The Legal Effect of Voluntary Self-Exclusion Programs for Problem Gambers

The voluntary self exclusion program has been designed as one attempt to minimise the harm caused by problem gambling and electronic gaming machines. However, the program’s role as a genuine regulatory response is questionable. Few reporting requirements for gaming corporations and a reliance on an unsophisticated method of detecting self-excluded problem gamblers significantly undermine the purpose of the program. This paper considers the liability of gaming venues and corporations in circumstances where a self-excluded problem gambler has not been successfully excluded from the gaming venue. It is suggested that, in entering into the program, a problem gambler may be under a reasonable expectation that the gaming venue will assist in his or her endeavour to control the problematic gambling. Drawing primarily on the laws of Victoria, this article will discuss how the voluntary self-exclusion program is in need of reform so that it can better act as a harm minimisation mechanism. Further, the article will explore possible legal redress in contract, equity and under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), for problem gamblers who have participated in an ineffective voluntary self-exclusion program

Federal offences

[Extract] This chapter provides an overview of the growing area of federal criminal law. The growth of the criminal law of the Commonwealth is a recent phenomenon. Historically, the criminal jurisdiction of the Commonwealth was primarily confined to areas of law that were clearly and directly linked to a limited range of enumerated powers within the Constitution. It was (and is) necessary for any system of law to have a range of civil and criminal sanctions attached to it in order to be enforceable. This chapter will discuss how the Commonwealth's jurisdiction over crime began slowly, expanding rapidly during World War I and II, and then growing substantially from the late 1980s. With the advent of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (the Criminal Code), the criminal law of the Commonwealth has grown exponentially