Online Gambling in Australia
Online Gambling in Australia Unsplash

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Gambling has become a widespread and popular way to pass time around the world. According to Forbes, online gambling is really popular and highly spread out in most of Europe, whereas countries like the USA and Australia are a bit further behind. Here the rules are still more strict, and not all kinds of online gambling are allowed. Online gambling, such as sweepstakes contests where you win a prize if you are the winner, is a great way to pass time while having fun and it is a perfect fit for long boring drives or just to clear your head after a tiring day.

The rules of the game

The main form of legislation in Australia covering online gambling is an Act from 2001 called the Interactive Gambling Act. The Act covers the actions of companies offering gambling but not the players gambling online. This means that players have the possibility of gambling online via sites that aren’t from Australia without it being illegal. The companies just cannot market their gaming sites to Australian citizens due to the Interactive Gambling Act which states that marketing of unregulated online forms of gambling is illegal. Apparently it seems that it is not a priority for the Australian government to try and stop this form of gambling in the country. Furthermore, it is legal for Australian gambling sites to offer casino and poker games to players from other countries though. The conditions for this is that the sites have to accept excluding players from other countries if requested by the government.

Sports betting as the exception

There are few exceptions to the Interactive Gambling Act from 2001. Online gambling in the form of sports betting, racing and lotteries are all legal for Australian gambling companies to provide to Australian citizens. This means that sports wagers involving types of bets such as parlays, straight bets, teasers and futures are completely legal for Australian companies to engage in and provide. The only online sports betting form that is not legal, is in-play betting. Here bets are placed on games that are in-progress. It is only online this is illegal under the Interactive Gambling Act though. In-progress bets are still accepted over the phone or in person. Of course there are apps working with solutions to provide a workaround to the restrictions for online gambling. You can for instance find apps where you “Click to call” to place your bet and thereby use your voice instead of physically having to click to gamble.

The future of online gambling in Australia

The sports betting market in Australia is generating an estimated revenue of more than three billion dollars per year, making it the most rapidly growing segment of the wagering market in Australia. It is generally very popular to gamble online in Australia and it does not seem like the popularity of online gambling will die down in the future. As online gambling is trending and becoming bigger and bigger in the entire world, surely the gambling market in Australia will follow. Whether Australian companies get to provide the websites or the players find offshore websites to gamble on, it seems like online gambling will continue its growth in the next years.