ACMA bans another 15 illegal gambling sites

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) continues to work around the clock to ensure that it protects the local sports gambling market from illegal third parties.

On the occasion of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ACMA carried out extensive checks into 200+ websites, focusing on 21 services specifically, and issuing a regulatory action against 18 operators which were found to be breaching the country’s Interactive Gambling Act of 2021.

The regulator has once again petitioned operators to quit voluntarily or face ramifications. Three services have agreed to do so, but the other 15 had to be banned through an ISP ban which ACMA has been using particularly efficiently and has already blocked access from 900 illegal gambling operators. Some 220 websites have pulled out of the market of their own volition since the bans started to happen several years ago.

ACMA Online Gambling Lead Carolyn Lidgerwood explained that the sports betting services were not actually allowed to provide their products in the country and were therefore subject to the measures.

She reminded the public and operators that the only way to operate in Australia is by receiving a license from a state regulator and reminded that online slots are currently not legalized in the country in any capacity.

Interestingly in the new case is that it highlighted the process ACMA follows. Some outsiders have criticized the regulator for acting rather slowly, but the truth is that ACMA sifts through vast numbers of websites to determine if they are at least doing something wrong. This takes time and resources that the regulator has chosen to tie up for this specific task.

In the most recent instance, ACMA went after 220 websites, but only found 21 worth investigating, with only 15 ending up on its list.

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