ACMA banned 8 more gambling sites from Australian shores

Australia has not dithered about a solution when it comes to unauthorized offshore gambling operators that have continued to target the mainland and offer online casino and sports betting products to residents of the Down Under without the necessary paperwork.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a new update in which it outlined a fresh block of eight new providers of online casino products, which the watchdog said, were in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 that effectively prohibits online casinos. The eight blocked casinos are:

• Jogi Casino
• Dundee Slots
• Lucky Hunter
• Lucky Wins
• Lukki Casino
• Spin Fever
• Clubhouse Casino
• Winport Casino

ACMA has described them as illegal operators that have been breaching country law to offer games of chance to local residents, even though Australia does not allow online casinos. ACMA has been working to actively minimize the availability of such websites over the past years.

The first round of bans was issued through Internet Service Providers back in November 2019, with the illegal gambling sites now reaching 975 on the regulator’s blacklist.

In the meantime, some 220 illegal brands have abandoned the country under penalty of incurring the regulator’s wrath, after ACMA threatened well-known international brands to contact their regulatory bodies if they refused to pack up and leave.

As to the latest case concerning the eight websites, ACMA stated that these websites have been providing gambling services to customers in Australia, including online sports betting alongside online slot machines and online casinos in general. The sports betting operators, for example, did not hold a valid Australian license which disqualified them from the market immediately.

Not least, these services were also promoting their products to Australians in the hopes of converting more people into players. The recent ban comes on the tail of other two enforcement actions conducted in April and March when 15 and eight websites were banned respectively. Australia has been particularly sensitive to overseas bookmakers and casinos trying to enter the market and offer a product without a license.

ACMA and the government have sought to cooperate with counterparts in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Curacao, and have petitioned regulators to ensure that companies that they license are not providing their products illegally in Australia.

This is part of a broader and more ambitious effort on the part of the country to limit non-authorized brands, and while it’s ongoing, Australia will have to rely on ACMA to keep adding to its growing blacklist.

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