits an offence if they fail to
comply with the above requirements.
The maximum penalty for commission of the offence is 500 penalty units.
17. Subsection 61RC(4) provides that a person who contravenes subsection 61RC(3)
commits a separate offence in respect of each day during which the contravention
continues (i.e. a continuing offence).
Civil penalty
18. Subsection 61RC(5) provides for a corresponding civil penalty provision, with a
maximum penalty of 750 penalty units, recognising the effect of the conviction that
would arise if a person were found guilty of committing an offence against
subsection 61RC(1), in addition to the pecuniary penalty.
19. Subsection 61RD(6) provides that a person who contravenes subsection 61RD(5)
commits a separate contravention in respect of each day during which the
contravention continues.
20. The maximum penalty for the offence and civil penalty provisions would be 5 times
higher for a body corporate, due to the operation of subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes
Act 1914 and subsection 82(5) of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act
2014 respectively.
Exception
21. Subsection 61RC(7) creates an exception if the licensed interactive wagering
service provider took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid
the contravention.
22. The note to this subsection clarifies that in proceedings for an offence against
subsection 61RC (3), the defendant would bear the evidential burden of adducing
evidence in relation to the matters in subsection 61RC(5), in line with subsection
13.3(3) of the Criminal Code (contained in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act
1995). In proceedings for breach of the equivalent civil penalty provision, in
subsection 61RC(5), a person seeking to rely on the exception in subsection
61RD(7) would bear an evidential burden in relation to that matter in accordance
with section 96 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014.
23. It is appropriate for the evidential burden to lie with the defendant in relation to this
exception, as the matters are peculiarly within the knowledge of the defendant (i.e.
what the defendant knew or could have known, in their circumstances, with
reasonable diligence).
24. Proposed subsection 61RC (8) would provide that section 15.4 of the Criminal Code
(extended geographical jurisdiction - category D) applies to an offence against
subsection 61RC(3). Section 15.4 is an extension of the standard geographical
jurisdiction set out in section 14.1 of the Criminal Code, which would otherwise
apply to the offence. Section 15.4 of the Criminal Code applies the offence
provision to an offence whether or not the conduct, or a result of the conduct,
constituting the alleged offence occurs in Australia. Because it would be possible for
offshore gambling service providers to commit the conduct constituting the offence
in subsection 16RC(3) wholly in a foreign country where there may not be a
corresponding offence in force, this extension of jurisdiction is necessary to ensure
the effectiveness of the offence.
Acquisition of property
25. Proposed subsection 16RC(9) is a constitutional saving provision, which would
provide that the requirements in section 61RC has no effect to the extent (if any) to
which its operation would result in an acquisition of property (within the meaning of
paragraph 51(xxxi) of the Constitution) from a person otherwise than on just terms.
Items 5 to 8 - consequential amendments
Item 5 - At the end of section 64A
26. Item 5 is a consequential amendment seeking to expand the scope of section 64A
with the insertion of paragraph (x), to empower the ACMA to issue a formal warning
if a person contravenes proposed subsection 61RC(5).
Item 6 - After paragraph 64C(1)(w)
27. Item 6 is a consequential amendment seeking to amend subsection 64C(1) with the
insertion of paragraph (x), so that proposed subsection 61RC(5) may be subject to
an infringement notice under Part 5 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions)
Act 2014. Part 5 of that Act creates a framework for using infringement notices in
relation to provisions in other legislation.
Item 7 - After paragraph 64D(1)(w)
28. Item 7 is a consequential amendment seeking to amend subsection 64D(1) with the
insertion of paragraph (x), providing for subsection 61RC(5) to be enforceable
under Part 7 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014. Part 7 of
that Act creates a framework for using injunctions to enforce provisions in other
legislation.
Item 8 - Application provision
29. Item 8 specifies amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to the
provision of a licensed interactive wagering service on or after the commencement
of this item.
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
This bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the bill
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
aims to lessen problem online gambling among Australians by ensuring that customers of
regulated interactive wagering services are aware of the information contained in their
account activity statements by displaying their net position of wins and losses to a
customer at all times during wagering activity on online applications and websites.
Since mid-2022, licensed interactive wagering service providers have been required to
provide an activity statement each month to their customers, comprising information such
as the amount spent, bets placed, wins and losses, overall net win/loss for the period and
figures illustrating wagering activity comparing the amount spent against net result over
time. In addition, a record of betting account transactions must also be available at all
times via a customer's 'My Account' window for online wagering customers. However, this
information is not required to be displayed to a customer during wagering unless they
actively seek it out.
Requiring the provider to make information regarding a customer's current losses visible at
all times in each online betting application and website will provide users with meaningful,
user-friendly information about their wagering activity including how much money they are
spending in order to help them to make informed decisions about their wagering activity.
The Bill creates a criminal offence and corresponding civil penalty provision if a person
intentionally provides a licensed interactive wagering service to a customer in Australia if
the required activity statement information is not displayed on the customer's screen on
the app or website at all times.
For each day either contravention continues, a separate offence is committed.
Ensuring that consumers are able to be aware of their net win/loss position while using a
licensed interactive wagering service is intended help to reduce gambling harm.
Human rights implications
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity Statement) Bill 2025
engages the following human right under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR):
• right to a fair and public trial or hearing, right to a presumption of innocence, and
minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings - Article 14 of the ICCPR;
• the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law - Article 14(2) of
the ICCPR; and
• the right to minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, such as to be informed
promptly and in detail of charges - Articles 14(3)-(7).
New civil and criminal penalties and Article 14 of the ICCPR
Article 14 of the ICCPR recognises a number of rights in relation to criminal proceedings,
including:
• the right to a fair and public hearing in criminal and civil proceedings, before a
competent, independent and impartial court of tribunal established by law (Article
14(1));
• the right to the presumption of innocence until the prosecution proves a charge beyond
reasonable doubt (Article 14(2));
• minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, such as to be informed promptly and in
detail of charges (Articles 14(3)-(7)).
Item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Know Your Losses Activity
Statement) Bill 2025 introduces new criminal offences and civil penalty provisions that fit
within the civil penalty regime enforced by the ACMA for contraventions of the Interactive
Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) with respect to prohibition of provision of a licensed interactive
wagering service to an individual without displaying activity statement information, or
seeking to charge a fee for doing so.
For each of the offences, a contravention is committed for each day the contravention
continues.
The Bill includes provisions to trigger the civil penalty and enforcement provisions in Parts
4, 5 and 7 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 (RP Act).
The amendments would mean that the ACMA is authorised to apply to a relevant court (in
this case the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit Court) for a civil penalty order requiring a
person to pay the Commonwealth a pecuniary penalty for a contravention of the IGA under
Part 4 of the RP Act.
Under section 82(3) of the RP Act, the relevant court may order a person to pay the
Commonwealth such pecuniary penalty as it determines is appropriate. Subsections 82(5)
and (6) of the RP Act provide for how the amount of the pecuniary penalty in a civil penalty
order is to be determined. The pecuniary penalty must not be more than five times the
penalty specified in the civil penalty provision if the person is a body corporate, or
otherwise, not more than the penalty specified.
The amendments will also enable authorised members of staff of the ACMA to issue an
infringement notice under Part 5 of the RP Act where they believe, on reasonable grounds,
that a civil penalty provision of the IGA has been contravened.
The amendments will also trigger Part 7 of the RP Act to allow the ACMA to apply to the
Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court for an interim injunction or an injunction to restrain a
person from engaging in conduct and/or requiring that person to do a thing in relation to
acts or omissions that would constitute a contravention of the civil penalty provisions in the
IGA.
New criminal penalties and Article 14(2)
Article 14(2) provides that everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to
be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law. This imposes on the
prosecution the burden of proving a criminal charge and guarantees that no guilt can be
presumed until the charge has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Schedule 1 to the Bill would engage, but not limit, the rights to a presumption of innocence
under Article 14(2) of the ICCPR.
Offences that contain 'reverse burden' provisions may amount to a limitation on the
presumption of innocence. This includes where an 'evidential' or 'legal burden' defence is
created by expressing a matter to be a defence or an exception to the offence or providing
that the defendant must 'prove' the matter. This is because a defendant's failure to
establish an absence of fault (for example, through a mistake of fact defence) or to
discharge a burden of proof may permit their conviction despite reasonable doubts as to
their guilt.
Proposed subsection 61RC(7) creates an exception to the new criminal offence and civil
penalty provision in proposed subsections 61RC(3) and 61RC(5) respectively where
person took reasonable precautions, and exercised due diligence, to avoid the
contravention (providing a wagering service without displaying the activity statement
information required regarding the individual's net win/loss position over time). The note to
subsection 61RC(7) provides that, in a case of proceedings for an offence against
subsection 61RC(3) or (5), the defence would bear the evidential burden in relation to the
matters in subsection 61RC(7).
This means the defendant must raise evidence that his or her conduct fell within the
exception. If the defendant discharges this evidential burden, the prosecution must
disprove the matter beyond reasonable doubt.
Placing the evidential burden on the defendant in making out this exception is appropriate
as the matter required to be established is peculiarly within the knowledge of the
defendant. The defendant is best placed to establish whether they took reasonable
precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention (ss61RC(7)).
The Bill would not otherwise alter the process that would apply to the investigation or
prosecution of the criminal penalties proposed to be inserted by Schedule 1, as compared
to other offences in the IGA or under Commonwealth law. The quantum of the penalty
(500 or 750 penalty units per day the offence continues) is not excessive in relation to the
seriousness of the conduct. These measures do not otherwise engage the rights in Article
14 of the ICCPR and the limitations therefore are pursuing a legitimate public health
objective and are rationally connected to that objective.
Accordingly, the new criminal offences proposed by Schedule 1 to the Bill are compatible
with Article 14 of the ICCPR.
New civil penalties and Article 14
As outlined above, Article 14 of the ICCPR provides that, in determination of criminal
charges, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing, a presumption of
innocence and various other minimum rights in relation to criminal offences.
Including civil penalty provisions and triggering the RP Act could engage criminal process
rights if the imposition of civil penalties is classified as 'criminal' under international human
rights law.
A penalty may be 'criminal' for the purposes of the ICCPR even if it is 'civil' under
Australian domestic law.
Determining whether penalties could be considered to be criminal under international
human rights law requires consideration of the classification of the penalty provisions
under Australian domestic law, the nature and purpose of the penalties, and the severity of
the penalties.
In relation to the triggering of Part 4 of the RP Act, the proposed civil penalty provisions in
Item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Bill specifically proposed subsection 61RC(5):
• expressly classify the penalty as a civil penalty;
• target conduct which as a result of the Bill will also, separately attract a criminal
sanction for the same type of conduct;
• create solely pecuniary penalties in the form of a debt payable to the
Commonwealth (see subsections 82(3) and (4) and section 83 of the RP Act);
• do not impose criminal liability, and do not lead to the creation of a criminal record;
• do not alter the maximum pecuniary penalties that may be imposed by a court
through civil penalty orders under section 82 of the RP Act.
These factors indicate that the penalties proposed to be imposed by this provision are civil
rather than criminal in nature. Accordingly, the criminal process rights provided for by
Article 14 of the ICCPR are not engaged by the Bill, except to the extent outlined below.
Application of Parts 4, 5 and 7 of the RP Act and Article 14(1)
Article 14(1) of the ICCPR requires that, in the determination of criminal charges, everyone
shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial
tribunal established by law. This can also apply to civil proceedings. The right is concerned
with procedural fairness, rather than with the substantive decision of the court or tribunal.
Under section 82 of the RP Act, civil penalty orders can only be granted by a relevant
court, which must consider all relevant matters before determining the amount of the
penalty. The amendments to the IGA made by the Bill would specify that the Federal Court
of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia are the relevant courts for the purposes
of enforcement of the civil penalties in the IGA under the Regulatory Powers Act.
Accordingly, the right to a fair hearing is engaged, but not limited by the triggering of Part 4
of the RP Act.
Section 104 of the RP Act provides that an infringement notice is required to state that the
person may choose not to pay the penalty specified in the notice, and notify them that, if
they do so, proceedings seeking a civil penalty order may be brought against them in a
court. Accordingly, the person must always be advised of the consequences of not paying
the penalty, and of their right to have the matter dealt with by a court. As the person may
elect to have the matter heard by a court, rather than pay the penalty, the right to fair
hearing is engaged, but not limited by the triggering of Part 5 of the RP Act.
Under Part 7 of the RP Act, an injunction can only be granted by a court. Further, a court
may only grant an injunction where a person has engaged, is engaging or is proposing to
engage, in conduct that contravenes a provision of the IGA, or where a person has refused
or failed, or is refusing or failing, or proposing to refuse or fail, to do a thing and that refusal
or failure was, is or would be a contravention of a provision of the IGA. Thus, the right to a
fair hearing is engaged, but not limited, by the triggering of Part 7 of the RP Act.
Accordingly, the amendments in Items 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of Schedule 1 to the Bill to apply
Parts 4, 5 and 7 of the RP Act are consistent with the human rights in Article 14(1) of the
ICCPR.
Conclusion
The Bill is compatible with human rights because, to the limited extent that it may limit
human rights, those limitations are reasonable, necessary and proportionate.
Rebekha Sharkie MP