ACMA pulls the plug on more offshore gambling sites

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has proven intransigent in the face of offshore operators who have not withdrawn from the country’s gambling market, offering products to local players without the necessary permits to do so.

Regulator blocks offshore gambling sites in Australia

ACMA’s biggest target has been offshore casino sites, which are targeting locals with iGaming products which are not authorized under the Interactive Gambling Act 2021. In fact, the only type of casino gambling in the country is usually limited to land-based venues, and even these are getting a lot of scrutiny from regulators.

Now, ACMA has added two more casinos to its list of prohibited websites which have received an ISP block, to wit Richard Casino and Wanted Win.

ACMA has similarly detailed the reasons behind its decision, noting that it targets companies that provide prohibited interactive gambling services or unlicensed gambling offerings to Australians.

The regulator has similarly gone after affiliate websites, that help such casinos build momentum in the local market, as well as suppliers of actual casino games.

Although the bulk of the regulatory action has been focused against gambling operators, and affiliates, ACMA has been keeping an eye for all parties it considers to be in breach of the country’s online gambling laws.

More than 1,000 sites blocked since 2019

This latest move now puts the number of blocked gambling and affiliate websites at 1,011 since the first enforcement took place in November 2019. ACMA’s method has been labor-intensive, but the regulator has similarly stuck to it, managing to systematically remove bad actors from the market.

Online casinos are not the only entities on the hook, though, as the Australian government is now going to pay closer attention to offshore lotteries and keno websites, which may also come under heavier regulatory regimes.

Australia has been leading some notable attempts to limit the impact of gambling on consumers. ACMA, for example, has reached out to Curacao, the jurisdiction that many of the websites on its list are based in, attempting to work closer with the overseas government to raise regulatory standards and push even more websites out of Australia.

When ACMA first announced it was going to block wrongdoers, many regulated websites left on their own accord for fear of repercussions back at home where strict regulators may hit out against operators that have operated illegally elsewhere.

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