The Legal Landscape
Developments in Australia – Parliamentary Report, June 30, 2023 – Recommendation to ban all gambling advertising within three years
On June 30, 2023, an Australian Parliamentary Committee recommended that all gambling advertising be banned within three years. Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, discussed the recommendations in an article in The Conversation. Prof. Livingston has been writing about the problems relating to gambling for many years.
The author summarises the proposals as follows:
The proposals to prohibit all inducements to gamble come in four phases.
The first would ban all social media and online advertising. Radio advertising during school drop-off times would also be prohibited.
In the second phase, broadcast advertising for an hour either side of sporting broadcasts would be banned (as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has argued for).
The third stage would prohibit all broadcast advertising for gambling between 6am and 10pm.
Finally, three years on, all gambling advertising would be gone from our screens.
The report of the Australian Parliamentary Committee was reported on in The Guardian:
Here is a link to the Committee’s report:
Advertising & Marketing 2022 – Canada – Practice Guideline (last updated Aug 2, 2022)
Arlan Gates, Sarah Mavula, Jacqueline Rotondi
https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/advertising-marketing-2022/canada
The practice guideline is published on the Chambers and Partners web site (www.chambers.com) . It contains a very general overview of law and practice relating to advertising and marketing in Canada, including the roles of different levels of government, the different regulators and their areas of responsibility and a brief overview of sports gambling and betting.
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) - Role
The AGCO describes its role as follows:
Across Canada, provinces can conduct and manage lottery schemes in their province in accordance with any law enacted by their provincial legislature.
In Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is responsible for administering the Gaming Control Act, 1992 (GCA) and, as such, regulates gaming in the province.
With respect to online gambling in particular, the AGCO describes its activities as follows:
Internet Gaming
The OLG launched (and conducts and manages) the province’s first regulated internet gaming (igaming) platform, PlayOLG.ca, in 2015. Ontario’s private igaming market launched on April 4th, 2022. iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of AGCO, is responsible for conducting and managing the private igaming market. The AGCO’s igaming regulatory framework aims to achieve the Government of Ontario’s objectives of providing consumer choice, ensuring player protection, and supporting the growth of the legal market.
https://www.agco.ca/what-we-do-lottery-and-gaming
AGCO – Marketing and Advertising Standards
On its website, the AGCO describes its approach to stands and the authority for setting such standards:
Standards-Based Approach https://www.agco.ca/standards
The AGCO employs a standards-based approach to the regulation of gaming, recreational cannabis retailing and liquor. The objective of a standards-based regulatory model is to shift the focus from requiring licensees and registrants to comply with a specific set of rules or processes, towards the broader regulatory outcomes they are expected to achieve. This approach strengthens regulatory outcomes in a way that does not needlessly burden regulated entities.
The authority to establish risk-based standards to regulate Ontario’s gaming sector is under the Gaming Control Act, 1992 (GCA). The authority to establish standards and requirements to regulate Ontario’s cannabis retail stores is the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018 (CLA). The authority to establish standards and requirements to regulate the sale, service and delivery of liquor in Ontario is the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 (LLCA).
Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming
The GCA provides the Registrar with the authority to establish standards and requirements. The standards and requirements for internet gaming (igaming) are referred to as “the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming”, and are concerned with the conduct, management and operation of online gaming sites, lottery schemes or businesses related to an online gaming site or lottery scheme or for goods or services related to that conduct, management or operation. The Standards also cover sport and event betting on online gaming sites.
The Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming were developed based on sector-specific risk assessments, research and consultations with key stakeholders, including the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and industry and social responsibility groups. In order to keep the highest standards of integrity, periodic risk assessments will be conducted to ensure that the standards continue to be relevant.
The Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming apply to igaming operators (including OLG and private), and gaming-related suppliers.
The AGCO’s marketing and advertising standards are set out on its website: https://www.agco.ca/marketing-and-advertising
On April 13, 2023, the AGCO proposed some changes to the standards that would restrict athlete and celebrity participation in internet gambling advertising and invited comments:
Photo by Vienna Reyes on Unsplash