“This unanimous vote by World Lottery Association members takes our industry to a new level in our commitment to responsible gambling and corporate social responsibility. Now close to 140 companies in 75 countries around the world will begin working towards common standards, aimed at protecting all lottery stakeholders”.
WLA President Arch Gleason.
Have your say
We want to hear what you have to say. At any point in this report you can comment on what is being said on any of our corporate responsibility issues.
Setting standards
As a measure of how seriously we take our responsibilities towards players, we work hard to set and maintain the highest standards of player protection in the UK gambling industry, as well as in the lottery sector worldwide. To achieve this, and to encourage other lotteries throughout the world to follow our example, we have been working both internally and externally to develop global standards on player protection.
This year we set our sights on promoting responsible gaming standards throughout the UK industry and in the lottery sector worldwide. As a result of the work we have done with the World Lottery Association and the European Lottery Association, we are becoming a leader in online player protection and in developing global responsible gaming standards.
There are three main strands to our work in this area.
Developing worldwide standards of player protection
During the past year, Camelot has led the development of a global Responsible Gaming Framework and a European Responsible Gaming Standard. Our Chief Executive Dianne Thompson chaired both the World Lottery Association's (WLA) working group on Corporate Social Responsibility and the European Lotteries' (EL) Responsible Gaming working group.
The WLA working group developed the WLA Responsible Gaming Principles, which were approved unanimously by its 140 members in February 2006. Out of this, the group brought the Principles to life by creating a Responsible Gaming Framework, also adopted unanimously by its members in November 2006.
Camelot led the development of the Framework, which was created to establish common standards and make sure lottery operators everywhere keep improving their responsible gaming programmes. The Framework covers areas such as retailer and employee training, game design, interactive channels, player education, reporting and stakeholder engagement.
At the same time, Camelot was leading the development of the EL Responsible Gaming Standards. These standards sit alongside the Framework, setting even more stringent levels of responsible gaming for members of the EL. They were approved by its members in May 2007 and so far 32 lotteries have signed up for the implementation of the Standards in their jurisdiction. For more information please visit the European Lottery Association.
Camelot is now taking a lead on the development of robust governance structures to apply both the WLA Framework and EL Responsible Gaming Standards across Europe and worldwide. We are also encouraging members throughout the world to implement these standards in their countries.
Involvement in Projects
We get involved in a range of projects, from funding research to taking part in initiatives that take a wide view of the gambling industry and lottery sector. For instance, we took an active part in the Gambling Commission's consultation on the new Gambling Act, which is due to be fully implemented in September 2007. For more information please read Responsible lobbying.
Marketplace taskforce
Camelot's Chief Executive, Dianne Thompson, sits on the Business in the Community taskforce on Market Responsibility. This taskforce looks at best practice in responsible marketing, how a company's core product or service impacts on society, and issues in the supply chain. Taskforce members act as ambassadors for responsible business practice and aim to inspire others to follow their example. As part of this work we were also involved in the development of the BITC Marketplace Principles which we signed in November 2006.