Labor will give Aussie sports and music fans a fair go, cracking down on ticket gouging which locks fans out of major events.
Labor will introduce a national ban on the use of ticket-buying bot software, which flood ticket websites to purchase the most tickets possible, causing ordinary consumers to miss out.
It is estimated bots account for as much as 30 per cent of the traffic to primary ticketing sites in the moments after a major event goes on sale.
We will also introduce a national cap on the resale price of tickets at 110 per cent of the initial face value.
This will mean fans will get a fair go on accessing tickets to sporting blockbusters, as well as concerts, musicals and theatres.
Ticket scalping is a growing scourge – instead of the sales going to our footy clubs and local businesses, artists and the music industry, fraudsters are building profit models and forcing consumers to pay exorbitant prices for tickets, or missing out completely.
Labor will act. A Shorten Labor Government will introduce a cap of 110 per cent of initial face value price for any resold tickets and make sure laws are consistent across all states and territories through federal legislation.
This crackdown will aim to cut the business model for websites like ViaGogo, which relies on selling tickets to music and sports fans at exorbitant, inflated prices and can often leave consumers stranded with useless tickets that have been sold multiple times.
Labor will also ban the use of ticket-buying bot software, which prevents ordinary consumers from accessing popular concerts and major events.
This will ensure genuine fans get fair access to tickets, and won’t have to compete with sophisticated software designed to buy as many tickets as possible when popular events go on sale online.
A Labor Government will also boost consumer protection by:
- Strengthening disclosure requirements for all ticket sellers; and
- Allowing for the fair resale of tickets, preventing primary ticket sellers cancelling legitimately purchased on-sold tickets
- A national ban on speculative ticket listing
The ACCC will conduct a review of these measures after twelve months of operation, with a view to further strong action if required.
We understand that consumers need the ability to easily on-sell tickets if they need to, and others may want to purchase tickets at the last minute. These reforms won’t prevent that – they will simply mean that ticket sellers can’t significantly profit from desperate fans.
The Liberals have been too paralysed by their own instability to take action on this issue, only introducing disclosure requirements for resellers last month and failing to act on ticket gouging at all.
Labor will prioritise Australian sports and music fans to make sure consumers get an overdue fair go.