Government considering fingerprint technology for problem gamblers

Prime minister Julia Gillard says using fingerprint technology to keep track of problem gamblers is one option the Government is considering.

“We’ll be looking at the whole range of technology that could be used to meet the same pre-commitment,” she told reporters in Canberra.

“The Productivity Commission (inquiry into problem gambling) did not define which technology to use. That has to be the subject of inquiry and discussion.”

The Government has agreed to clamp down on problem gamblers in a deal brokered with independent MP Andrew Wilkie. A parliamentary committee has been established to investigate the issue.

However, independent MP Nick Xenophon has said, “there will not be a fingerprint database”.

“I would never support any such scheme, and no scheme has ever been proposed by the federal government,” he told AAP.