What the Act prohibits
Section 5 of the Act defines a prohibited interactive gambling service as a gambling service provided in the course of a business to customers over the internet, another carriage service, a broadcasting service, any other content service or a datacasting service. A gambling service includes a game of chance, or of chance and skill, played for money or something of value where the customer pays to take part.
The Act then carves out services that are not prohibited: telephone betting, excluded wagering services, excluded gaming at a venue, place-based gambling services, certain lotteries and exempt services. What is left on the prohibited side includes online casino-style games, online pokies and in-play betting on sport.
GambleAware NSW lists the same set as illegal: casino-style games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat, online pokies, live in-play sports betting and any overseas gambling website or app that is not licensed in Australia.
What is lawful online
Betting on a horse, harness or greyhound race is an excluded wagering service, and so is betting on a sporting event provided the bet is placed before the event begins. The provider must hold a licence under a State or Territory law for that kind of service. GambleAware NSW also lists lotteries from licensed Australian operators among the legal services.
The licensing is done by the States and Territories, not by one national body. The Northern Territory publishes a list of licensed wagering operators that names the online bookmakers it licenses.
Who commits an offence
The offences in the Act are written for the people who provide or advertise a service. A person who intentionally provides a prohibited interactive gambling service to customers in Australia commits an offence carrying 5,000 penalty units, and each day the service continues counts as a separate offence. The same conduct carries a civil penalty of 7,500 penalty units.
Section 15AA applies the same penalties to a provider of a regulated service, such as sports betting, that holds no State or Territory licence for it.
The Act has a defence for a provider that did not know and could not, with reasonable diligence, have found out that a customer was physically present in Australia. It lists what counts as diligence, among them telling prospective customers that Australian law prohibits the service and checking customers' personal details and network data.
Is online gambling legal in Australia when the operator is overseas?
An operator based outside Australia is caught if any of its customers are physically present in the country. Section 8 of the Act defines the Australian-customer link in exactly those terms, and the Act extends to acts and omissions outside Australia.
A player at an unlicensed overseas site has no Australian regulator behind the account. The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission and GambleAware NSW describe deposits that cannot be withdrawn, sites that close with customers' money and withdrawals taken from bank accounts without permission. The offshore casinos page covers how such services are dealt with.
Who enforces the Act
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) monitors compliance, takes complaints and notifies internet service providers of prohibited gambling content so that it can be blocked. A person can complain about a suspected illegal service through the ACMA's complaint form, and BetStop's own pages say the same for casino games and other services provided illegally.
From 1 January 2027 the ACMA gains further powers, including notices to remove advertisements and to stop hosting a service. The reform page lists them.
Questions
Is a sports betting app legal?
Yes, if the provider holds a State or Territory licence for the service and the bets are placed before the event starts.
Are online pokies legal?
No. Pokies played over the internet are a prohibited interactive gambling service. Machines at a licensed venue are a different matter: State and Territory law governs them, and the Act has a separate rule for gaming equipment at a particular place.
Can a State or Territory allow an online casino?
The Act's carve-outs for regulated services do not include casino games provided over the internet. The ACT Gambling and Racing Commission states that its own Interactive Gambling Act 1998 ceases to operate while the Commonwealth Act is in effect, so the ACT does not regulate online gaming services.
Sources
- Interactive Gambling Act 2001, sections 5, 8, 8A, 15 and 15AA, Federal Register of Legislation
- GambleAware NSW: online gambling
- Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission warning about unlicensed sites, updated 9 December 2025
- ACT Gambling and Racing Commission: the ACT's own Act and the Commonwealth Act
- BetStop: about the register