ACMA blocks offshore gambling sites and affiliates

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has added more websites to its list of banned offshore gambling operators, along with several affiliates, focusing on marketing unauthorized services to local players.

ACMA targets more websites in latest enforcement move

All bans have been issued with internet service providers (ISPs) so that they guarantee a full restriction of the websites that have been deemed "illegal" under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The latest round of restrictions has suspended

• Casino Australia Online
• Pokies bet
• Pokiesman
• Smart Pokies

ACMA has elaborated in an official press release the reasons behind the decision. The regulator has had a systematic approach that has required painstaking efforts in which ACMA would have to prove that the websites were bad actors under local law.

So far, the regulator has been able to suspend 1,026 websites – including suppliers, affiliates, and operators, since it launched this practice in November 2019. The regulator said that the websites that have been restricted had provided prohibited interactive services, including online casinos, online slot machines, and in-play sports betting.

The sports betting operations, although legal by law to some extent, were not backed by any recognized state license, the watchdog said. Furthermore, some websites were publishing advertisements and promoting offshore websites that were not legal in the country.

Regulator consistent in acting against unauthorized services

Overall, the regulator has been working hard to ensure that it protects its players, choosing a methodology which, although resource-intensive, has led to the suspension of more than a thousand services, along with 220 brands that have pulled out of the country willingly

The efficiency of this method is yet to be gauged as exact figures of the offshore market in Australia are still a moving target. By one estimate in 2023, the offshore gambling market in Australia costs the country $3bn and it further fails to protect consumers in any meaningful way.

In July, ACMA banned two more websites from Australian shores, as the regulator cited the same range of offenses by unauthorized and unlicensed companies.

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