Responsible Gambling in Australia: Laws and Help
Legal position in Australia
Providing online casino games in Australia is illegal. Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, prohibited interactive gambling services include online casinos, online pokies and slots, roulette, blackjack and online poker. Australian-licensed operators are limited to sports and race wagering. No domestically licensed real-money online casino exists for Australian players, and offshore operators commonly hold licences from Malta or Curacao — such licences do not authorise an operator to serve Australian customers.
Recognising a gambling problem
Problem gambling is typically identified not by how often a person gambles, but by what happens when gambling conflicts with other parts of life. Observable indicators include:
- Gambling for longer periods or with larger amounts than intended.
- Repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut down or stop.
- Borrowing money, selling possessions or using funds allocated for household expenses to gamble.
- Chasing losses — increasing bets to recover money already lost.
- Concealing the extent of gambling from family members or friends.
- Restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop.
- Neglecting work, study or family obligations because of gambling.
A common thread in these indicators is that the person has lost control over the decision to gamble, not merely over the amount spent. Gambling is a form of paid entertainment with a built-in negative expected return for the player. It is not a source of income, not an investment and not a solution to financial problems. Any approach that treats gambling as a way to recover from debt tends to increase the debt.
Where to get help
The services below operate in Australia and provide free, confidential support.
Gambling Help Online — https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au Free, confidential support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including online counselling.
Gambler’s Help — https://www.gamblers.help Responsible gambling support with services delivered across Australian states and territories.
Lifeline — https://www.lifeline.org.au Mental health support for anyone experiencing distress, including distress connected to gambling.
National Gambling Helpline — available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, through Gambling Help services.
These services are available to anyone affected by gambling, including family members and friends of a person who gambles. Contacting a support service does not require a formal diagnosis or any commitment to a treatment program.
Self-exclusion tools
BetStop — the National Self-Exclusion Register — https://www.betstop.com.au
BetStop is a national self-exclusion register for online wagering. It allows a person to exclude themselves from all Australian licensed online and phone wagering services in a single step. Registration periods range from a minimum of three months up to a lifetime. Once registered, a person cannot open new accounts with licensed Australian wagering operators, and existing operators must take steps to prevent them from gambling.
Data published on BetStop registrations shows how people use the scheme:
- Around 40 per cent of registrants chose to self-exclude for life.
- Fewer than 20 per cent chose the minimum self-exclusion period of three months.
- More than 14 per cent have extended or reactivated their self-exclusion period.
Two limitations of the register should be noted. First, BetStop does not cover offshore casino operators. Second, self-exclusion alone does not address the underlying behaviour — the extension and reactivation figures suggest that many registrants treat it as one part of a longer process rather than a single action.
The legal basis for the register came with the 2019 change to the law allowing the introduction of the National Self-Exclusion Register.
Regulatory framework
The National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering — https://www.aph.gov.au — applies to all licensed online wagering service providers operating in Australia. It establishes minimum consumer protection standards, including requirements related to account closures and staff training for identifying customers at risk of gambling harm.
ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority) publishes a register of Australian-licensed interactive wagering service providers. A licence can be verified by cross-referencing the licence number on the regulator’s official website. Foreign licensing authorities, such as those of Malta and Curacao, also maintain public registers where a licence number and its status can be checked — but a foreign licence does not indicate that an operator is authorised to serve Australian customers, and no operator should be assumed to hold any Australian approval beyond what ACMA’s own register shows.
Age restrictions
The minimum age for commercial gambling in Australia is 18. Operators are required to verify age, and providing false age information to open a gambling account is an offence.
Payments and what is prohibited
The only legal deposit routes for licensed Australian wagering are debit cards, bank transfer, PayID/Osko and BPAY. Credit cards and cryptocurrency have been banned as deposit methods for Australian online gambling since 11 June 2024. Credit cannot lawfully be offered for online betting. In-play sports betting online is banned except by telephone or within licensed retail wagering venues.
If the situation is urgent
For anyone in immediate distress, Lifeline (https://www.lifelime.org.au redirects are not used — the correct address is https://www.lifeline.org.au) provides 24-hour mental health support. For gambling-specific support, Gambling Help Online and the National Gambling Helpline operate around the clock.
Aussie Bet Rates provides this page as factual information about gambling regulation and support services in Australia. Questions about this page can be directed to [email protected].