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The Interactive Gambling Act Explained

Australia's Interactive Gambling Act bans online casinos, pokies and in-play betting, permits licensed wagering and lotteries, and adds payment blocking from 1 January 2027.

By the Gambling Hero editorial team · October 25, 2026 Regulation

The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 is the federal law that bans online casinos, online pokies and in-play sports betting for customers in Australia. It permits licensed online wagering and lotteries, and from 1 January 2027 it also makes banks block payments to illegal sites.

In short

The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth), Act No. 84 of 2001, makes it an offence to provide a prohibited interactive gambling service to anyone physically present in Australia. Online casino games and pokies fall in that category. Wagering on racing and pre-match sport, lotteries and telephone betting are excluded, but only a provider with a state or territory licence may offer them. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) enforces the Act. The Gambling Reform Act 2026 adds payment blocking, app store and search duties, and stricter BetStop rules from 1 January 2027.

What is the Interactive Gambling Act?

The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 is a Commonwealth statute, Act No. 84 of 2001, that regulates gambling services offered online, by phone or by broadcast to people in Australia. It received Royal Assent on 11 July 2001, and the ACMA enforces it.

The Act does not license anyone. State and territory laws license wagering operators, lotteries and venues; the Interactive Gambling Act decides which kinds of interactive service may be offered to Australians at all. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts administers it. A shorter country summary is in our Australian gambling law overview.

Milestone	Date	What changed
Act assented	11 July 2001	Offence of providing interactive gambling services to Australians
Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017 (No. 85)	13 September 2017	Civil penalties, unlicensed-provider offence (s 15AA), in-play definition (s 10B)
National Self-exclusion Register Act 2019 (No. 127)	13 December 2019	Legal basis for BetStop (Part 7B)
BetStop launched	21 August 2023	National self-exclusion from licensed online and phone wagering
Credit and Other Measures Act 2023 (No. 114)	11 June 2024	Ban on credit cards and digital currency for online wagering
Latest compilation	14 October 2024	Compilation C2024C00646, in force as of October 2026
Gambling Reform Act 2026 (No. 72)	Assented 26 August 2026; schedules start 1 January 2027	Payment blocking, infrastructure duties, advertising caps, BetStop changes

Which online gambling services does the Interactive Gambling Act ban?

The Interactive Gambling Act bans any prohibited interactive gambling service with an Australian-customer link. That covers online casino games, online pokies, online scratchies and in-play sports betting, because none of them sits on the Act’s list of excluded services.

Section 5 defines a prohibited interactive gambling service as a gambling service provided in the course of a business over the internet, another listed carriage service, broadcasting, datacasting or another content service. Section 4 counts as a gambling service any game of chance, or of mixed chance and skill, played for money or anything of value where the customer pays to play. Section 8 adds the territorial hook: a service has an Australian-customer link if any customer is physically present in Australia.

Service	Status under the Act	Section
Online casino table games (roulette, blackjack, baccarat)	Prohibited	s 4 (game of chance), s 5
Online pokies and slots	Prohibited	s 4, s 5
In-play online betting on sport	Prohibited online; not an excluded wagering service	s 8A(3)(b), s 10B
Electronic scratch or instant lotteries	Prohibited; not an excluded lottery service	s 8D(2)
Online poker for money	Prohibited	s 4, s 5

Section 10B defines in-play betting as bets on a sporting event placed after the event begins. Telephone betting is excluded under section 8AA only where dealings are wholly by voice call, which leaves in-play bets made by voice call outside the ban.

What online gambling is legal in Australia?

Online gambling is legal in Australia when it is a regulated interactive gambling service supplied by a holder of a state or territory licence. That means online wagering on racing and pre-match sport, lotteries, telephone betting and services tied to a licensed venue.

Section 8E lists the regulated services. Section 15AA then makes it an offence to provide one of them to Australians without a state or territory licence for that kind of service, with the same 5,000 penalty units as the main offence.

Excluded wagering (s 8A): horse, harness and greyhound racing, plus sporting events where the bet is placed before the event starts.
Excluded lottery (s 8D): draw lotteries and the supply of lottery tickets, but not electronic scratch or instant lotteries.
Telephone betting (s 8AA): voice-call betting that does not relate to a lottery.
Excluded gaming (s 8B): electronic games played at a particular licensed place, such as venue gaming machines.

Use the 3-question IGA test to classify any online gambling offer:

Is it a gambling service? A paid game of chance or a bet almost always is.
Is it on the excluded list in section 5(3)? If not, it is prohibited for customers in Australia, whoever runs it.
Does the provider hold a state or territory licence for that kind of service? If not, it is an unlicensed regulated service under section 15AA.

Editor’s insight

The 3-question test gives one clear answer for casino-style products. Online pokies fail question 2, so no state or territory licence can make them legal online. A site that claims an overseas licence, such as Malta or Curaçao, changes nothing under Australian law, because sections 5 and 15 look at where the customer is, not where the operator is licensed. Our guide to whether online pokies are legal in Australia applies the test to pokies in detail.

Is online gambling legal in Australia for players?

The Interactive Gambling Act’s offences are aimed at providers, not players. Sections 15 and 15AA punish a person who intentionally provides a prohibited or unlicensed service, and the compilation read contains no offence for a customer who uses one.

That does not make offshore play safe. A Senate committee report on online poker recorded that illegal offshore operations carry risks for consumers, including a lack of harm minimisation and operators mismanaging or absconding with players’ funds. BetStop states that it does not apply to online casino games or other gambling services illegally provided in Australia.

Section 15(4) also lists what a court weighs when an operator says it did not know a customer was in Australia. The factors include whether customers were told Australian law prohibits the service, whether they agreed in their contract not to use it while in Australia, and whether network data showed them outside Australia.

Important

A player at an offshore casino has no Australian regulator to turn to. The site is illegal to provide, its terms may bar Australian users, and BetStop does not cover it. If the site withholds a withdrawal, no Australian licence condition applies. Read PayID Pokies and Offshore Casinos: The Legal and Practical Risks before sending money, and use our responsible gambling resources if play is causing harm. This article is general information, not legal advice.

What penalties and enforcement does the Act use?

The Interactive Gambling Act punishes illegal provision with criminal penalties of up to 5,000 penalty units and civil penalties of up to 7,500 penalty units. Each day of contravention counts as a separate offence, so penalties multiply for an operator that keeps running.

The Australian Financial Security Authority states that a Commonwealth penalty unit was $330 for offences committed from 7 November 2024, with indexation from 1 July 2026. At $330, the figures work out as follows:

Provision	Penalty units	At $330 per unit	Over 30 days
s 15(1) criminal offence, per day	5,000	5,000 × $330 = $1,650,000	$49,500,000
s 15(2A) civil penalty, per day	7,500	7,500 × $330 = $2,475,000	$74,250,000
s 15C(3) offering credit for online wagering	750	750 × $330 = $247,500	Per contravention

Enforcement in practice relies on blocking because most illegal operators sit outside Australia. The Australian Government’s May 2026 response to the online gambling inquiry says the ACMA has blocked over 1,500 sites since this work commenced. Part 7A separately bans advertising of designated interactive gambling services in Australia.

Blocked brands often return under new domain names, which is why we track them on our casino blacklist.

How have credit cards, crypto and BetStop changed the Act?

The Interactive Gambling Act now bans credit cards and digital currency for licensed online wagering and powers BetStop, the national self-exclusion register. The credit ban took effect on 11 June 2024, and BetStop launched on 21 August 2023.

Section 15C(4A) lists the banned payment methods: a credit card, an account or facility funded from a linked credit card, digital currency, and any method the Minister adds. Section 15D exempts providers with annual wagering turnover below $30 million. Offering credit also carries 500 penalty units as an offence and 750 as a civil penalty.

Part 7B created the National Self-exclusion Register. The Government’s launch release describes self-exclusion for a minimum of 3 months up to a lifetime, covering all Australian licensed interactive wagering providers. How registration works is covered in BetStop Explained: Australia’s National Self-Exclusion Register, and support services are listed in Gambling Help in Australia: Helplines and Services.

What changes when the Gambling Reform Act starts?

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026, Act No. 72, received Royal Assent on 26 August 2026. Its schedules start on 1 January 2027 and add payment blocking, infrastructure duties, social media advertising penalties, wagering advertising limits and stricter BetStop rules.

Reform	New section	Civil penalty
Banks and payment system participants must prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, payments from Australian accounts to illegal providers and their associates	s 15J	1,000 penalty units
Internet service, domain name, app store and search engine providers must prevent their services being used for illegal gambling with an Australian-customer link	s 15AB	1,000 penalty units per use
Social media services must not publish illegal gambling advertisements	s 61EA(4)	5,000 penalty units
BetStop deregistration needs written confirmation at least 7 days after applying	s 61JKA	Rule change
Keno-type lotteries with frequent or repeated draws redefined	s 4, s 8BA	Product rule

The Government’s 2 July 2026 release summarises the advertising package: no more than three wagering ads an hour on TV between 6am and 8.30pm, no ads during live sport in those hours, and online ads only for logged-in adults who can opt out. The same release says online keno “pocket pokies” and foreign matched lotteries will be banned. As of October 2026, these measures have not yet commenced.

Our take

The Interactive Gambling Act has a simple core and a messy edge. The core is clear: online casino games and pokies may not be offered to anyone in Australia, licensed or not. The edge is enforcement. Website blocking has reached over 1,500 sites, yet illegal operators keep reaching Australians through mirror domains, social media and payment workarounds. The 2026 reforms aim at the money and the distribution channels rather than the domain names, which we think is the right target. The open question is how strictly the ACMA will read “reasonably practicable” in its guidelines for banks and app stores. We will update this guide when those guidelines are published.

Key takeaways

Act No. 84 of 2001; the latest compilation is dated 14 October 2024.
Providing a prohibited service: up to 5,000 penalty units per day (criminal) or 7,500 (civil).
At $330 per unit, a civil penalty is $2,475,000 for each day of contravention.
The ACMA has blocked over 1,500 illegal gambling sites (Government response, May 2026).
From 1 January 2027, banks must block payments to illegal operators (s 15J, 1,000 penalty units).

FAQ

Is it illegal to play at online casinos in Australia?

The Act’s offences apply to providers, not players. Providing online casino games to people in Australia is illegal, and players at those sites lose the protections of Australian licensing and BetStop.

Can an Australian state license an online casino?

No. Online casino games are not on the excluded list in section 5(3), so a state or territory licence cannot make them a permitted online service.

Is online sports betting legal in Australia?

Yes, when the bet is placed online before the event starts and the operator holds a state or territory licence. In-play betting online is prohibited.

Who enforces the Interactive Gambling Act?

The Australian Communications and Media Authority. It investigates complaints, has blocked over 1,500 illegal sites and can use the civil penalty, infringement notice and injunction powers in Part 8.

When do the Gambling Reform Act changes start?

All schedules except the transitional Schedule 5 commence on 1 January 2027, according to section 2 of Act No. 72 of 2026.