Is Online Gambling Legal in Australia?

Is online gambling legal in Australia: the short answer

The answer depends on the type of gambling. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 divides online gambling into services that can be licensed and offered to Australians and services that cannot. The table below summarises where each common product sits.

So when people ask whether online gambling is legal, the honest reply is that betting with a licensed Australian bookmaker is, while an online casino with pokies and tables is not a legal product in Australia, whoever runs it.

Are offshore gambling sites legal for players?

This is where most confusion sits. The Act prohibits providing certain interactive gambling services to people in Australia. The offence is aimed at the provider. An Australian who signs up at an offshore casino is not committing the offence the Act creates, and enforcement focuses on operators, advertisers and access to their websites.

That does not make offshore gambling sites legal in the sense of being licensed or approved. They operate without an Australian licence, often with a licence from Curaçao, Anjouan, Tobique or another offshore regulator. If something goes wrong, such as a withdrawal refused under a bonus rule, you cannot take the complaint to an Australian regulator or use BetStop to exclude yourself.

How enforcement affects you

The Act is enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) against the providers and advertisers of prohibited services, not against players. ACMA investigates complaints, can issue formal warnings and seek civil penalties, and can ask internet providers to block illegal gambling websites. For players, the practical effect is that offshore casinos sit outside any Australian complaint process, and their web addresses can change. Following new addresses through unofficial links carries a real risk of landing on a copycat site.

What the law means in practice

Because the legal question has a clear answer, the practical question becomes how to reduce risk if you still choose to play offshore. Three points matter most.

This is the reason our best online casino sites list is ordered by a score that rewards a named licence and operator, readable bonus terms and published payout data. It is also why our new gambling sites guide treats a named licence as the first thing to check at a young brand. A score describes a casino's published terms, not that it is legal or approved in Australia.

Recent changes to Australian online gambling rules

The legal framework has tightened over the past decade, mostly around licensed wagering. These are the milestones that shape the market today.

• 2017: amendments to the Interactive Gambling Act gave ACMA stronger enforcement tools against offshore operators, including civil penalties.
• November 2019: ACMA began asking internet providers to block websites that offer illegal gambling services to Australians.
• 2018: federal and state governments agreed the National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering, including deposit limits and activity statements at licensed bookmakers.
• 2023: consistent safer-gambling messages became mandatory in licensed wagering advertising, and BetStop, the national self-exclusion register run by ACMA, launched in August.
• June 2024: licensed online wagering providers were banned from accepting credit cards and digital currency.

None of these changes made online casinos legal; they mainly add protections for customers of licensed Australian bookmakers. Offshore casinos sit outside them.

What licensed Australian gambling gives you

It helps to know what you give up by playing offshore. Licensed Australian wagering providers work under the National Consumer Protection Framework and federal rules, so their customers get a set of protections that offshore casinos do not have to offer.

• The option to set a binding deposit limit at any time, with decreases taking effect straight away.
• Regular activity statements showing wins, losses and deposits.
• Access to BetStop, which blocks you from every licensed online and phone bookmaker at once.
• No credit cards or digital currency for deposits, which reduces gambling with borrowed money.
• A local regulator and complaint process if a dispute cannot be resolved with the provider.
• A federal regulator, ACMA, that you can report an illegal offshore service to, even though it cannot recover money for you.

Licensed providers can only offer betting and lotteries, not pokies or casino tables. If casino games are what you want, there is no licensed online option in Australia, and that trade-off is worth weighing honestly before you sign up anywhere. Venues with gaming machines and land-based casinos remain the legal way to play those games, under state rules.

If you choose to play

Is online gambling legal in Australia for you to take part in? You will not be committing the operator offence, but you will be relying on a foreign business without local protection. Keep deposits small, verify your identity early, withdraw winnings promptly and keep records of the terms you accepted.

Most importantly, put your own controls in place, since you cannot rely on BetStop for offshore sites. Our guide to responsible gambling tools lists deposit limits, bank gambling blocks and blocking software that work regardless of where a casino is based. For a full view of the casinos we track, see the online gambling sites catalogue.

This page is general information, not legal advice. If you need advice about your own situation, speak to a lawyer.

Online gambling legality FAQ