The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has published details of charges brought against BlueBet for illegal gambling ads posted on billboards.
According to the announcement, the VGCCC has charged BlueBet with 43 breaches of section 4.7.1 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003. The charges relate to billboards that were placed in various locations between August 29th 2022 and September 11th 2022.
Local gambling laws state that ‘betting advertisements are banned on roads, public transport, and within 150 metres of schools.’
The billboards were placed at five locations overlooking public roads:
- Princes Freeway on the Point Cook Road Overpass (Laverton)
- Princes Freeway on the Princes Highway Overpass (Point Cook)
- Western Freeway Melton – Werribee Road (Rockbank)
- Western Freeway before Ballarat Road Overpass (Ravenhall)
- Princes Freeway on Sneydes Road Overpass (Werribee)
In Victoria, a penalty unit system is used where each unit issued to an operator results in a fine of a set amount. That amount was AU$184.92 per unit at the time of the offence. Penalties for each of the 43 charges carry a fine of 120 penalty units each. This means that if BlueBet is found guilty of all the charges, it will face a maximum fine of up to AU$954,187.20 ($611,632/€562,871).
VGCCC Regulatory Services Director Jason Cremona said:
“All wagering service providers advertising in Victoria must comply with relevant legislation. Where we detect non-compliance – especially non-compliance that can exacerbate gambling harm – we will take a zero-tolerance approach and use all the enforcement powers available to us.
We launched our investigation after receiving an online complaint about the billboard advertisements from a member of the public.
We encourage all members of the community to use our complaints and tip-off portals to let us know when they believe they have witnessed non-compliant behaviour by gambling providers. The community can rest assured we will act wherever we can.”
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.