Online Gambling in Australia

The issue of Internet Gambling in Australia

Internet betting is one of the popular hobbies in Australia. Along with traditional gambling, Aussies adore playing online while comfortably sitting at home. It is a wonderful way not just to spend free time but also to earn extra money. Professional punters are even able to win significant prizes at online casinos. As the online gambling statistics in Australia show, more than 80% of Aussies play at Internet gambling sites for real cash.

Land-based punters’ houses were first legalized in 1973. Since then, the popularity of casino games keeps growing.

Online gambling laws & regulations in Australia

Gambling legislation in Australia has been changing several times throughout the history of gambling. Such activity was first legalized in 1973. Land-based casinos are still regulated by the Australian government. Each region and territory is responsible for the control of their betting activity. There’re also a few Federal laws concerning live punters’ houses.

As for Internet betting, such gambling legislation is based on the Interactive Gambling Act passed in 2001. The main aim of the regulation is to protect punters from the negative influence of online gambling in Australia. According to the act, to propose a real-money play online to Australian punters became an offense. What’s more, Internet casino operators lost an opportunity to advertise their real-cash options to Aussies as such an action became illegal. At the same time, betting services operators still could advertise their services to punters, who live outside Australia.

In 2017, there was an amendment written to this act. Thus, the fines became larger adding civil penalties to those, who promote, operate, broadcast, or provide services connected with online gambling and other betting services, even without a court hearing.

Many people ask ’Is online gambling illegal in Australia?’ The opportunity to access and participate in gambling activities for people isn’t restricted. However, Australian punters have to search for a gambling house or sports betting resource with a license outside Australia.

Safe online gambling

Even though it’s illegal to operate betting activity in Australia, the government still takes care of the citizens. Thus, there’re special organizations in Australia, which are created to support online gamblers and help them if they have any problems with such kind of activity. Such organizations are anonymous and effective in dealing with various kinds of problems.

A few years ago, Aussie organization called Responsible Wagering Australia appeared to represent responsible gambling. In 2020, the members of this organization included the following operators:

• Betfair
• Bet365
• Sportsbet
• Unibet
• GVC
• BetEasy.

The members are to keep to the strict honesty standards and to their Code of Conduct in order to ensure the most high-quality gambling in Australia.

In 2018, the National Consumer Protection Framework was launched. It was created for the guarantee of protection for Aussie users participating in online betting. There’re special measures, which are developed to ensure that the negative effect of online betting is minimal. To realize those measures, there’re tools created to better control betting activity and have as much information as possible about such kind of Internet activity. There’s a self-exclusion system operating nationally as well.

To make sure that a definite punters’ house operating on the Internet is secure, it’s important to make certain it has an active license, provides comfortable banking options, and uses all the required security measures to protect customers’ data and financial transactions. Pay attention to the reputation of the selected resource and read online gambling reviews from other users (real reviews are always trustworthy). Methods of communication with punters are essential to guarantee 24/7 support. In this case, there are no risks to face fraud.

Tax Policy

Taxation in Australia for casino operators is created just for land-based punters’ houses because they’re regulated by the Federal and territory authorities. The taxes differ depending on the location of the casino. The tax rates are as follows:

• 15% for the Capital territory
• 15% for the Western Australia Government
• 8% for the Victorian Government
• 10% for New South Wales.

Australian punters can feel safe and not worry about their winnings at online punters’ houses. The Australian government doesn’t have any laws, which can make gamblers play for the cash obtained by means of gamble games play. Thus, any winnings from Internet betting are tax-free.

Playing slots and other online Casino Games

Aussies can enjoy all the popular online gamble games at the best online gambling sites. There’re games, which are more attractive for Australians, and it’s easy to find them at the majority of online casinos:

• Pokies (the most widespread variation of gamble games, which is also known as slot machines. Australians can enjoy different types of pokies with various number of reels, as well as video slots and progressive jackpot slots)
• Bingo (it’s an old and popular game, where a player is to get all the mentioned numbers on his/her cards. The first one to get the total, should say ‘Bingo’ to win)
• Blackjack (this is another widespread card game played all over the world. There’re various kinds of it accessible on online casinos accepting Australian punters)
• Roulette (such a game of chance is very simple and allows obtaining a ripper prize).

Another type of activity, which is popular among Australians, is sports betting. Such an option is available at the majority of modern Internet punters’ houses.

Many top punters’ houses provide access from smartphones and other devices.

Gambling news

In the latest years, the government has become more concerned about online gambling in Australia 2020-2021. New approaches to this issue have appeared, and new organizations to control Internet casinos were created.

In February 2021, a new project was developed in New South Wales to reduce the harm from betting. Such a project will help start a discussion and decide if gambling is really a problem. People will be able to yabber to each other about their problems and attitude towards online casinos.

More news concerning online casinos is likely to appear in the nearest future due to people’s concern. More gambling regulations can soon be developed.