Playsponsible stands for the Group’s social responsibility and covers all related topics. The relevant activities in this regard go far beyond the classic understanding of “Responsible Gaming” and legal requirements.
Director General Erwin von Lambaart had this to say: “For us, gaming first and foremost represents a responsibility that we take very seriously. That’s why the Casinos Austria & Austrian Lotteries Group promotes responsible behaviour. It’s in our best interest that gaming remains a positive, enjoyable experience. For us, that means that professionalism in game management and player protection are top priorities. It also means being aware of our social responsibility, and that’s why we support charitable and climate-relevant projects.”
Socio-political responsibility
The Group’s actions are strongly characterised by social responsibility, which focuses on all areas of the core business – gaming. The focus is on the guests, players and customers; their safety and well-being have the highest priority.
All divisions are united by a common basis, which has now been provided with an externally visible platform: Playsponsible. The Group puts people at the centre and promotes equal opportunities as well as respectful interaction with each other.
Playsponsible Academy as a platform for exchanging experiences
A first milestone was set with the Playsponsible Academy. More than 200 of the Group’s employees recently met with experts from consulting and research centres as well as representatives of supervisory authorities and owners to exchange experiences and visit the new, albeit somewhat traditional Playsponsible Academy. The reason we describe it as ‘new’ is because the event frankly hasn’t existed in this form before; the reason we refer to it as ‘traditional’ is because it was built on top of the Responsible Gaming Academy, which was in operation until 2019, and expanded to include important areas such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG).
The aim was also to provide employees with insights into the current state of research and to promote a shared exchange in their daily work. The focus was on various aspects of responsibility, with topics ranging from brain research to the status quo and future challenges to international best practices regarding responsible gaming as well as parallels from similar industries when it comes to dealing with appropriate levels of responsibility. In this way, the Casinos Austria and Lotteries Group is also responding to changing circumstances and consumer demands.
A new milestone: 18+
Of course, the protection of players and minors is and remains the most important issue as it is inextricably linked to the core business. The latest measure also comes from this area: as of Monday, July 10, 2023, Austrian Lotteries will raise the minimum age for participation in lottery games to 18 years. In doing so, they are optimising their player and youth protection measures and setting another milestone in responsible gaming.
Lotto, EuroMillions, scratch-off tickets and similar products may then only be sold in retail outlets to persons who are over 18 years old.
The retail outlets are contractually obliged to pay attention to the minimum age and to carry out an ID check if necessary.
“With this voluntary self-restriction, we ensure a standardisation of the minimum age for all the games of chance and sports betting that we offer. This step shows that we are a socio-politically responsible licensee for lottery games in Austria,” van Lambaart states.
The comprehensive and diverse commitment of the Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group to Austria and its society is presented at www.playsponsible.at.