ACT Criminal Code (Cheating at Gambling) Amendment Act 2013 commences

On 21 August 2013 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) became the latest of several Australian legislatures to enact amendments, namely the Criminal Code (Cheating at Gambling) Amendment Act 2013 (No. 26 of 2013), to its criminal legislation to prohibit conduct that can corrupt the betting outcomes of events on which it is otherwise lawful to place bets, in other words match fixing.

Background

According to the government's explanatory information, this legislation flows from the decision in 10 June 2011 of all Australian governments to pursue a consistent approach to criminal offences and penalties relating to "match-fixing activities" under what is referred to as the National Policy on Match-Fixing in Sport.

The Standing Council on Law and Justice (SCLJ) Match-Fixing Working Group developed a list of six "Match-Fixing Behaviours" to assist jurisdictions in determining whether their legislation was appropriately dealing with such criminal activity. Later in August 2011, the New South Wales Law Reform Commission (NSWLRC) released its report into Cheating at Gambling (No 130). The NSWLRC report considered the coverage of offences that existed at the time in New South Wales (NSW) making a number of recommendations relating to cheating at gambling, corrupt conduct and inside information. In February 2013 the Australian Crime Commission released its report titled Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport, further highlighting a need for nationally consistent government responses to match-fixing and like criminal behaviour in sport. This report noted growing concern that organised criminal groups were targeting elite and sub-elite athletes with the aim of having such athletes participate in match-fixing.

The above activities lead to a review of ACT legislation that indicated as the government's explanatory material indicates: "not all of the Match-Fixing Behaviours identified by the SCLJ [were] currently addressed" in the ACT.

The amending Act amends the ACT Criminal Code 2002 (the Code) to prohibit certain conduct that can corrupt the betting outcomes of events on which it is otherwise lawful to place bets and the offences added by the amending ACT are intended by the government to apply to events occurring in the ACT or elsewhere.

Effect of new legislation

In broad terms the amending Act amends the criminal law to prohibit:

• intentionally fixing or influencing the outcome of a sporting event or contingency for the purposes of receiving a benefit;
• directly or indirectly placing a bet in a sporting event or contingency, reckless as to whether the outcome of the event or contingency has been fixed;
• possessing inside information and directly or indirectly placing a bet on a sporting event reckless about whether the information is inside information; and
• accepting a bet on a sporting event or contingency knowing that the outcome of the sporting event or contingency has been fixed.

The government claims the legislation "will ensure that those who participate in Match-Fixing Behaviours will be subject to criminal sanctions . . . [and] ... will also support members of the public who gamble lawfully to do so without the interference of match-fixing activities".

The new legislation provides that the general principles of criminal responsibility in chapter 2 of the Code will apply to the new offences in Division 3.8A.2 and includes extensions of criminal responsibility such as attempt, joint commission and conspiracy as well as the geographical applications provisions in Part 2.7 of the Code.

Other jurisdictions

To date similar legislation has been enacted or is in progress as follows:

• NSW see Crimes Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Act 2012 (No 64 of 2012)
• South Australia see Criminal Law Consolidation (Cheating at Gambling) Amendment Act 2013 (No 7 of 2013)
• Northern Territory see Criminal Code Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Bill 2013 (No. 29 of 2013)

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Criminal Code (Cheating at Gambling) Amendment Act 2013 (No. 26 of 2013) and related explanatory material as reported in the TimeBase LawOne Service.