Australia is one of those countries where gambling is considered as a hobby and as such both the state and local governments don’t tax winnings gained from gambling activities. This is definitely different from other countries, but is certainly something which goes in favour of Australian gamblers.
Online gambling establishments are all the rage now, but the Australian gambling scene has always been rich in land-based casinos. In addition to these, many bars and pubs have also enabled clients various forms of legal gambling activities chief amongst which are the traditional video poker machines commonly known as pokies. All of this wouldn’t have been possible if Australia’s gambling culture wasn’t so deeply rooted within Australian lifestyle.
Interactive Gambling Act of 2016
The Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 was passed by the Australian Commonwealth Parliament in 2001. As the name implies, its chief purpose was to regulate online gambling and how online operators conduct their business when it comes to them offering services to Australian customers.
This act made it perfectly clear to all online casino operators which worked within the borders of Australia that their operations were illegal. In addition to this, the act also made it against the law to advertise real money Internet games on all types of media.
However, in spite of this act, a lot of Australians continued to wager online without any real repercussions. As it later transpired, this act was quite damaging for Australian online gambling and casino operators, but it didn’t have much of an effect on the habits of Australian gamblers. They continued to frequent international online casinos which accepted Australian players and were free to enjoy the benefits of online gambling.
The only losers from the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 were the Australian online casino operators. This was especially true when you factor in that online casino operators or other gambling companies would have been banned with $1.1 million per every day of operation if they were found to be breaching the law.
The fine for individuals was set at $220 thousand per day, and even though that is excessively high, not a lot of individuals were found to be guilty of breaching this act.