Adam Rytenskild, CEO of Tabcorp, Wants a New National Regulatory Framework

Adam Rytenskild, the Managing Director and CEO of the famous Australian company Tabcorp, is working hard towards initiating a national regulatory framework. Rytenskild wants to equalize the wagering playing field, which will help in establishing better enforcement in the whole industry in the Australian regulated market. 

New regulations are more than needed:

Tabcorp is one of the leading companies in Australia when it comes to the racing and wagering industry. It possesses the licenses of seven states and territories. Rytenskild claimed that other corporate bookmarkers don’t need all of the licenses that Tabcrp possesses, and they work with only Northern Territory licenses. According to him, it isn’t a good solution in terms of regulations, and community safeguards aren’t fulfilled. 

He called the current regulation a “patchwork quilt,” claiming that it helped in increasing the amount of gambling advertising on television. There are many issues when it comes to this particular problem, but Rytenskild is sure that all of them can be solved via a new national regulatory framework.

He said: “The regulatory framework to police wagering operators is not fit for purpose. It doesn’t hold all wagering operators to account. In some states, the regulator regulates less than 40% of the wagering activity in the state. It needs to change to better protect the community and take into account our social license responsibilities.

“Our regulators do great work but are constrained by not having a nationally consistent, well-resourced framework. Instead, we have a patchwork quilt system with different rules and regulations across each state. It has allowed foreign online bookmakers to be licensed in the Northern Territory, and this has contributed to the proliferation of gambling advertising across our screens.”

He also claimed that the current regulations were over 20 years old, so the change was more than necessary, considering the fast-changing industry. 

He suggested establishing a national regulator who will take care of standards, ensuring that integrity is maintained and customers are highly satisfied and protected. It should be the duty of the regulator rather than the government. 

Collaboration of the state and industry officials:

Insisting that this isn’t only a federal issue, he claimed that the industry needed to be included in establishing the regulators. However, the state-based regulators are familiar with the process, and they have a chance to come up with a solution that has the best interests of all included parties in mind. One of the possible solutions is a national agreement that will be signed by a few independent regulators or one regulator on a national basis. 

Rytenskild added: “The key is there needs to be consistency because we’re only as good as the state with the least amount of regulation.”

This proposal is only a part of Tabscorp’s fight against inequality in business. It all began when New South Wales and Queensland increased the amount that needed to be paid last year, with the Point of Consumption tax increased for corporate bookmarkers.