Online casino gambling in Australia is a pastime that many residents enjoy, and there are many licensed and regulated Australian online casinos that cater for the online pokie, video poker and casino table games player. Gambling in Australia is very common with a high proportion of the adult population taking part in some sort of gambling activity, whether that’s online or off each month, and the Australian lotteries are extremely popular too. Sports betting in Australia is also very popular and in most bars and clubs you’ll also find a pokie room that’s full of the latest releases, and the number of those pokie players that are now enjoying the games online is growing constantly.
There are of course rules and regulations in place for online casino gaming, with the majority of them focused on the Australian online casino provider rather than you the player, and it’s the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 where the majority of online gambling legislation comes from.
Interactive Gambling Act 2001
The Australian Interactive Gambling Act 2001 states that online casinos may not advertise real money casino gaming to Australian residents, however it is fully legal for Australians to play online casino games. This law is similar to legislation in the US in that Australia does not itself license online casino gaming, but there are no laws stopping the individual playing online, and indeed, there are many good Australian online casinos that many players enjoy.
In many ways this is the sensible approach to online gaming legislation in that there is no real way to stop players playing should they wish, and many do, but there are rules in place against the casinos advertizing their product. The bottom line of Australian casino regulation and legislation is that the casinos for Australian players, while not licensed and regulated by the Australian government, are licenced and regulated elsewhere, meaning that online pokie players while not having the protection of a set of laws in that country, are protected from where the casino is licensed from...much like players from many countries around the world.
There is debate in the country as to whether or not to regulate online casino activity, and implement something similar to the legislation that is in place in the UK, however at present, it’s the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 which online casinos and their players should be aware of.
