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The Government released today (March 22) a report on the outcome of the public consultation exercise on gambling review, which was conducted from June to October 2001.

Highlighting the major findings of the report, a spokesman from the Home Affairs Bureau said, "During the consultation period, we received over 7,000 written submissions and 83,000 signatures. We also held briefings for the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Home Affairs and the 18 District Councils (DCs), and attended a number of public forums, for the purpose of gauging feedback on the issues.

"The consultation results indicate that there is widespread public support for the existing gambling policy of restricting gambling opportunities to a limited number of authorized outlets only.

"Around 90% of the submissions and signatures received are against the proposition of providing authorized soccer betting outlets. Most of them came from educational associations and Christian groups. The supportive views were mainly from individuals."

To seek the views of a wider spectrum of the community on the issues, the Government commissioned independent opinion surveys around the consultation period. The results of these polls indicate that public opinion is split on the proposition, with around 50-60% in support and 35-40% in opposition.

"While the consultation exercise and the opinion polls indicated that the community in general agrees that soccer betting is widespread in Hong Kong and that simply tightening legislation and stepping up enforcement would not tackle the problem adequately, there are highly divergent views as to whether authorized outlets should be provided as a means to tackle the problem.

"In view of such markedly divided views on the proposition of regulating soccer betting through authorized outlets, we need more time to assess carefully whether we should implement it. We do not consider it appropriate to rush to a decision at this stage. But we will closely monitor the situation, particularly in the run-up to and during the World Cup Finals in mid 2002," said the spokesman.

"In the meantime, the Government will take vigorous enforcement measures against illegal soccer betting particularly during the 2002 World Cup Finals. We will also step up publicity and education to remind the public that it is unlawful to engage in soccer betting activities," the spokesman added.

The report also reveals that there is overwhelming support for taking appropriate educational, preventive and remedial measures to minimize the negative impact of gambling in Hong Kong, as proposed in the consultation paper.

"We will adopt a three-pronged approach to follow up on the preventive and remedial measures. First, we will set up an inter-departmental working group to devise an implementation plan for strengthening the services for pathological gamblers and launching the education programmes. Second, we will establish partnership with the universities and non-governmental organizations which conduct gambling research or offer services to pathological gamblers. Thirdly, we will establish contacts with overseas bodies with considerable experience in these areas, such as gambling regulators and relevant organizations," the spokesman said.

The Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) issued a public consultation document entitled "Gambling Review: A Consultation Paper" (the consultation paper) on 22 June 2001. The objective was to identify challenges to the existing regime with a view to devising suitable measures to tackle the problems. The public was invited to express views on whether the Government should continue to maintain its existing gambling policy; whether the Government should provide authorized outlets for soccer gambling as a means of tackling the illegal soccer betting problem; and whether the Government should implement preventive measures and provide services to address the negative impact of gambling. The public consultation ended on 5 October 2001.

A report summarizing the results of the consultation exercise has been issued today. A compendium of public views which contains copies of all individual submissions has also been made available at the Home Affairs Bureau's head-office, Yau Tsim Mong District Office and Sha Tin District Office for inspection by members of the public from March 25 to September 30, 2002.

End/Friday, March 22, 2002

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