Entain among investors in Australian financial counselling push

Responsible Wagering Australia members bet365 and Entain are among those providing more than AU$3m to promote better access to financial counselling services.

Fellow RWA members Betfair, Sportsbet, Unibet and PointsBet are also involved in the investment.

RWA CEO Kai Kantwell said the funding “builds on our world leading consumer protections that only exist in online gambling including mandatory age and identity verification, deposit limits, time out tools and activity statements.”

He added that RWA members are “going well beyond the requirements” from the government for “keeping customers safe.”

The RWA is partnering with the Federal Government, the financial counselling sector and industries including banking, energy and insurance to establish a not-for-profit body that will distribute funding to financial counselling services from early next year.

“The number one priority for RWA and its members is to ensure that our customers can gamble in a safe environment while having access to the tools to stay in control of their gambling behaviour,” Cantwell said.