Australia — Gambling Regulation

The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 PROHIBITS online casino, poker and in-play betting for Australians; licensed online wagering (race and pre-match sports betting) is legal through state/territory licensees, policed federally by ACMA.

Legal status by vertical

Prohibition with one carve-out

Australia is the atlas's clearest example of a wealthy market that chose prohibition. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes it an offence to offer online casino games to Australians — a ban in place since the dawn of the industry — and the 2017 amendment closed the online poker gap, prompting the major international poker sites to exit the market. Online in-play sports betting is prohibited too.

The carve-out is wagering: pre-match sports betting and race betting are legal online through operators licensed by the states and territories — in practice, very often the Northern Territory. The split produces Australia's distinctive shape: a thriving licensed online wagering industry beside a total online casino ban.

Federal enforcement, national safeguards

Enforcement is federal and unusually public. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) polices the IGA, maintains a published list of blocked websites and directs internet service providers to block offshore casino and poker sites at the network level — one of the few jurisdictions to operate ISP blocking at scale against gambling.

On the consumer side, the National Consumer Protection Framework standardises wagering safeguards across the states, and BetStop — the national self-exclusion register, launched August 2023 — covers every licensed wagering operator at once. Lotteries remain state monopolies (the Lott, Lotterywest), with online lottery sales permitted.

Key facts

• BetStop, the national self-exclusion register, launched August 2023
• ACMA maintains a public blocked-website list with ISP-level blocking
• National Consumer Protection Framework standardizes wagering safeguards

Frequently asked questions