Australia’s Online Gambling Laws Explained: What Players Need to Know

Backing the Socceroos on a licensed app is legal. Betting on the next goal through that same app is not, and neither is spinning online pokies or depositing with a credit card. Here is how the rules really work, and what changes for every punter on 1 January 2027.

Few countries mix sport and betting like Australia. Australians lose more money to gambling per person than any other nation, and The Australia Institute estimates losses of A$36.0 billion in the 12 months to March 2026. Online betting is a major reason. More than a third of Australian adults gambled online in 2024, compared with just 8% in 2017.

Even so, the rules confuse many people, including football fans who follow the Premier League, the Champions League or the A-League from Australia. You can legally bet on a match before kick-off, but not through an app once the game has started. Online casinos are illegal to offer, yet players who use them are generally not breaking the law.

This guide starts with the main law behind the system, then sets out what is legal and what is banned, how the regulator tackles offshore sites, which player protections already exist and, finally, the biggest reform package in decades, which takes effect at the start of 2027.

The Law Behind It All: The Interactive Gambling Act 2001

Online gambling in Australia is mainly controlled by one federal law, the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, usually shortened to the IGA. It covers gambling offered over the internet, by phone and through broadcasting. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is the national regulator that enforces it.

The most important point for players: the IGA targets businesses, not individuals. It is an offence for a company to provide or advertise a banned gambling service to people in Australia. Someone who plays at an offshore casino is generally not committing an offence under the Act, although, as explained below, they give up almost all of their protections.

The federal law works alongside state and territory licensing. Any bookmaker offering online betting to Australians must hold a licence from an Australian state or territory. Many of the biggest online bookmakers are licensed in the Northern Territory, which The Australia Institute describes as the industry’s de facto regulator. ACMA publishes a register of every licensed provider.

What Is Legal and What Is Banned

The simplest way to understand the IGA is to split online gambling into two groups. Wagering on sport and racing, plus lotteries, is allowed through licensed operators. Casino-style games played for money online are prohibited. The table below shows where common activities sit today.

Activity (for players in Australia)	Status
Pre-match betting on football and other sports with a licensed bookmaker	Legal
Horse and greyhound racing bets with a licensed bookmaker	Legal
Online lottery tickets from licensed Australian operators	Legal
In-play (live) sports betting by a real phone call or in person	Legal
In-play sports betting through a website or app	Banned
Online casino games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat	Banned
Online pokies (slot machines)	Banned
Online poker for real money	Banned (no licensing system exists)
Paying a bookmaker by credit card or cryptocurrency	Banned since 11 June 2024
Online keno “pocket pokies” and foreign-matched lotteries	Banned under the 2026 reforms

Why in-play betting matters to football fans

When the IGA was written, lawmakers separated bets placed before a match from bets placed during it, because they believed live betting could become highly addictive. As a result, in-play bets are only legal by an actual phone call or in person at a venue. Placing them through a website or app is not allowed.

Bookmakers tested that line with “click to call” features that imitated a phone call inside an app. The government closed this loophole in the 2017 reforms. ACMA later found that four major brands, including Ladbrokes and Bet365, broke the rules by using quick codes that sent bet details through the app instead of over the phone.

In practice, this means a fan in Sydney who wants to bet on the next goalscorer after kick-off must phone a licensed bookmaker. Any app that lets Australians place that bet online during the match is operating outside the law.

How ACMA Fights Illegal Offshore Sites

The 2017 amendments gave ACMA stronger tools, including formal warnings, civil penalties and the power to ask internet providers to block illegal websites. According to ACMA, more than 230 illegal gambling services have withdrawn from the Australian market since those rules began.

Website blocking started with ACMA’s first request in November 2019. Since then, internet providers have blocked more than 1,780 illegal gambling and affiliate websites. One recent batch included a site that appeared to imitate the licensed brand LightningBet, so checking the exact name and licence matters.

For players, the main risk is simple. An offshore casino or bookmaker is not licensed in Australia, so there is no Australian regulator to help if it refuses to pay out, closes your account or disappears after being blocked. These sites also sit outside the BetStop self-exclusion system and the payment rules described below.

Protections Already in Place for Players

Credit card and crypto ban

Since 11 June 2024, licensed online bookmakers cannot accept credit cards, credit-linked digital wallets or cryptocurrency. This brought online betting into line with land-based gambling, where credit card betting was already banned. Companies that break the rule face fines of up to A$247,500. Online lotteries and keno were left outside the ban, and the government has said it will review the measure after June 2026.

ID checks and monthly statements

New online betting accounts now require identity verification before a customer can gamble, a step designed to stop children and self-excluded people from signing up. Licensed bookmakers must also send customers monthly activity statements showing their wins and losses.

BetStop, the national self-exclusion register

BetStop launched on 21 August 2023. One registration blocks a person from every licensed online and phone wagering provider in Australia, for any period from three months to a lifetime. Once registered, bookmakers cannot open accounts for that person or send them marketing.

Take-up has been strong. ACMA data shows 67,480 registrations and 41,290 active exclusions as of 31 July 2026, with 78% of registrants aged under 40. Around 38% of users have chosen a lifetime ban. ACMA also enforces the rules: in January 2026 it found breaches by six providers, including Tabcorp.

The 2026 Reforms: What Changes on 1 January 2027

The new rules have a long history. In June 2023, a parliamentary inquiry led by the late Peta Murphy published its report, titled You win some, you lose more. It made 31 recommendations, the most famous being a total ban on online gambling advertising, phased in over three years.

The government did not go that far. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a package in April 2026, the bill was introduced on 2 July 2026, and it passed Parliament on 19 August 2026 after a deal with the Coalition. Most measures apply from 1 January 2027. Communications Minister Anika Wells called them the “strongest ever laws to tackle gambling harm”.

Advertising around live sport

• No wagering ads during live sport on broadcast and online services, from 15 minutes before an event until 5 minutes after it, between 5am and 8.30pm.
• A maximum of three wagering ads per hour on TV between 5am and 8.30pm.
• No broadcast promotion of betting odds.
• No wagering ads in sports venues or on players’ and officials’ uniforms. Contracts signed before 2 July 2026 can continue until 31 December 2031.
• No athletes, celebrities or influencers in gambling ads. ACMA guidance published on 19 October 2026 describes the definition of a “notable person” as deliberately broad.
• No wagering ads on radio during school drop-off and pick-up times.

One detail matters for football fans. The live sport blackout only covers 5am to 8.30pm. A Saturday 3pm kick-off in England airs around midnight or later on Australia’s east coast, outside that window. Independent senator David Pocock pushed to extend the ban beyond 8.30pm, but the final law kept the time limit.

Online ads and the new opt-out register

Online platforms can only show wagering ads to people who are logged in, verified as over 18 and given an option to opt out. A national Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register, run by ACMA and paid for by a levy on gambling companies, will let people switch off betting ads across all their services in one place.

Limits on inducements and illegal operators

Bookmakers will not be allowed to send direct marketing of inducements, such as bonus bets, for 14 days after a customer signs up, for three months after someone leaves BetStop, or to any customer identified as at risk of harm. The law also lets banks and payment systems block transactions to illegal operators, gives ACMA faster blocking powers, and bans online keno “pocket pokies” and foreign-matched lotteries.

Supporters and critics

The package has drawn fire from both sides. The Greens and Senator Pocock argued it falls short of the full ban the Murphy inquiry recommended, and polling by The Australia Institute found 79% of Australians support a total ban. Major bookmakers, including Sportsbet and TAB, backed the reforms but warned that a complete ban could push punters towards illegal offshore sites.

A Quick Checklist for Players in Australia

• Check the licence. Use ACMA’s register of licensed wagering providers before opening an account.
• Bet in-play by phone only. Live bets through an app or website are not permitted from licensed Australian operators.
• Use a debit card or bank transfer. Credit cards and crypto are banned for online wagering.
• Avoid offshore casinos. You may not be prosecuted, but you will have no Australian protection if something goes wrong.
• Use the safety tools. BetStop is free, and Gambling Help Online offers 24/7 support on 1800 858 858.

The Bottom Line

The basic rule in Australia has stayed the same since 2001: betting on sport through a licensed bookmaker is legal, while online casino games are not. What is changing is the environment around that rule. From 2027, fans watching a match will see far fewer betting ads, no betting logos on new kit deals and no star players telling them to place a bet.

For players, the safest approach is to stay with licensed Australian operators, understand the in-play limits and use the protections the law provides. The new rules reduce the pressure to gamble, but responsibility for each bet still sits with the person placing it.