What the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 prohibits
The prohibition is on supply. The Act makes it an offence to provide a prohibited interactive gambling service to a person physically present in Australia, and the named examples include online pokies, roulette, blackjack, craps and poker. The text is public: the consolidated Act sits on legislation.gov.au and a second copy on AustLII.
Two phrases in that sentence carry the weight. Supply means the offence attaches to the business offering the games. Physically present means the test is where the person is at the time, not where they are from, which passport they hold or which currency sits in the account.
| Activity | Regime | Where the obligation sits |
|---|---|---|
| Online pokies, roulette, blackjack, craps and poker | Interactive Gambling Act 2001, a federal Act | On the operator supplying the service to a person in Australia |
| Complaints about a prohibited service | The process added by the Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017 | With the communications regulator, which can have non-compliant services blocked |
| Gaming machines in pubs, clubs and casinos | State and territory legislation | With the venue and its state licence, separately from the federal Act |
| Sports betting | State and territory regulation, separate from the IGA | With the bookmaker licensed in the relevant state |
The operators compared on this site, and what they are
Every brand here is offshore. None of them holds an Australian online casino licence, because that licence does not exist for pokies. The terms under each row are the operator's own published wording.
Bonus terms
Offer placeholder. Bonus amount, wagering, minimum deposit and eligibility are to be confirmed with the operator before publishing. 18+. T&Cs apply. Play responsibly.
Bonus terms
Min. deposit €20 | 125% bonus up to €1,000 + 100 free spins | 40x wagering on bonus & free-spin winnings | Bonus valid 7 days | Free spins credited over 4 days | First deposit only | T&Cs apply.
Bonus terms
18+ | New customers only | Bonus code BLISS | Min. deposit €20 | 120% bonus up to €500 + 125 free spins | 40x wagering within 14 days | T&Cs apply.
- #4
Bonus terms
Min. deposit €20 | 1st dep: 100% up to €500 + 100 FS | 2nd dep: 75% up to €2,000 + 75 FS | 3rd dep: 50% up to €2,000 + 75 FS | 4th dep: 25% up to €3,500 + 50 FS | 5th dep: 50% up to €2,000 + 100 FS | 40x-50x wagering on bonus & FS winnings | Bonus and free spins valid 3 days | Max withdrawal 5x deposit | First 5 deposits only | T&Cs apply.
- #5
Bonus terms
New customers only | Min. deposit €20 | 100% bonus on the first deposit up to €600 + 125 free spins (25 free spins daily over 5 days) | Wager the bonus within 7 days | T&Cs apply | 18+ | Gambling can be addictive.
- #6
Bonus terms
Welcome bonus 280% up to €3,200 + 800 free spins. Bonus winnings are subject to wagering and are capped at €500. The bonus expires after 5 days if the wagering is not met. One bonus per person. 18+. T&Cs apply. Play responsibly.
- #7
Bonus terms
New customers only | Min. deposit €250 | Deposit bonus 100% up to €5,000 + 100 free spins on Collapsed Castle (€0.20 per spin) | Free spins credited in 2 packs of 50 every 24 hours | Bonus wagering x25 (free-spin winnings x25) | Wagering to be met within 14 days | Bonus can be reactivated after 7 days | Bonus is not withdrawable until fully wagered | Bonus T&Cs apply.
- #8
Bonus terms
18+ | New users | Welcome pack across 3 deposits: 100%/80%/60% bonus, up to €2,500 in total + 300 free spins | Min. deposit €20 | 45x wagering | Max bonus bet €5 | Activate within 48 hours, valid 5 days | T&Cs apply | BeGambleAware.org
- #9
Bonus terms
18+ | New customers only | 100% deposit bonus up to €200 | Min. deposit €20 | 40x wagering | Max bet €5 | Bonus valid 10 days | Max withdrawal 10x the bonus amount | T&Cs apply | Gambling can be addictive.
- #10
Bonus terms
18+ | New players | Min. first deposit €20 (CAD/AUD: 15) | Bonus code FIRST | 100% bonus up to €1,000 + 100 free spins | 40x wagering on bonus & free-spin winnings | Max bonus withdrawal equals the bonus amount received | Max bet €5 while wagering | T&Cs apply | BeGambleAware.org
- #11
Bonus terms
Welcome bonus: 100% up to €1,250 on the first deposit (min. €20). The bonus must be wagered 30x with real money and is valid for 14 days. One redemption per player. 18+. T&Cs apply. Play responsibly.
- #12
Bonus terms
18+ | All deposits | Min. deposit €50 | Privilege Wheel: up to €700 bonus or 50 free spins on 3 Royal Coins / Lucky Streak 1000 | 30x wagering | Max withdrawal from free spins €300 | The prize must be activated with a min. €50 deposit | T&Cs apply | BeGambleAware.org
- #13
Bonus terms
Min. deposit €20 | 1st dep: 100% up to €1,000 + 200 FS | 2nd dep: 100% up to €200 + 50 FS | 35x wagering on deposit & bonus | 40x wagering on free-spin winnings | Bonus must be activated within 7 days | Wagering to be met within 10 days | Max withdrawal 6x the bonus amount | First 2 deposits only | T&Cs apply.
- #14
Bonus terms
Welcome package: 100% bonus up to €10,000 + 500 free spins, min. deposit €20. Bonus funds and deposits must be wagered 3x before a withdrawal is possible. Check whether your country is accepted before depositing. Full terms apply. 18+. Play responsibly.
- #15
Bonus terms
18+. New customers only. The casino welcome bonus of 100% up to €500 + 50 free spins applies on a successful first deposit after the bonus code is entered. Before any withdrawal a 5x wagering of the deposit is required, counting only sports bets at minimum odds 1.6 and casino bets without minimal or zero risk. Withdrawal limits and further bonus conditions apply under the general terms. 18+. T&Cs apply. Play responsibly.
Does the Act create an offence for the player?
No. There is no provision in the Interactive Gambling Act making it an offence for an individual in Australia to place a bet at an offshore online casino. The department responsible for the Act describes its scope in its own publication on the IGA.
That is a statement about what the Act says, not advice about your position. Nothing on this site is legal advice and it cannot be. If your circumstances depend on the answer, read the Act or ask someone qualified to read it for you.
The practical division is worth being blunt about. Legal exposure sits with the operator. Commercial exposure sits with you, because an offshore business is outside Australian consumer protection, and there is no local regulator to complain to about a voided bonus or a withheld payout. That is precisely why the terms under each row in the table above matter more here than they would in a licensed market.
What changed in 2017
The Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017 strengthened enforcement. The communications regulator gained a complaints process for prohibited interactive gambling services and the ability to have non-compliant sites blocked. Enforcement moved from theory to something with a mechanism behind it, and the target remained the service rather than the customer.
Blocking works at the connection, not at the account. A service that becomes unreachable from an Australian connection still holds whatever balance sits inside it, which is a plain reason not to leave a large balance parked offshore. The same logic runs through withdrawal limits: a monthly payout ceiling and a site you can no longer open make a poor combination.
Why nothing on this site claims an Australian licence
There is no Australian online casino licence for pokies to hold, so no operator in the table can be licensed in Australia and none is described that way anywhere on this site. Where another site tells you an operator here is approved by the communications regulator, treat the rest of that page with the same suspicion: the approval it describes is not a thing that exists.
What these operators do hold is a licence somewhere else, and that is the thing to check: which authority issued it, which company name and number it names, and whether it covers Australian customers at all. FairCrown's own terms put the point more honestly than most: check whether your country is accepted before depositing. That sentence belongs in all fifteen sets of terms and appears in one.
| Interactive Gambling Act 2001, consolidated text | legislation.gov.au, with a second copy on AustLII |
|---|---|
| What the Act does, in the responsible department's own words | infrastructure.gov.au |
| What the 2017 amendment changed | Summarised in the amendment overview, which is secondary material rather than a primary source |
What to check before depositing at an offshore operator
- 01
Find the licensing line
It usually sits in the footer or the general terms: the authority, the licence number and the company name behind the brand. A licence that says nothing about your jurisdiction is not a licence for you. The checks worth running are set out on the safest operators page.
- 02
Read the accepted countries clause
Restricted country wording is what voids a withdrawal after the fact rather than before it. One of the fifteen sets of terms here tells you to check it before depositing, and the advice applies to all of them.
- 03
Read the wagering multiple and the withdrawal cap together
They work as a pair: one sets how much you must turn over, the other how much may leave. How wagering requirements work covers the first and withdrawal limits lists the operators publishing the second.
- 04
Have the identity documents ready first
Verification is usually triggered by a first withdrawal, not by registration. Withdrawals without verification explains what the process involves and why the phrase rarely means what it sounds like.
- 05
Set the limit before the first deposit
Deposit limits, session reminders and time-outs are easier to set while nothing is at stake. The state and territory schemes differ from each other and are summarised on self-exclusion in Australia.
What the law does not protect you from
Because the operators are offshore, a dispute is handled under the licence they do hold and the terms they publish, not under Australian consumer law. Read the withdrawal clause, the maximum bet clause and the expiry before depositing, because after a dispute starts those three are the entire conversation.
Pub pokies and sports betting sit under different rules
Gaming machines in pubs, clubs and casinos are regulated by each state and territory rather than by the federal Act. Venue rules, machine numbers, payout requirements and self-exclusion schemes differ between jurisdictions, which is why there is no single national answer to a question about a machine on a pub floor. The venues section treats the cities separately for exactly that reason.
Sports betting is a state regime as well, separate from the IGA, and it is not what this site compares. Tax is a third question again, with its own page: tax on gambling winnings keeps to what the sources say rather than offering a rule of thumb.
What works
- The Act is public and short enough to read: the prohibition on supply is in the text, not in anyone's interpretation of it.
- No provision in it creates an offence for the individual placing a bet, and the responsible department says as much in its own publication.
- Land-based play sits under a state regulator, with venue rules and self-exclusion schemes you can actually invoke.
- Every operator's own licence details are published somewhere, which makes the claim checkable in a couple of minutes.
What to watch
- An offshore operator sits outside Australian consumer protection, so a withheld payout has no local body to escalate to.
- Since 2017 a service can be blocked, and access can change without notice while a balance is still inside the account.
- Restricted country clauses can be enforced after a win rather than at registration.
- Offer figures in the table are supplied in euro and have not been confirmed for Australian accounts.
Read the licence line, then the withdrawal line
The terms under each row carry the operator's own wording. The two clauses worth finding before a deposit are the wagering multiple and the maximum withdrawal.
Compare all 15