Responsible Gaming
Austrian Lotteries has been fully certified in accordance with the European Lotteries and Toto Association’s Responsible Gaming Standards since 2009 and was awarded the highest level of certification (Level 4) available under the World Lottery Association’s Responsible Gaming Framework in 2010. This makes Austrian Lotteries one of the few gaming operators worldwide with such proven high standards of responsible gaming.
At Austrian Lotteries, we place utmost importance on player protection and intentionally exceed legal requirements in our responsible gaming rules, measures and programs. This applies across the board – from the courses and training we provide to our staff and sales partners in dealing with customers in responsible gaming issues through to the measures we use to protect minors.
At Austrian Lotteries, we place utmost importance on player protection and intentionally exceed legal requirements in our responsible gaming rules, measures and programs. This applies across the board – from the courses and training we provide to our staff and sales partners in dealing with customers in responsible gaming issues through to the measures we use to protect minors.
We are dedicated to prevention.
Austrian Lotteries has been successfully following the “responsible gaming” route since the company was founded. Since we first began operating, we have made it our priority to actively work against the possible problems that can arise from gambling. To ensure gaming remains a fun pastime for our customers, Austrian Lotteries has committed itself to applying appropriate restrictions, ensuring gaming rules and regulations are respected, providing players with the information they need, and incorporating player protection into the development of new games or redesign of existing products.
This firmly established component in our corporate philosophy is also characteristic of the business activities of our associated companies win2day, WINWIN, tipp3 ad Ural Loto.
Children and young people are – and have never been – a target group for Austrian Lotteries products. International studies indicate that people should not have their first contact with gambling at too early an age. For this reason, Austrian Lotteries voluntarily introduced a policy in April 2009 restricting the sale of lottery products to persons over the age of 16. The sale of sports betting products and use of online gaming platforms is only permitted to persons aged 18 and over as defined in the Austrian Gaming Act
Austrian Lotteries has been successfully following the “responsible gaming” route since the company was founded. Since we first began operating, we have made it our priority to actively work against the possible problems that can arise from gambling. To ensure gaming remains a fun pastime for our customers, Austrian Lotteries has committed itself to applying appropriate restrictions, ensuring gaming rules and regulations are respected, providing players with the information they need, and incorporating player protection into the development of new games or redesign of existing products.
This firmly established component in our corporate philosophy is also characteristic of the business activities of our associated companies win2day, WINWIN, tipp3 ad Ural Loto.
Children and young people are – and have never been – a target group for Austrian Lotteries products. International studies indicate that people should not have their first contact with gambling at too early an age. For this reason, Austrian Lotteries voluntarily introduced a policy in April 2009 restricting the sale of lottery products to persons over the age of 16. The sale of sports betting products and use of online gaming platforms is only permitted to persons aged 18 and over as defined in the Austrian Gaming Act
We provide information.
In May 2009, Austrian Lotteries launched a new player protection website (www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at) designed to provide a broad range of information on safe and responsible gaming. This website includes details of the player protection measures in place in our corporate group, short films with experts and problem gamblers, information on gambling addiction, a self-test, as well as contact details and presentation videos for counseling centers and treatment facilities. The website is available in German and English.
Austrian Lotteries also provides all its sales partners with information brochures on responsible gaming and requires that these be displayed prominently at each point of sale. These brochures contain behavior guidelines for the safe use of gaming products, a self-test to identify a potential risk of a gambling problem, an overview of the winning odds for all our products, and detailed information on the counseling and treatment facilities available in Austria.
We provide intensive, lasting training.
The core tasks of our “Responsible Gaming, Advertising & Sponsoring” division include not only the lasting implementation, evaluation and updating of responsible gaming programs, guidelines and concepts, but also the design and realization of corresponding training programs.
The key to our corporate success – namely the provision of “responsible” gaming products and services – lies to a large degree in the hands of our staff. Managers and employees with direct contact to our customers attend annual, specially designed courses and workshops, where they are receive training from recognized national and international responsible gaming experts. In addition, all our staff are required to complete a compulsory online basic training course in responsible gaming.
Contracts with new sales partners can only be signed after they have successfully completed our responsible gaming training. In addition, all our sales partners receive further responsible gaming training at least once a year from our field services staff. They also have the option of repeating our basic training course directly in the point of sale via our online terminals.
Since 2004, Austrian Lotteries has organized an annual, multi-day responsible gaming conference for management level employees known as the RESPONSIBLE GAMING ACADEMY (RGA). The goals of the RGA are to present new insights and research findings on the topic of gambling addiction and provide our managers with a forum to exchange best practices and attend presentations by invited national and international experts in a variety of relevant fields, such as psychiatry, psychology, and the social sciences, as well as representatives of regulatory authorities and other independent organizations.
We advertise responsibly.
Responsible advertising is intrinsically linked with responsible gaming. Austria Lotteries has always voluntarily applied the highest ethical standards in its advertising activities.
From a legislative perspective, Austrian Lotteries has a mandate to provide and also to market gaming products and services in an efficient and responsible manner. It is therefore also our task to promote so-called “gambling literacy”. This extends both to the development of the ability of the individual to partake in different forms of gambling in a controlled and safe manner and the development of suitable forms of addressing the various target groups.
This should be achieved through informative advertising which is carefully designed to provide information yet not overly stimulate a need to gamble. Austrian Lotteries concentrates on not disguising the facts and only promotes those benefits that can also be advertised and achieved in a responsible manner.
In 2010, we implemented our “Code of Conduct for Responsible Advertising” across the corporate group. The 11 points contained in this code of conduct serve to ensure that our advertising and sales activities meet the highest ethical standards and, in particular, are not targeted at vulnerable groups who might be at risk of developing a gambling problem.
We support research and work with counseling and treatment facilities.
Austrian Lotteries commissions renowned research organizations and institutions to carry out reliable, reputable scientific studies into various aspects of responsible gaming. This has also led to the establishment of permanent knowledge exchange with a dedicated international network of experts and institutions focused on gambling research.
Independent of these activities, Austrian Lotteries has also worked in close cooperation and engaged in intense information exchange with Austrian gambling counseling centers and treatment facilities for many years.
In 2010, we produced a series of short information films under the motto “It might be difficult to accept help, but it’s easy to find it.”. These films introduce all leading counseling centers and treatment facilities in Austria and can be viewed on our responsible gaming website www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at.
Further information on responsible gaming can be found on our website at www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at.
In May 2009, Austrian Lotteries launched a new player protection website (www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at) designed to provide a broad range of information on safe and responsible gaming. This website includes details of the player protection measures in place in our corporate group, short films with experts and problem gamblers, information on gambling addiction, a self-test, as well as contact details and presentation videos for counseling centers and treatment facilities. The website is available in German and English.
Austrian Lotteries also provides all its sales partners with information brochures on responsible gaming and requires that these be displayed prominently at each point of sale. These brochures contain behavior guidelines for the safe use of gaming products, a self-test to identify a potential risk of a gambling problem, an overview of the winning odds for all our products, and detailed information on the counseling and treatment facilities available in Austria.
We provide intensive, lasting training.
The core tasks of our “Responsible Gaming, Advertising & Sponsoring” division include not only the lasting implementation, evaluation and updating of responsible gaming programs, guidelines and concepts, but also the design and realization of corresponding training programs.
The key to our corporate success – namely the provision of “responsible” gaming products and services – lies to a large degree in the hands of our staff. Managers and employees with direct contact to our customers attend annual, specially designed courses and workshops, where they are receive training from recognized national and international responsible gaming experts. In addition, all our staff are required to complete a compulsory online basic training course in responsible gaming.
Contracts with new sales partners can only be signed after they have successfully completed our responsible gaming training. In addition, all our sales partners receive further responsible gaming training at least once a year from our field services staff. They also have the option of repeating our basic training course directly in the point of sale via our online terminals.
Since 2004, Austrian Lotteries has organized an annual, multi-day responsible gaming conference for management level employees known as the RESPONSIBLE GAMING ACADEMY (RGA). The goals of the RGA are to present new insights and research findings on the topic of gambling addiction and provide our managers with a forum to exchange best practices and attend presentations by invited national and international experts in a variety of relevant fields, such as psychiatry, psychology, and the social sciences, as well as representatives of regulatory authorities and other independent organizations.
We advertise responsibly.
Responsible advertising is intrinsically linked with responsible gaming. Austria Lotteries has always voluntarily applied the highest ethical standards in its advertising activities.
From a legislative perspective, Austrian Lotteries has a mandate to provide and also to market gaming products and services in an efficient and responsible manner. It is therefore also our task to promote so-called “gambling literacy”. This extends both to the development of the ability of the individual to partake in different forms of gambling in a controlled and safe manner and the development of suitable forms of addressing the various target groups.
This should be achieved through informative advertising which is carefully designed to provide information yet not overly stimulate a need to gamble. Austrian Lotteries concentrates on not disguising the facts and only promotes those benefits that can also be advertised and achieved in a responsible manner.
In 2010, we implemented our “Code of Conduct for Responsible Advertising” across the corporate group. The 11 points contained in this code of conduct serve to ensure that our advertising and sales activities meet the highest ethical standards and, in particular, are not targeted at vulnerable groups who might be at risk of developing a gambling problem.
We support research and work with counseling and treatment facilities.
Austrian Lotteries commissions renowned research organizations and institutions to carry out reliable, reputable scientific studies into various aspects of responsible gaming. This has also led to the establishment of permanent knowledge exchange with a dedicated international network of experts and institutions focused on gambling research.
Independent of these activities, Austrian Lotteries has also worked in close cooperation and engaged in intense information exchange with Austrian gambling counseling centers and treatment facilities for many years.
In 2010, we produced a series of short information films under the motto “It might be difficult to accept help, but it’s easy to find it.”. These films introduce all leading counseling centers and treatment facilities in Austria and can be viewed on our responsible gaming website www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at.
Further information on responsible gaming can be found on our website at www.spiele-mit-verantwortung.at.