The Australia House of Representatives, the lower house of the country’s parliament, has passed a bill that would introduce a blanket ban on using credit cards for online gambling.
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023 was submitted in September. It seeks to ban credit cards and other credit-related products, as well as digital currencies.
Introducing the bill has led to significant debate in parliament, with several amendments being filed to alter the bill. However, these were ultimately unsuccessful and the bill passed today (14 November) with support from both major parties in Australia.
The bill will now move forward to the Senate, the upper house of parliament in Australia, for further debate.
Breaking down the credit card bill
Aside from the ban on credit products, the bill includes a host of other measures that would come into effect.
These include heavy fines for operators that do not enforce the ban. Licensees in Australia could face..