Who issues gambling licences
Australia has no single national gambling licence. Each State and Territory licenses gambling inside its own borders, and the Commonwealth Act decides which kinds of online service may be offered at all. A provider of a regulated interactive gambling service needs a licence under a State or Territory law that authorises that kind of service.
The Northern Territory Wagering Commission licenses sports bookmakers, betting exchange operators and on-course bookmakers under the Racing and Wagering Act 2024. The ACT Gambling and Racing Commission requires an online sports bookmaker based in the ACT to hold an ACT Sports Bookmaking Licence.
Why no Australian online casino licence can be granted
Casino-style games played over the internet are a prohibited interactive gambling service under section 5. Prohibited services are separate from the regulated ones: telephone betting, wagering on races and sports, place-based services and certain lotteries are regulated, while the Act has no category that lets a State licence cover online roulette, blackjack or pokies.
The ACT shows how this plays out. Its Interactive Gambling Act 1998 provides for regulating interactive gaming, but the Commission states that it ceases to operate while the Commonwealth Act is in effect, and that the ACT therefore does not regulate online gaming services.
How to read a licence on the Northern Territory list
The Northern Territory list gives the licensed company, the name it trades under and its website. The Wagering Commission licenses sports bookmakers, betting exchange operators and on-course bookmakers. The exception is Ubet NT Pty Ltd, licensed by the Director of Totalisator Licensing and Regulation.
Every licence on the list is for wagering. None authorises casino games, and a licensed company that offered them to customers in Australia would be breaking the prohibition.
The register of licensed providers
The ACMA keeps a register of licensed interactive gambling providers. GambleAware NSW says a wagering service must be on it to operate in Australia, and BetStop relies on the same ACMA list to show which providers self-exclusion covers.
Questions
Can an overseas licence replace an Australian one?
The Act asks for a licence under a law of a State or Territory. A licence issued by a regulator in another country is not one, and the provider of a prohibited service is caught whatever licence it holds abroad.
What is a regulated interactive gambling service?
Section 8E lists them: telephone betting, excluded wagering services, excluded gaming services at a venue, place-based betting services, services with a designated broadcasting or datacasting link, excluded lottery services and exempt services that the Minister has determined. A provider of any of these needs a State or Territory licence for that kind of service.
Sources
- Interactive Gambling Act 2001, sections 5, 8E and 15AA, Federal Register of Legislation
- Northern Territory Wagering Commission: licensed wagering operators, list updated 2 November 2026
- ACT Gambling and Racing Commission: online sports bookmaking in the ACT
- GambleAware NSW: what is legal to gamble on online
- BetStop: about the register