Australia Gambling License

Online gambling in Australia is largely considered to be illegal. This was first clearly underlined with the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 and was once again reaffirmed by the Interactive Gambling Bill of 2016.

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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.

Not many licenses for online gambling in Australia
Not many licenses for online gambling in Australia
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.

The Interactive Gambling Bill of 2016

The Interactive Gambling Bill of 2016 was passed by the Australian Senate in March of 2017. This bill is as restrictive as the Act of 2001 if not more. It stipulates that all forms of iGaming which aren’t legal in Australia are banned. As virtual sports gambling is the only online form of gambling which is legal in Australia, this means that almost all online forms of gambling are illegal down under.

Another restriction which was met with a lot of discontent was the fact that with this bill all offshore gambling operators should cease to operate with Australian customers if they don’t have an Australian license. Since obtaining such a license is virtually impossible, this is more of a direct ban to online gambling than anything else.

This has created quite an outrage with both customers and casino operators and the fact of the matter is that many gaming operators have withdrawn from the Australian market after this bill was passed. This includes 888Poker, Vera&John and 32Red.

Australian Gambling Regulatory Bodies

The Australian gambling industry is regulated by State and Territory authorities. This means that there are regulatory bodies for each state and there is a distinct gambling regulatory body for every Australian state or territory.

These include the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission, the New South Wales Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, the Licensing Commission (Northern Territory), Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation, South Australia’s Independent Gambling Authority, the Tasmanian Gaming Commission, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, and Western Australia’s Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor.

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