BetStop failures put Palmerbet’s self exclusion controls under scrutiny

On Wednesday Palmer Bookmaking Pty Ltd, trading as Palmerbet, entered an 18-month court-enforceable undertaking with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

An investigation uncovered hundreds of breaches relating to the bookmaker’s failure to comply with Australia’s national self-exclusion rules.

The ACMA’s inquiry focused on a customer who had registered with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER), on 2 September 2023. 

Once a consumer is registered, operators are legally required to close any existing customer accounts “as soon as practicable”.

Despite this, Palmerbet accepted bets from the registered customer on 18 separate occassions between December 2024 and February 2025. 

The customer’s account was not closed until 22 February 2025, nearly 18 months after registration on the NSER.

The ACMA identified multiple contraventions by Palmerbet. These included 18 contraventions of section 61KA(3) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) for providing licensed interactive wagering services to a self-excluded individual – one for each day of service.

It also identified 535 contraventions of section 61MB(5) for failing to close the customer’s account “as soon as practicable” after NSER registration. 

The regulator counted one contravention for each day beyond the practicable closure date.

Failure to use accurate customer data

The NSER functions by matching a customers’ personal details submitted by wagering operators against the register’s database. 

Operators must provide precise personal information, including legal full names, date of birth (DOB) and a postcode.

Palmerbet repeatedly submitted NSER checks for the customer using incorrect personal details, including a shortened first name and an erroneous DOB. The inaccuracies resulted in negative matches from the register, enabling ongoing wagering activity. 

Records indicated Palmerbet had first flagged this individual to the database on 6 September 2023, using flawed information.

Once the register returned a positive match on 22 February 2025, Palmerbet closed the account.

Lacking a verified date of birth

The ACMA concluded that Palmerbet had failed to take “reasonable precautions and exercise due diligence” in verifying and handling the customer’s identity data. 

Before NSER’s launch, the ACMA and the register operator issued technical specifications requiring exact name and DOB data from Australian government documents to confirm their identity. Further guidance was reiterated in March 2024.

Palmerbet updated its onboarding procedures in mid-2023 to verify DOB and other details but failed to apply consistent verification to legacy accounts, including the customer in question.

The regulator estimated that, had accurate data been provided in September 2023, the account could have been closed within 24 hours.

Palmerbet expected to refund all deposits

Rather than immediately seeking court orders or civil penalties, the ACMA accepted Palmerbet’s commitment via an 18-month court-enforceable undertaking.

This will include conducting an independent review of Palmerbet’s NSER compliance systems and processes.

Palmerbet will also be expected to refund all deposits made by the self-excluded individual from September 2023 until February 2025.

Earlier this month, wagering operator Dabble Sports was also hit with penalties following repeated failures to comply with BetStop.

Carolyn Lidgerwood, an ACMA member, stressed the importance of respecting self-exclusion decisions, stating “providers must respect that decision” and “must have robust systems in place”.   

Website blocking

Additionally this week, the ACMA requested internet service providers (ISPs) block access to more illegal gambling websites. 

The latest blocking requests target the gambling sites Bet Ninja, Riobet188, ThePokies33, Spade69 and WinShark. 

This action is part of a multi-year enforcement campaign. ACMA stated that since November 2019 it has asked ISPs to block a total of 1,822 illegal gambling and affiliate websites. Twelve of them were requested to be blocked in June of this year.

Furthermore, the regulator noted that more than 230 operators have exited the Australian market following the introduction of stricter enforcement measures from 2017 onwards.