A report on the effectiveness of new powers exercised by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to crackdown on illegal online gambling has found them to be effective.
The report found that since reforms to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 were enacted in September last year, 33 prominent offshore wagering sites had withdrawn from the Australian market.
The reforms expanded ACMA’s powers to take action against prohibited and unlicensed offshore gambling sites.
Chair of ACMA, Nerida O’Loughlin said that over the past year the Agency had moved decisively to disrupt the provision of illegal offshore gambling to Australians.
“The impact of the reforms indicates revenue to illegal offshore gambling websites is falling,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“Statistics from Global Betting and Gaming Consultants indicate that offshore gambling expenditure will fall by over 50 per cent between 2017 and 2018,” she said.
“Australia’s laws are unambiguous — if you provide prohibited or unlicensed gambling services to customers in Australia, you are breaching Australian law and we will take enforcement action.”
She said maximum penalties of nearly $8 million per day could apply to corporations.
“We’ve received valuable support from overseas gambling regulators and third parties such as software providers and payment processors to change behaviour in the offshore gambling market,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“We expect the combination of clearer laws, an active regulator and stronger enforcement measures to continue to disrupt the provision of illegal interactive gambling services to Australians.”
