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Offshore casinos Australia-wide: why they are illegal and how they are blocked

Offshore casinos Australia-wide are prohibited interactive gambling services, because the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 applies to any service with a customer physically present in the country, wherever the company sits. Regulators block such sites regularly, and the 2026 reform adds duties for banks, internet providers, app stores and search engines.

How far the Act reaches offshore casinos

The Act defines an Australian-customer link as any customer of the service being physically present in Australia, and it extends to acts and omissions outside Australia. A company outside the country that offers casino games to such customers is therefore providing a prohibited service, and the offence carries 5,000 penalty units, repeated for each day the service continues.

GambleAware NSW states the practical side: offshore gambling operators are not allowed to offer services to Australians, and many sites look Australian while being run overseas.

How these services are blocked today

When the ACMA finds prohibited internet gambling content, the Act has it notify internet service providers, which deal with the content under an industry code or standard. Regulators block illegal sites regularly, GambleAware NSW notes, but replacements keep popping up just as fast.

Advertising is a separate offence. Publishing or broadcasting an advertisement for a designated interactive gambling service in Australia is prohibited under Part 7A of the Act.

What changes from 1 January 2027

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 widens the tools. Banks and payment system participants must prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, transfers from an account held in Australia to a designated interactive gambling service provider. Internet service providers, domain name system providers, app distribution services and search engines must prevent their services being used in connection with such a service. The ACMA can order removal of advertisements within 24 hours, and can tell a hosting provider to stop hosting a service.

The reform page covers the penalties and dates.

What a foreign licence is

The Act recognises a licence issued under a State or Territory law. A licence from a regulator in another country is not one of those, and section 15 applies to a provider of casino games whatever it holds overseas. The casino licence page sets out which services a State or Territory licence can cover.

What an unlicensed service leaves out

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission lists the ways customers are caught out by illegal operators:

  • the customer deposits but cannot reach the winnings
  • the operator moves or closes the service and the money disappears
  • the operator keeps taking money from the customer's bank account without permission
  • the ACMA blocks the site and the customer cannot log in to the funds

GambleAware NSW adds that a customer of an illegal site has no consumer protection, no customer support and no way to recover lost money. BetStop does not apply either: it covers licensed Australian wagering providers and not online casino games or other services provided illegally.

Where a suspected illegal service is reported

The ACMA takes complaints about gambling services through its online complaint form. The Act lets a person complain, and BetStop's pages direct people to the same form for casino games and other illegal services.

Sources