The Uniting Church in Australia's Tasmanian synod has urged the government to swiftly progress the passage of legislation to prevent interactive gambling providers from directly or indirectly accepting credit card payments.
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A Senate inquiry has been tasked to examine the bill and its due to provide its final report to Parliament on July 30.
The synod's senior social justice advocate Mark Zirnsak in a submission to the inquiry said a ban on credit card usage would benefit those harmed by gambling problems and only provide minor inconvenience for those who used credit cards to make low-value or occasional bets.
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"The online wagering corporations will still be able to accept payment by debit cards or by accounts topped up by transfers directly from bank accounts," he said.
"Credit card gambling facilitates people losing money they do not have.
"People can lose everything they own to the online gambling businesses and then go further into debt through credit card gambling."
Tom Callachor, from gambling company Tabcorp, submitted to the inquiry a ban on credit cards for online wagering would have unintended consequences.
The company has predicted the racing industry would lose up to $40 million a year which would in turn result in a drop in tax revenue for states and territories of up to $25 million a year.
Mr Callachor said the incomes of newsagents and lottery agents would also be substantially reduced.
He said the bill's definition of credit was too broad and would inadvertently capture betting vouchers and potentially even bonus bets.
"Credit cards are used as one of the convenient methods for depositing into gambling accounts," Mr Callachor said.
"The concerns raised are around the perceived increased risk of problem gambling associated with the use of credit for these deposits.
"Tabcorp notes that there are already restrictions on the use of credit cards in certain gambling environments."
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