ACMA continues to block illegal gambling sites in October

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released a brief update, which outlined new enforcement actions against offshore gambling sites that have been available to Australian citizens without the necessary licenses.

ACMA once again moves against offshore operators without a license

As a result, ACMA has sought assistance from Australian internet service providers (ISPs) to issue blocks on these websites, preventing residents of the country from accessing Lucky Block and Rooli in the latest round of blocks.

The regulator’s list of blocked Internet properties has grown to more than 1,059 since it was first introduced in November 2019. Although it was subject to criticism and an arguable lack of efficiency, ACMA has continued to methodically address and examine suspected cases of casinos that have been operating without the necessary license.

This includes sports betting operators and in some rare cases – suppliers. ACMA and Australia in general have been very particular about ensuring that overseas bookmakers and gambling sites withdraw from the country.

The watchdog has sent letters to counterparts in Curacao and elsewhere, appealing to regulators to rein in websites that are using their licenses to offer what ACMA has described as an unregulated and "illegal" form of gambling in the country.

Methodological enforcement but slow results

More than 220 websites have left voluntarily since ACMA began policing offshore gambling, which started in 2017, but the first blocks were only issued in 2019. Overall, ACMA has been moving at a rather slow pace, compared to its counterparts in other countries.

Brazil and Bulgaria have recently issued similar moves resulting in the ban of more than 2,000 websites in both jurisdictions. ACMA has been determined to proceed in a more methodological way, but the regulator’s approach has been labor-intensive.

ACMA prides itself on verifying whether every domain scrutinized actually merits an ISP block, as the measure itself could harm users in other ways, cutting access off from unrelated properties. Regardless, ACMA remains determined to continue blocking sites.

In September, ACMA blocked Casino Bello and prior to that, ACMA blocked another set of affiliates and operators in August.

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