Australia is a pretty unique country in many ways, and this is exactly the case with the legality of online gambling within its borders. Where most nations either allow online gambling openly, allow locally licensed online casino sites to operate, or completely outlaw online gambling entirely, Australia takes a different path.
Back in 2001, the Australian Government passed what is known as the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA), and this single piece of legislature holds the entire legal framework of online gambling in place within Australia.
What is the Interactive Gambling Act?
The Interactive Gambling Act is not typical of similar laws passed in other countries. In fact, it is the only one of its kind in the world. The IGA states that it is illegal for an Australian-based firm to offer online gambling services to Australian citizens. Nothing strange here, but it is the second part of the IGA that is odd. There is no clearly defined passage in the act that speaks to the legality of Australian residents using an online casino site. Yes, you did read that right, it is illegal for an AU company to operate an online casino in Australia, but completely legal for a person in Australia to use an online casino.
What Does this Mean for Australian Players?
What this means is that Australian people can use an offshore online casino site for their online gambling. Another oddity of the Interactive Gaming Act, alongside the validity of online gambling sites abroad, is that sites that offer purely concentrating on providing sports betting offers online are also totally legal. By this, we mean that as long as the local online gambling site in Australia only offers sports betting, it is entirely legal for the company to operate in Australia without breaching the Interactive Gaming Act of 2001.
Gambling Legislation to Consider when Playing Online
So, for Australian online gambling fans, it’s all good news. Offshore casino sites are legal form a player’s perspective, even though it would be illegal for the online gambling company to operate within Australia if it were a local company. It is also entirely legal for a site to offer online sports betting, and operate totally within the letter of the law.
So, as we can see, the legal position of online gambling in Australia is pretty interesting, and certainly unlike any other set of laws found anywhere else in the world. Find out which government department regulates gaming laws in different Australian states below:
- Australian Capital Territory: ACT Gambling and Racing Commission
- Northern Territory: Licensing Commission
- New South Wales: Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing
- Queensland: Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
- South Australia: Independent Gambling Authority
- Tasmania Tasmanian Gaming Commission
- Victoria: Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation
- Western Australia: Department of Racing, Gaming, and Liquor