Online Gambling Laws in Australia: What Is Allowed

Most answers to "is online gambling legal in Australia" stop at yes or no. The more useful answer is that the main federal law, the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, is written for the companies that offer or advertise gambling, not for the people who place bets. It decides which online services may be offered to people in Australia and which may not. This guide sets out that split, the reasons the ACMA gives for it, what the regulator does about offshore sites and what changes when the 2026 reforms start. It describes the status of the law as published by the ACMA on 24 Sep 2026. It is not legal advice, and state rules for venues and licences sit on top of it, so check the rules that apply to you.

What the Act allows and what it bans

Who the Act is written for

Under the Act, a company must not do any of the following:

• Offering a banned service to people in Australia, whether the company is based here or overseas.
• Advertising a banned service in Australia.
• Offering or promoting credit for online sports betting.
• Accepting a credit card, a credit-linked digital wallet or digital currency such as cryptocurrency as a deposit at an online or phone wagering operator, a rule in force since 11 June 2024.

The ACMA's own summary says the Act "sets the rules for companies that offer or advertise gambling services" and covers gambling through a website, an app or a phone. Every item in the list above is an obligation on a provider. The ACMA pages we read describe no rule aimed at the person who places the bet. That is why the useful question for a player is less "is this allowed?" and more "what protection do I have if something goes wrong?".

What the status means for a player in practice

A licensed Australian bookmaker answers to a state or territory regulator. An offshore casino does not answer to any Australian body, and the ACMA says so plainly. Its page on protecting yourself lists the practical consequences:

• Withheld winnings: nobody in Australia can step in for you when an offshore site refuses to pay; the ACMA's suggestions stop at a lawyer, the ACCC or whichever body licensed the site. How to use those routes is covered in our guide to casino complaints.
• Blocked sites: the ACMA has sites blocked, and a blocked site can leave you unable to reach your account and balance.
• Self-exclusion: BetStop, the national register, covers around 150 Australian-licensed wagering providers. It does not apply to online casino games or other services provided without a licence.
• Common complaints: the ACMA hears about deposits accepted and withdrawals refused, sites vanishing overnight, and cards still being charged after an account was closed.

None of this makes an offshore casino unusable. It does mean the licence, the complaint procedure and the withdrawal terms matter more than the welcome offer. When we compare sites on our best online casinos Australia page, those are the parts of the terms we read first.

Why online casinos are banned in Australia

The ACMA's explanation centres on offshore operators and consumer harm rather than on players. It says the law changed in 2017 to combat groups outside Australia that provide prohibited gambling services over the internet, and that since those reforms online gambling services have withdrawn from the Australian market and reports show Australians lose less money to services based overseas. Alongside the Act sits the National Consumer Protection Framework, 10 measures for online wagering that include a register letting people exclude themselves from all interactive betting services and the option to set a limit before they start gambling.

Licensed wagering was kept inside the system and given these protections; online casino games were kept out of it. That is the practical difference between the two: one is supervised in Australia, the other is not offered from Australia at all.

From 2001 to 2027: the key dates

1. 2001: the Interactive Gambling Act sets the list of services that may not be offered online to people in Australia.
2. 2017: amendments target unlicensed operators based outside Australia.
3. 2019: the law changes to allow a national self-exclusion register, and the ACMA's count of blocked gambling sites starts in November 2019.
4. 21 August 2023: BetStop opens. By 30 June 2026 it had 65,430 registrations, 40,160 of them active.
5. 11 June 2024: licensed online and phone wagering operators may no longer accept credit cards, credit-linked wallets or digital currency.
6. 1 January 2027: most measures of the 2026 reform begin.

Site blocking and services that left the market

The ACMA uses section 313 of the Telecommunications Act to ask internet providers to block sites. The blocks cover sites that offer prohibited services and also sites that publish ads for them, including affiliate sites. In its update of 21 May 2026 the ACMA counted 1,708 gambling and affiliate websites blocked since November 2019, and more than 230 services that had withdrawn from Australia since 2017. Recent blocks named in that update include Play Jonny, ACO96, TCL99, Waboom77, Wonaco and WooSpin. The ACMA's customer line is 1300 850 115.

Pokies, poker, blackjack and crypto, one by one

• Online pokies: slots are on the ACMA list of services that may not be offered online. Pokies in clubs, hotels and casinos are a different matter, regulated by state bodies such as the VGCCC in Victoria.
• Online poker: the ACMA treats poker as a casino-style game, so it falls in the same banned group as online roulette.
• Online blackjack: also a casino-style game online. At a land-based casino it is played under approved rules, for example Crown Melbourne's Blackjack Rules v29.0, approved by the VGCCC.
• Sports betting: allowed with an Australian licence and before the event starts; in-play betting online is not. Our betting sites guide covers the licensed side.
• Crypto: the only crypto rule we verified is the credit ban: since 11 June 2024, licensed online and phone wagering operators may not accept digital currency such as cryptocurrency for deposits. We did not check wider questions about crypto in Australia, and this page makes no claim about them. Offshore casinos are not licensed wagering operators, so the ban does not describe them; how they handle coins is covered in our crypto casinos guide.

What changes from 1 January 2027

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 19 August 2026. Most of it starts on 1 January 2027. Like the original Act, it is aimed at providers and advertisers:

• restrictions on gambling ads on TV, radio, online and at venues;
• a national register where people can opt out of gambling ads;
• limits on inducements for new customers in their first 14 days, people who left BetStop in the previous 3 months and customers at risk;
• a ban on commissions paid to staff or affiliates based on customer activity;
• takedown powers for ads and for prohibited services;
• a stronger BetStop.

The commission ban is aimed at the licensed providers and the people they pay, and the detail will sit in the Act and its rules rather than in these summaries. We have not read the full text of the Bill, and we did not check state rules for land-based venues; this page reflects the ACMA's published summaries on 24 Sep 2026.

Frequently asked questions

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18+ only. General information, not legal or tax advice. This page summarises the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and the 2026 reforms as published by the ACMA on 24 Sep 2026; check the rules that apply to you.