What is the contribution to the economy of online gambling in Australia?
How Has Online Gambling Affected The AUS Economy?
Australia is a leader in the development of the gambling market in the world. Given the rapid pace of development and the strong demand of the target audience for these services online, it is not surprising that the government has taken control of the development of this industry. In this article, we will look at the impact of online gambling on the Australian economy and provide information on the work of regulatory commissions.
Rapid Dawn of Online Gambling and its Impact on the Economy
As early as the 1900s, Australia saw a surge in the popularity of gambling, which is only gaining momentum through online gambling every year. The government sees a way to take advantage and control this situation through the introduction of ways to tax gambling platforms and thus generate revenue for the treasury, as well as improve economic performance.
Initially, it was planned to limit such resources with players from Australia. Therefore, in 2001, an appropriate law on gambling was issued. However, this strategy proved to be a failure because the demand of the target audience for online gambling entertainment was extremely high. Take a look at the statistics for yourself. Each year, Australians are willing to spend on gambling entertainment more than $200 billion. And this amount is only increasing with every year passing by. Statistics show that in 2020, the number of players in Australia will reach 2.3 million people. And that is 80 percent of the adult population. This means that 8 out of 10 Australians spend their time at the online casino Aus. with great pleasure. That’s an impressive figure. And because of that, the law passed in 2001 failed. Therefore, the legislation was amended in 2017.
Based on the above information, we can conclude that the rapid development of the gambling industry on a large scale suggested to the Australian economy the only way that is to provide licenses and exercise strict control over online casinos.
As already mentioned, Australian players are extremely gambling users who prefer to play for real money and are willing to invest a lot of money in the game. It is important to remember that excessive involvement in gambling entertainment can lead to gambling addiction, which in turn is detrimental to physical and mental health.
Regulation of the Gambling Industry
The online gambling industry has been regulated by the government from the very beginning because its growth rate has been rapid. For example, in 2011, the number of games on online platforms increased from 1% to 8%. And afterward, the figure had only positive growth. This information greatly disturbed the government authorities. Therefore, a special plan was developed to regulate the gambling industry.
To date, the control is carried out by the Commonwealth as a whole. Each state has a personal independent governing body that exercises control over gambling. In addition to these bodies, there are also licensing commissions.
Revenue to the State Treasury
Let’s move on to the most interesting part, namely the information about how much money the state receives annually from the online gambling business. Based on the fact that each state controls the gambling industry separately, and the payment of taxes varies in size, the income to each state will be different. The average is 10% of the budget. If we talk about the leader, it’s Victoria, as it brings the treasury as much as 13%. The last place belongs to Western Australia. Here the income is only 4%.
Getting the License
Given the significant impact of online gambling entertainment on the economic performance of the country. The state has decided that all operators must obtain a special permit for their activities – a license. And the authorities have approached this question with the utmost seriousness, imposing a substantial list of strict requirements for applicants. We will not mention the whole list. We will focus on the main points providing information in the table below.
| No. | Requirement |
| 1 | Mandatory liaison with local law enforcement agencies. |
| 2 | All financial transactions must be accompanied by the highest level of security. |
| 3 | Mandatory accreditation of all employees. |
It is also important to say that after obtaining a license, the gambling platform must ensure timely payment of taxes. Financial transfers are made for
- the receipt of net profits;
- turnover tax;
- license fee.
The amount of payment for a particular tax depends on the state and the authorities that control the establishment in question.
It is important to note the fact that in order to obtain a license, it is better to be located in Australia because it is extremely difficult to perform all the steps of registration outside the country. Many seek the help of a local intermediary company, but this step does not always lead to a positive result.
Illegal Market
Despite the fact that there are special bodies to control online gambling in Australia, the illegal market not only continues to exist but also enjoys positive growth. Let’s take a look at the statistics to make it clear. Within 6 years, the activity of the illegal market has quadrupled. In money terms, this is $1.4 billion. Just imagine the scale of illegal traffic. Therefore, every year the state budget loses at least 300 million dollars.
Of course, such events have a negative impact on the economy, so the country is constantly coming up with new solutions that can affect the activity of the illegal market.
Conclusion
Given the high demand of the target audience for online gambling entertainment, and the active growth of the gambling market, the government of Australia did not stand aside. To maintain a stable economy, the country has special committees that closely monitor this sphere. The average revenue to the treasury from gambling entertainment is 10% of the budget. The operation of online casinos is allowed only if a license is obtained.
