Guardian Essential Polls Shows Voters Favor Age Verification for Gambling

Article by : Milena Petrovska May 14, 2024

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A Guardian Essential poll in Australia has found that voters are in favor of gambling age verification.

The poll, which included 1,150 respondents, concluded that residents think that implementing age verification procedures before a deposit is enabled will reduce minors’ exposure to the online gambling industry.

The poll came about after Anthony Albanese discussed gendered violence and announced funding to victims of this crime alongside a ban on deep fake pornography. Per the poll, 80% of the respondents were in support of banning posts of sexualized deep fake images.

In terms of verification for both gambling and pornography sites, 79% of the respondents voted in favor.

Finally, 75% of the respondents voted in favor of increasing law enforcement capacities to control online behavior. However, the poll found that a majority of people were unsure who should enforce age verification.

Less Than 50% Trust Government to Conduct Gambling Age Verification

The poll results show that 43% of the respondents would trust the government to conduct age verification for online gambling. Another 12% opted for non-profit third parties, and 14% opted for the businesses that offer the services they’re using.

More than a third (32%) stated that none of those above entities can be trusted with a process that’s of this importance. This figure reveals a worrisome trend that Australians are reluctant to trust the government when it comes to enforcing serious matters.

Moreover, the percentage of respondents who stated that they didn’t feel secure online was considerably high. The poll found that 64% don’t have any worries regarding safety online, which means that over a third (36%) don’t share the same enthusiasm.

A majority of respondents (59%) stated that the best way to reduce crime, including gambling-related crime, was through harsher punishments for those who commit the crimes and increased police power.

Social Media Platforms Were Also the Focus of the Poll

Apart from age verification for gambling, the poll also had a few questions on social media platforms. They were the result of the legal battle between Australia’s eSafety commissioner and X (former Twitter).

After the stabbing of bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on April 15, X was ordered to take down 65 videos of the attack. X complied to a certain degree. Instead of removing the videos completely, the platform restricted them to Australian users only.

When asked about this dispute, 70% of the respondents agreed with the eSafety commissioner. They stated that dangerous content should be completely removed. The other 30% sided with Musk because they thought that the removal was “an attempt to censor the internet and restrict free speech.”

A considerable 76% of the respondents stated that age verification should be implemented on social media to increase security.

Customer Verification Already Part of Australia’s Gambling Reforms

Australia’s government already announced gambling reforms that focus on ten measures. Some of them have already been partially or fully implemented.

These measures include:

• banning credit cards as payment methods,
• restricting the use of payday lending for gambling,
• customer verification,
• restrictions on inducements,
• more informational displays for account closure,
• activity statements, staff training,
• a voluntary opt-out pre-commitment scheme,
• consistent gambling messaging,
• a national self-exclusion register.

The biggest reform in the topic of interest – customer verification – was the period. According to the reforms, the gambling verification period was reduced from 14 to 3 days, ensuring underage players were quickly discovered.

This type of verification should be implemented right after registering and before the client can make a deposit. The idea was to identify underage gamblers and gamblers at risk quicker and, thus, reduce their exposure to harm.

According to the measure’s status on the DSS’s website, it was implemented on 26 February 2019, updated on 2 May 2022, and updated on 29 September 2023.