It look as though the old adage ~ "If you can't beat them - join them" is about to become the case for Australian online gamblers. Billions of AU$ are going out of the country with many gamers making regular use of the services of offshore companies. However this is not the biggest problem as far the Aussie Federal Government is concerned; the biggest issue is 'problem gambling'; and like the sensible folk the Australians are, they understand that the only way to have more control over a problem is to legalise it, and make it a regulated industry.

In 2001 the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) was promulgated to regulate interactive gambling services. However, what it really did was place restrictions on certain services within the industry. The aim of the law was to limit any harmful effects of online gambling on the Australian community, and obviously it has not worked.

The IGA does not target customers in Australia, it only targets the providers of online gambling services, and excludes the sale of lottery tickets online as well as online sports betting. The services are not allowed to be physically present in the country, nor to market or to provide services to customers physically present in Australia. A maximum penalty of $220 000 per day may be levied on individuals, and/or $1.1 million per day is the legal deal for bodies corporate. However police do not follow up on offshore online gambling operators. The Act excludes gaming such as games of chance, or mixed chance and skill; for example roulette, poker , craps, online 'pokies' (video poker) and blackjack.

There have apparently been 17 complaints against online gambling activities in Australia since the Act was brought into force. But the police have been seen to be turning a blind eye - by not following up on the complaints. Understandably following up would not be a simple matter, for sites which are based offshore.

A review of this bill is being undertaking in terms of the Digital Economy which includes recent advancements in mobile and smart phone technology. Minster of Parliament Andrew Wilkie is in charge of the action plan for the reform. In his own words, he is certainly not pro-online gambling but, he also realizes that without regulation, they have a situation which he says "can only get worse". Lawyers agree that prohibition just doesn't work, and pro-gambling industry players also agree that Wilkie's stance is a positive step forward.

It does not seem to matter where people live in the world, they will gamble online or otherwise if they want to. Wilkie dubs the gambling industry a "Wild West" industry, and wants the matter of reform addressed as soon as the Gambling Reform Committee has dealt with the problem of poker machines. Apparently there are some pre-mandatory issues which have to be clarified with regards to what the Aussies call 'pokies" and we call video poker. These games are extremely popular; so much so, that the machines are being blamed for peoples gambling problems. We say, gambling machines are not the problem - people are the problem!