Palmer Bookmaking Pty Ltd, operating as Palmerbet, has entered into an 18-month court-enforceable undertaking with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) following an investigation that revealed numerous breaches of Australia's national self-exclusion regulations.
The ACMA's inquiry centered on an individual who registered with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER), on September 2, 2023. According to the regulations, gambling operators must close accounts for registered self-excluded customers "as soon as practicable." However, it was found that Palmerbet allowed this registered customer to place bets on 18 occasions between December 2024 and February 2025. The account was only closed on February 22, 2025, nearly 18 months after the registration on NSER.
The regulator uncovered a total of 553 contraventions by Palmerbet. This included 18 violations of section 61KA(3) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 for providing wagering services to a self-excluded individual, as well as 535 violations of section 61MB(5) for not closing the customer’s account promptly after their registration on the NSER. Each of these violations corresponded to individual days of continued service against the self-excluded individual.
Underlying these issues was a failure to use accurate personal data. The NSER verifies individuals by matching the personal information submitted by operators against its database. Palmerbet submitted incorrect personal details, including an abbreviated first name and an inaccurate date of birth. These inaccuracies led to the inability to match the individual with the registry, which allowed them to continue betting. Records indicated that the flawed information was initially submitted on September 6, 2023, and the account was only closed after the register confirmed a match on February 22, 2025.
The ACMA noted that Palmerbet did not exercise reasonable care in managing the identity verification process for the customer’s data. Before the launch of the NSER, the ACMA had communicated the need for precise names and birth dates from authorized documents to confirm identities. The organization had issued additional technical guidance in March 2024, but Palmerbet later updated its onboarding procedures without adequately applying these standards to pre-existing accounts like the one in question. The regulator asserted that accurate data could have resulted in the account's closure within 24 hours of registration.
As part of the agreement with the ACMA, Palmerbet is required to conduct an independent review of its compliance with NSER and refund all deposits made by the self-excluded individual between September 2023 and February 2025.
This enforcement action follows similar issues with another wagering operator, Dabble Sports, which faced penalties for ongoing non-compliance with BetStop earlier this month. ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood emphasized the necessity for operators to respect self-exclusion choices and ensure appropriate systems are in place.
In a related development, the ACMA also requested internet service providers to block access to several illegal gambling websites, including Bet Ninja, Riobet188, ThePokies33, Spade69, and WinShark. This is part of a larger enforcement initiative that has seen 1,822 illegal gambling and affiliate websites targeted and blocked since November 2019, with stricter regulations leading to over 230 operators exiting the Australian market since 2017.
