The Australian Capital Territories' first license for interactive home gaming and a virtual casino may be issued as early as November.
The ACT's commissioner for revenue says she expects regulations for interactive gaming to be completed next month and the first license to be issued two months later. "Primarily, the reason for the legislation and the regulation was to protect the players rather than as a revenue collecting exercise," the commissioner said, and she added—responding to concerns from Casino Canberra—that she believes exclusivity granted to that casino applies only to a "physical" casino. "Of course the legalities would all be closely looked at when a license application is processed, but as I understand it, there is no right to stop somebody operating games in a different format or the environment of cyberspace," she said.