Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety) | Hansard source

You raise the issue of trust, and you have got a good basis, Senator Hanson-Young—and I'll take the interjection—to raise the issue of trust. There are now civil penalties of a thousand penalty units, which will apply if there is a breach of that obligation—$364,000 on an individual and $1.82 million for a corporation. So the failure to monitor customer activity of individuals considered to be at risk of gambling related harm will, for the first time, be a breach of the law and give rise to a very, very significant fine if that provision is breached.

As the minister has indicated, there is an unlimited number of bases on which the gambling companies must identify whether a customer is at risk. I agree—I mean, even if someone is red-flagged, we know of many cases where wagering companies have dodged this obligation and imposed more harm on these people who are gambling and who cannot stop. There are a number of indicators, including wagering expenditure; someone betting at three in the morning, which should raise alarm bells; someone betting very frequently; someone making frequent deposits into their account; where there have been failed or declined deposits; where there's been a removal or relaxation of gambling minimisation measures—they are indicators that someone is at risk. But that's not a conclusive list.

That's why it is important that the minister, by way of a legislative instrument, has the ability to add to that list—to add further indicators for the purposes of ensuring that the gambling companies are doing everything to red-flag and identify those at risk of harm. So, when we hear the stories about wagering companies talking about frameworks and how they've got all these processes in place, the coalition doesn't trust them either. That's why these predatory inducements, if this bill is passed, will be unlawful. There are very, very significant fines that now will be applied if the breach has occurred.

I also just want to raise concerns in relation to the way that Senator Hanson-Young has reflected on the wagering advertising opt-out register. What's very important about the opt-out register, Senator Hanson-Young—through you, Chair—is that this is giving Australians choice.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: Senator Hanson-Young?