Australian lottery operator The Lottery Office has welcomed investigations by regulators into Lottoland’s controversial new “jackpot betting” product that determines its winning numbers by calculations based on financial market indices.
Lottoland released the product after its form of “lottery betting” was banned in Australia on January 9, outlawing products allowing Australians to bet on the outcome of overseas lotteries.
Since the legislative changes came into effect, The Lottery Office, which is licensed in the Northern Territory, has become the only legal, Australian-owned online operator that allows Australians to benefit from draws such as the US Mega Millions, US Powerball and EuroMillions.
The Lottery Office general manager Jaclyn Mundey said that the organisation supported regulators’ investigations, and believed it was important to ensure that the industry remained strictly controlled.
Mundey said: “From Lottoland’s advertising, there is a risk that consumers can mistake this product for a type of lottery. But it certainly isn’t a ‘lottery’ as generally understood.
“Some of the names that Lottoland is using for financial market betting, such as US Power, are obviously designed to look like its previous ‘lottery betting’ products, though its products based on financial market indices from around the world have nothing to do with lotteries. This may be confusing for consumers.
“Also, it is hard to tell from their advertising if what they offer really is ‘jackpot’ betting.
“As well as this, because Lottoland is a wholly foreign company, this kind of conduct discourages investment in the Australian gambling industry and damages local licensed operators.
“We support the regulator’s investigation and are looking forward to hearing the outcome.”
Lottoland claims that betting on financial markets is not a new concept, and that it is legal.
