Australian press have reported that online gambling betting firm Neds has been handed an A$18,000 good from the Downing Centre Local Court after being convicted of five contraventions of gambling advertising laws.
The company was prosecuted from the New South Wales Liquor and Gaming regulator following complaints to the Advertising Standards Board the advertisements offered NSW residents inducements to open or gamble gambling accounts. The operator pleaded guilty to the charges, and the material has since been taken down.
Neds’ illegal ads included offers of fitting first deposits of up to A$505, and so-called “wager fosters” on sites such as Neds.com.au, 9news. Com.au and racenet.com.au, the regulator said.
Liquor & Gaming NSW deputy secretary Paul Newson maintained the material “intruded on the neighborhood and clearly breached NSW gambling marketing laws” designed to ameliorate the risk of gambling harm.
Newson cautioned that tougher new laws are currently in place and the level of fines for transgressions could substantially increase in the future.
“Under the new legislation, maximum fines for offering unlawful inducements to bet have been raised tenfold, and supervisors of wagering businesses can be held personally accountable and be criminally convicted for gaming offences,” he said.
“It’ll not be good enough for supervisors to turn a blind eye and say they were unaware their company had committed offences. ”
This is not the first time that Neds continues to be hauled over the coals for its provocative advertising; InfoPowa readers might recall a free-to-air television ad depicting tradesmen idle on a construction site while they placed bets on their phones instead of working.
