Who the ban binds
It binds a person who provides a regulated interactive gambling service that is a wagering service, where the customer or prospective customer is physically present in Australia. In plain terms that is a licensed online bookmaker or betting exchange serving someone in the country.
Casino games are not part of the picture: they are prohibited outright, so no payment method makes them lawful. The licence page explains that side.
How the credit card ban applies to gambling in Australia
| Conduct barred | What the section says |
|---|---|
| Credit | Providing or offering credit in connection with the service, or facilitating or promoting credit from a third person |
| Credit card | Accepting or offering to accept payment by credit card |
| Linked accounts | Accepting payment from an account, service or facility that is paid from a credit card |
| Digital currency | Accepting or offering to accept digital currency |
| Other methods | Any method the Minister determines by legislative instrument |
Credit has a wide meaning in the Act: a debt that is deferred, or a deferred debt the customer takes on, counts.
Penalties
Each provision is both an offence and a civil penalty provision. Providing or offering credit, or taking a barred payment method, is an offence carrying 500 penalty units, and the civil penalty is 750 penalty units. Each day a breach continues is a separate offence or contravention.
Defences and one exception
A provider has a defence if it did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have found out, that the customer was physically present in Australia, or that it was accepting a barred method. The Act lists what counts as diligence, such as telling customers that Australian law prohibits credit and those methods and checking personal details and network data.
Section 15D exempts credit arranged wholly by voice call by a small provider, one whose wagering turnover for the last financial year was under $30 million. Further conditions apply, and for a provider in a group of related companies the turnover of the whole group counts.
Sources
- Interactive Gambling Act 2001, sections 11A and 15C to 15E, Federal Register of Legislation, compilation of 14 October 2024, including its amendment history for the 2023 Credit and Other Measures Act