Shifting the conversation
Paul Newson, Principal of Vanguard Overwatch and organizer of Australian gambling law and regulation conference Regulating the Game, tells IAG about the evolution of the event and what attendees can expect from a revamped format in 2025.
Four years and one pandemic since Australian gambling law and regulation conference Regulating the Game made its debut at Sydney’s International Convention Center (ICC), founder Paul Newson is adamant he has finally nailed the winning formula.
“We’ve made it a more compact three-day structure (down from five days previously), and we’ve done away with dedicated themed days like a day on AML or responsible gambling or technology,” he explains. “We’re mixing it up much more this year to keep it more lively and engaged, and to make sure there are different sessions that can excite the diverse audience that we have.
“We think about this as part of our evolution – getting more balanced content that serves both regulatory insight and expert content but also stimulates conversations around industry innovation and growth.
“So, we’ve definitely mixed it up: it’s more compact, it’s three days, it’s more accessible for people and we are gradually introducing a broader span of topics that incite more scrutiny and debate around regulatory and public policy.”
It is perhaps fitting, then, that having rotated through a raft of different venues since emerging in 2021, Regulating the Game will take place this year right next door to ICC Sydney at Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, running from 10 to 13 March inclusive of networking events.
Newson – former Deputy Secretary in the NSW Department of Industry responsible for liquor, gambling & racing public policy and regulation in NSW – believes Regulating the Game’s evolution is highlighted by the impressive array of speakers lined up for this year’s event.
While the conference maintains its regulatory bent through the likes of AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas, former Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission CEO Michael Phelan, Deputy Chair of the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) Ron Ben-David and Executive Director, Regulatory Operations and Enforcement for Liquor & Gaming NSW, Jane Lin, it also welcomes a healthy smattering of representatives from the operator side.
They include recently appointed Crown Resorts CEO David Tsai and the CEO of Australia’s leading online sportsbook Sportsbet, Barni Evans, among others.
“That sort of echoes that point of where we’ve pivoted,” observes Newson.
“For the first few editions we were very focused on anti-money laundering, financial crime, responsible gambling, safer gambling, research and public policy but it’s a hallmark of where we are at – certainly in Australia – regarding the shift in the regulatory posture and level of increased enforcement action we are seeing.
“We think it’s also appropriate now that we pivot away from that and have other conversations so that we’re not just caught in this mire of regulatory conversations all the time. We’ve got to break out of that and try and get back to normalcy so we can at least have a conversation around, ‘How do we make sure that there’s vitality, that there is innovation, that there’s headroom to have innovation,’ so we’re not always talking about the next enforcement action or the next wrongdoing that’s happened?”
Adding some color to Regulating the Game in 2025 will be a Keynote from Titus O’Reilly, a renowned Australian writer, presenter, performer and broadcaster who is known for his informative yet hilarious take on the world of sport and sports betting, and Bo Bernhard, Vice President of Economic Development at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who will present on the concept of the “fun economy”.
“Bo has really trademarked this conversation about this intersection between tourism, sport and entertainment, and it just provides this incredible lens and it changes the conversation,” Newson continues.
“For too long in Australia it’s been this hyper-inflated conversation on transgressions and wrongdoing. It was appropriate at the time to analyze that and then remediate it – but there’s more to the sector and more to regulatory practice than that.
“Bo has done a marvelous job of creating this whole new conversation around the fun economy and the incredible results that Vegas has achieved in transforming itself, so I’m looking forward to hearing about that.”
Complementing Regulating the Game will be three key networking events, starting with a welcome drinks on day zero and finishing with the traditional Gala Dinner, while the Pitch! concept that was first introduced last year will return after receiving positive feedback from attendees.
“It’s invaluable to marry this rich, incredible speaker lineup and content with some exciting networking events – and we’ve been building on that year after year,” Newson explains.
“This year we’re holding the Pitch! challenge, sponsored by Norths Collective, where we’ve got a fantastic lineup of organizations outlining their innovations in 10-minute quick-fire pitches, and four judges to ultimately give their verdict on the winner.
“These networking sessions are a must to get right, and they really do extend the conversation. Sure, you are meeting people and connecting, but more than that, these networking sessions facilitate the building of relationships. This is what enables more open and transparent conversations and sponsors collaboration.”
For Newson, it’s all about being better than last time, but more importantly recognizing what the industry needs at any given point in time.
“This is our fifth edition of Regulating the Game – we’ve done four in Sydney and one in London – and it’s getting bigger and better each occasion,” he smiles. “Every year we sort of rise to the challenge on what the key issues are that are getting ventilated and what the regulators and the sector are grappling with at this moment.
“We’re fortunate that we’re at the point now where we get a lot of interested inquiries and applications from people who want to talk, so we’ve matured to that point. We also target and identify speakers we think have got the experience and the expertise to add to the conversation and really stimulate a dialogue.
“We don’t want to invite speakers that people have heard three, five, 10 times previously on the conference circuit. That’s not our space. We want to stimulate debate; we want to examine and provoke this conversation that challenges the status quo and asks how we can advance better practices, how we can excite both industry and regulatory leadership and how we can get a better outcome for public policy but also for the sector.
“Ultimately, we want to see a gambling sector that is invigorated, has vitality and is sustainable, because the enormous economic and social contribution it makes has largely become under-recognized. We hope to shift that conversation.”
