Just the ticket — tough new laws to stamp out scalping

• Ticket scalping to be illegal in WA after passing of legislation in Parliament.
• New rules for on-selling of event tickets will limit profit to 10 per cent.
• Heavy penalties for those who break the law.
• Legislation in place in time for WA to host the AFL Grand Final.

The tough new measures will be in place before general admission tickets go on sale for the 2021 AFL Grand Final at Optus Stadium to protect footy fans from price gouging and level the playing field by banning mass purchases by 'bots'.

Re-selling of concert and event tickets will be allowed but restricted to a maximum 10 per cent mark-up from the original price.

The use of software designed to by-pass security measures to prevent bulk purchases will also be outlawed.

Heavy penalties will apply for those who break the law with fines of $20,000 for individuals and $100,000 for companies. Even higher penalties will apply for those using 'bots' to purchase tickets.

The new laws, which passed Parliament on Tuesday, still provide an opportunity for people to on-sell their unwanted tickets, but remove the incentive for those who seek to profit from the large-scale purchase and re-selling of tickets to popular concerts and events.

The Commissioner for Consumer Protection will be given the power to enforce the anti-ticket scalping measures.

Consumers are advised to only purchase tickets from authorised sellers and avoid using third party re-sellers, especially if they are based overseas. Often re-sellers pay to be on top of internet search results, so the advice is to look beyond them when searching online.

Using third party re-sellers could result in the ticket being rejected at the venue and disappointed consumers being denied entry. Re-sellers often refuse to provide refunds where there is a change of date. Scammers also use these platforms to sell fake tickets.