By Asher Moses
Apple Australia may be breaching federal online gambling laws by offering apps such as PokerStars which allow Australians to bet on casino style games with real money.
"We don't allow online poker in Australia for Australian people under the Interactive Gambling Act ... they [Apple] have got an obligation to take down apps that are against Australian law and they should do it," said Greens Senator Richard di Natale, member of the gambling reform committee.
Concerned: Senator Richard Di Natale wants the federal government to "clamp down" on overseas gambling operators.Credit: Pat Scala
While online sports betting is flourishing (to the alarm of many), the IGA prohibits the provision of all types of online casino-style gambling to Australians.
Fairfax was able to download the PokerStars app from the Australian iTunes app store, deposit real money and join cash tables. Apple declined to comment.
Senator Nick Xenophon wants legal loopholes to be closed.
The final report of the review of the IGA, released in March, found that there may be around 2200 online gambling providers illegally offering services to Australians, who lose an estimated $1 billion per annum on online gambling services that are not licensed in Australia.
The IGA review found that existing regulations were not adequate and recommended the legislation be amended to enable and encourage currently prohibited online gaming sites to become licensed. However, the government has rejected the recommendation.
Many services are hosted overseas and so operate without Australian consumer protections and regulations and do not pay any tax here. Some, like PokerStars, have an Australian office and bank accounts.
Senator di Natale said the federal government should "clamp down" on these operators where possible and he was also worried about social gambling apps on services like Facebook which he believes may "normalise" gambling particularly for children.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie wants the rules on online gambling sites to be tightened.Credit: Brendan Esposito
Some online gambling services exploit a further legal loophole by allowing Australians to pay real money for virtual currency which is then gambled but cannot be cashed out. Senator Nick Xenophon said this "habituates gambling".
"If the government is serious about ... [avoiding] the kids of today becoming the gambling addicts of tomorrow they need to close this loophole," Xenophon told Fairfax.
One Perth-based social gambling app for Facebook operating in the grey area is Chumba Casino, which founder Laurence Escalante said crossed social gaming with online gambling by adding experience points, avatars, quests and social bonuses.
"We 'gamify' gambling to make it even more fun, accessible and safe," said founder Laurence Escalante, who recently raised $2.5 million venture capital and is seeking a gambling license.
"[Prohibition] simply doesn't work, and enforcing it in practical terms is difficult, if not impossible."
Gambling reform committee chair independent MP Andrew Wilkie has said rather than allowing online gambling sites to be licensed in Australia the government should "tighten" the rules further "and put in place strategies to deter Australians from accessing the dangerous offshore sites".
The US has historically had even stronger prohibition of online gambling than Australia but the market there is estimated at over $92 billion per annum with around 7 million online gamblers.
London-listed 888 Holdings was in late March awarded the first ever US license for an internet betting firm. Shane Warne has been closely associated with 888 Poker for some time but a member of Warne's management group told Fairfax that while Warne was "their biggest global ambassador", he did not own a stake in the firm.