Hey guys,
Just an update on the current status of online poker in Australia.
The IGA Amendment Bill (2016) is yet to pass both houses of parliament. The House of Representatives (Lower House) rejected the Senate's (Upper House) amendments and replaced them with their own last Wednesday. This means that the amendments need to be agreed to by the Senate. It was listed for last Thursday in the Senate but due to a high workload, it wasn't considered.
Parliament now doesn't sit again until early August so online poker is alive and well until at least the end of August. 
Senator David Leyonhjelm has successfully argued for an Senate inquiry into whether online poker should be legalised/licensed/regulated.
I urge all Australians to lodge submissions to the inquiry. You can find the details at Participation of Australians in online poker.
If you are wondering what the f**k do I put in my submission then you can:
Get ideas from this post on 2+2 by JoeyDel
Keep an eye on the Australian Online Poker Alliance website as JoeyDel will also give further advice there.
It doesn't need to be a work of art, just your own thoughts about:
How you found online poker
The benefits of online poker on your life
What losing online poker would mean to you
The benefits of a licensed and regulated environment
The dangers of an unlicensed and unregulated environment
The advantages of playing online compared to live
These are just a few of the points you can address.
Submissions close on the 21st July with the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications due to report their findings on the 14th September.
This makes for an interesting timeline with Parliament due to resume again on the 8th August. Given that the bill won't take effect until 28 days after receiving Royal Assent, we can always hope that the bill gets delayed due to the buildup of work caused by the the slow passage of Budget bills (Budget bills have top priority).
If any one has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Regards
Laz
#AusFight4Poker
