Australian Gambling Comparative History and Analysis
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
AUSTRALIAN GAMBLING COMPARATIVE HISTORY AND ANALYSIS Project Report October 1999 - Prepared for - Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority Level 5/35 Spring Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 - Prepared by - Australian Institute for Gambling Research University of Western Sydney Macarthur P O Box Q 1287 QVB P O Sydney NSW 1230 Australian Gambling Comparative History and Analysis Consultant - Australian Institute of Gambling Research Published by the Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority Melbourne Victoria Australia @ State of Victoria 1999 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 Address all enquiries to: Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority Level 5/35 Spring Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Telephone: 61 3 9651 3333 Fax: 61 3 9651 3777 ISBN: 0 7311 1601 1 Published: October 1999 Printed by: Champion Press (Vic) Pty. Ltd. Executive Summary This comparative history of Australian gambling has identified the many and diverse contextual factors that influence the particular character of Australian gambling; the way it fits into society; its effect on leisure patterns, economic activity and community attitudes; and how it is shaped by government policies. In contrast to the moralistic and prohibitive regimes in Britain and the United States, Australia has had a relatively liberal approach to gambling since white settlement. Gambling has been identified as an essential feature of Australia’s popular culture; it is also a thriving and profitable industry, which makes significant contributions to state government revenues. The key historical influences on Australian gambling include: • social values and community attitudes, including religious beliefs, debates over public morality, cultural practices and preferences, class and gender differences; • economic conditions and trends, including such factors as economic booms and slumps, economic restructuring, revenue needs of government, market competition; • political structures and processes of the Australian federal system, including Commonwealth-state funding arrangements, core public policy objectives of various state governments, political conflicts and power relations; and • technological development, including transport, radio and television, telephone and computerisation. Information technology innovation has significantly altered the gambling industry landscape in the 1990s. Since European settlement there have been four major periods in which Australian gambling has been transformed and redefined: • the early period of colonisation from 1788-1900; • a period of selective legalisation from 1900-1940s; • a period of government endorsement and market growth from the Second World War to the 1970s; and • a period of commercialisation, competition and market expansion from the 1970s to 1990s. Each period has been characterised by particular social, economic and political patterns and concerns which have created a climate for change. In turn, these factors have affected the nature of the changes achieved within different forms of gambling. Despite its popularity and official acceptance, gambling has been the source of conflict and public debate. In Australia, the general thrust of legal and moral arguments has been not so much about whether gambling should be permitted or not (as it was in Britain and the United States) but whether legalisation would induce gambling by social groups which otherwise might not gamble; which forms of gambling should be permitted and which should be restricted; the control of illegal gambling by attempts to remove criminal influence and corruption; and practical issues such as the provision of rational and well-ordered public i access to approved forms of popular gambling. Different forms of gambling have been legalised at different times, while others have been prohibited. Popular gambling practices, laws and institutions have shown marked differentiation from state to state – in organisational characteristics, the considerations which determine policy and in their long-term capacity to regulate market trends. For example, during the 1930-50s, states adopted different policies on off-course betting, ranging from legalised betting shops to sustained attempts at suppression; lotteries and lotto evolved in an uneven way; and the introduction of casinos brought about a variety of outcomes. Increased legalisation of Australian gambling during the twentieth century has been the outcome of several interrelated forces: • demographics and economics have influenced both the level and type of gambling. The age structure and ethnic composition of the population, cultural practices, urbanisation, income, female economic independence, changes in the structure of the economy, and technological developments have affected the extent and form of gambling; • social values and public opinion have influenced government and industry responses; • increased institutionalisation and commercialisation have stimulated the growth of popular gambling; • state governments’ fundamental task of maintaining law and order and social harmony has been central to its control over gambling; • a process of ‘policy learning’, as state governments have observed the experience of other jurisdictions develop policies to suit their own particular needs and aspirations; and • fiscal interests of government have played an important role in rationalising and separating legalised gambling from the moral and cultural values which influenced disputes over it. Gambling was brought to Australia with the new settlers and quickly was established as a popular leisure activity among all social groups. The pronounced British influence of early gambling (card games, two-up, horseracing) was complemented during the nineteenth century by games with Asian and European influences. Since the 1970s commercial forms of gambling such as casinos and gaming machines have been influenced by United States industrial practices. Many forms of gambling which arose originally from community activities and were subsequently prohibited (e.g. off-course betting, sportsbetting, two-up, casino card games) have been legalised and made accessible to adult Australians on a daily basis. In terms of its economic impact, contemporary Australian gambling is: • an increasingly popular form of entertainment and leisure, with per capita expenditures growing steadily. Consumer spending on gambling rose sharply during the 1980-90s with the introduction of casinos and the expansion of gaming machines; • a vital and diverse industry and a significant source of employment; • a stable and growing source of government revenue. ii Horseracing was the first form of organised gambling in Australia. By the late nineteenth century, horseracing had become a popular form of entertainment with racetracks in every major town. Greyhound and harness racing also attracted enthusiastic supporters but have never been as popular as horseracing. Betting activity was closely associated with the development of racing, initially with local bookmakers. By the 1890s the totalisator had been introduced to racecourses in several states, increasing both track attendance and interest in betting. With the development of telephones and radio broadcasting, illegal off-course SP betting proliferated during the 1930-60s, creating problems of corruption and depriving governments of revenue. To counteract illegal betting, state governments progressively introduced off- course Totalisator Agency Boards (TABs). By the 1970s betting was the most popular form of gambling in Australia, generating large gambling-tax revenues for state governments. The introduction of PubTAB, FootyTAB and satellite telecasting through SKY Channel facilitated further market growth during the 1980s and 1990s. From its inception as a largely community-based leisure activity, racing and betting have become a multimillion dollar industry. However, competition from other forms of gambling, notably casinos and gaming machines, has eroded the market share of racing during the 1990s. Key features of betting/wagering during the 1990s include: • privatisation of the main TAB networks; • rationalisation of racetracks and race meetings; • innovations in racing products (night racing, SKY Channel telecasts, mystery bets); • promotion of special events in racing as part of a drive for increased tourism; and • projected expansion of internet and interactive wagering. Sportsbetting was illegal until the 1980s, although this did not stop many Australians from betting on cricket, football, boxing and other sports. Since then a limited amount of sportsbetting and FootyTAB has been allowed through TABs and, more recently, licensed bookmakers. Internet sportsbetting was legalised in the Northern Territory in 1996 and subsequently in other states. The first lotteries were established in Sydney in the 1880s as privately run Tattersall’s sweepstakes. Prohibition by various governments forced the Tattersall’s lotteries to Queensland, then Tasmania and eventually to Victoria. Until the Northern Territory introduced a private lottery in 1996 Tattersall’s was the only private lottery in Australia. Lotteries in other Australian states have been operated by government monopolies. The Golden Casket Art Union was the first state lottery, introduced in 1916 for charitable and community purposes. The success of this lottery became the model for similar government lotteries in other states, establishing a firm nexus between gambling revenues