Self-Exclusion Program Goes Live in South Australia, ACMA Bans Six Websites – Yurika.R

South Australia’s government is launching its Take a Break self-exclusion program following a successful trial. Like other similar programs, Take a Break will encourage riskier users to limit their gambling and get their habits in check.

South Australia to Expand Self-Exclusion Campaign

The program’s trial saw 31 betting locations across the state put up posters featuring a QR code that leads players to a form where they can bar themselves from gambling in just a few minutes. The process is managed by the Consumer and Business Services (CBS), which processes submissions within the next business day.

When signing up, players can choose the exact services they wish to be barred from, as well as for how long.

Within the four-week trial period, 8 men and 11 women requested to be excluded for a period varying from three months to an indefinite period. As it turned out, this was the first self-exclusion for the majority of the customers.

One in five also asked to be redirected to the Gambling Help Service.

For context, a Break is being administered by the CBS in partnership with the Australian Hotels Association South Australia and Clubs SA.

Players can find additional helpful information on safer gambling at Gambling Help Online and even schedule a chat with a live counselor.

ACMA Bans More Sites

In the meantime, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) continued its effort to weed out illegal online gambling websites. According to its latest announcement, the regulator has now banned six additional illegal online gambling websites.

According to the ACMA, the following websites violated the regulations outlined in Australia’s  Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

• Eddy Vegas
• Lucky Friends
• Lucky Ones
• MoonWin
• Slottie
• SpinsUP

The ACMA has so far successfully ended 1,117 unlicensed gambling websites and services.

In other news, many Australians were recently outraged to learn that minors were able to see promotional Snapchat filters from Sportsbet. The filters in question allowed people to turn into a Sportsbet speaker or a racehorse and linked to the operator’s website.

Although kids couldn’t use the filters, they were able to see them. This might not have been so bad on its own if the incident didn’t come soon after Sportsbet ads appeared on Spotify between Disney and Bluey songs.