The chief executive of Australian gaming giant Tabcorp pledged to pursue legal action to gain compensation from the Victorian Government after reform of the state’s machine gaming industry forced Tabcorp to write off nearly AU$500m in its annual results yesterday. Meanwhile the company warned of two years of further regulatory uncertainty as the Australian wagering market faces a ‘complete rewrite’.

Casino operators and machine manufacturers alike will be left out in the cold when bidding for a machine gaming monitoring licence begins in Victoria, according to formal legislation that was tabled before parliament last week. The bill confirms the break-up of the machine gaming duopoly currently held by local operators Tabcorp and Tatts, as well as authorising the creation of a Victorian betting exchange product.

The Victoria Government has agreed to allow on-course bookmakers to operate round-the-clock internet and telephone betting from Victorian racecourses as part of a major reform of the state bookmaking industry. Bookmakers will remain forbidden from laying bets on betting exchange Betfair, however.

Betfair’s High Court challenge to Western Australia’s prohibition of betting exchanges concluded yesterday. With the licensing and regulation of exchanges a hot political topic in other Australian states, the Court’s decision on Betfair, will be eagerly awaited.

Tabcorp’s half-year results were lifted by growth at the group’s wagering division as the company remained cautious in an evolving regulatory environment Down Under.

Victoria’s Justice Department has opened a public consultation period over government plans to radically overhaul the state’s AU$5bn gambling industry from 2012. Incumbent operators Tabcorp and Tattersall’s stand to lose out under current proposals, which would see gaming machines operated directly by licensed venues and also introduce competitive bidding for wagering and keno licences.

The chief executive of Australian gaming firm Tabcorp has railed against the increase in costs caused by unwelcome state government and racing industry actions in Queensland and Victoria as the company announced a A$300m fundraising and a continued dividend cut as it attempts to boost its cash reserves.

Australian gaming giant Tabcorp Holdings has said a Victorian state government decision to hike the annual levy on electronic gaming machines came without consultation and is badly timed for the industry.

Trading in shares of leading Australian gaming companies Tabcorp and Tattersall’s was halted yesterday after Victorian Premier John Brumby announced that both would lose their exclusive licences to operate nearly 30,000 machines in Australia’s second largest state. Clubs and pubs will now own and operate machines directly, leaving the two companies to fight over wagering and keno licences ahead of the new machine regime coming into effect in 2012.

Victoria's gambling industry is undergoing a period of rapid change, with sweeping reforms dismantling the existing duopoly over the lucrative gaming machines market from 2012. In other developments regulatory officials last year seized an internet gambling kiosk used to bet on an interstate bookmaker's website.