Racing Australia Annual Report 2015
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that provides for the scrutiny of suspicious betting
transactions by the relevant on-shore authority.
If however an offshore wagering operator decides to
remain outside Australia’s regulatory framework, then
a raft of responses are needed to counter the threat
to integrity and the level of criminality that may be
involved.
Deterrence and enforcement includes:
• strict liability offences for principals and associates of
illegal offshore operators;
• civil penalties and take down notices, register of
illegal offshore operators and movement alert lists to
be administered by the Australian Communication and
Media Authority;
• enforcement of criminal provisions by Australian
Federal Police;
• blocking of financial transactions between Australian
customers and illegal offshore operators;
• blocking access to websites operated by illegal
offshore operators;
• reviewing existing anti-money laundering legislation
and programs; and
• a national approach on Federal and State legislation
directed at conduct that corrupts or would corrupt
a betting outcome with the intention of obtaining
a financial advantage or to cause a financial
disadvantage.
To support the above initiatives, Racing Australia
proposes that a Sports Integrity and Anti-Corruption Unit
be established within the Australian Federal Police and
a national Sports Integrity Commission be formed. The
role of the proposed Commission would be to facilitate
the sharing of information and intelligence concerning
integrity risks between sports and racing bodies on
one hand and law enforcement bodies on the other.
These bodies are designed to provide real substance to
enforcement and effective intelligence sharing.
A suite of legislative and regulatory measures is needed
to curb the threat of illegal offshore bookmakers. There
is no single solution to the problem. But if Government
has the conviction and will, there are powers within its
remit to severely limit the pernicious influence of these
corrupting forces.
2. ANIMAL WELFARE
Whilst it is self-evident to industry participants that
racehorses enjoy the highest standards of care and
handling, we must communicate our values and welfare
practices to the wider community in the face of ongoing
campaigns by some extremists with a penchant for
untruths.
All animal industries, let alone competition animal
sports, face a challenge in engaging an increasingly
urbanized population with a growing disconnect to rural
Australia and a decreasing understanding of animal
husbandry. We welcome any scrutiny and believe in
complete transparency knowing that overwhelmingly
participants do the right thing and love and care for their
horses.
(i) Traceability
Racing will not fully meet rightful community
expectations until it can account for every
Thoroughbred throughout its breeding and racing
life. We believe there must be full traceability of
Thoroughbreds for both integrity and animal
welfare reasons.
Accordingly, Racing Australia will, in the future, require
the registration of all foals under the Rules of Racing
instead of waiting for them to be registered/named as
racehorses as is currently the case.
In addition to giving racing authorities traceability
of all Thoroughbreds, the reforms will address the
long standing need for transparency of ownership of
horses. At present, ownership interests are not known
until a horse is registered/named as a racehorse by
Racing Australia. Racing Australia has resolved that
the ownership details must be fully disclosed on the
Mare Return (30 days after birth) and every subsequent
transfer of ownership must also be recorded.
(ii) Retirement of racehorses
A Rule of Racing introduced on 1st July 2014 requires
owners and trainers to inform Racing Australia on the
retirement of horses and their destination. Initial results
reveal that 9 out of 10 retired horses either go to the
breeding or equestrian sectors. For the first time we are
assembling the facts on the retirement of racehorses
which tell a good story about our industry's commitment
and responsibility for retired racehorses.
