Australian Government continues its collaboration with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in the attempt to block access to the unlicensed offshore gambling sites.
In the past years, the government was working hard to enforce new rules for offshore and unlicensed gambling websites, as the companies in question were operating in breach of the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act. The Gambling Act states that the access will be blocked for sites that are:
- “providing prohibited interactive gambling services to customers in Australia (such as online casinos, online slot machines, and services that allow in-play online sports betting)
- providing an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service to customers in Australia (such as online betting services that don’t have a valid Australian license)
- publishing ads for prohibited interactive gambling services or unlicensed regulated interactive gambling services in Australia”
The ACMA requested from the internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to four offshore gambling websites.
Always Vegas, Gibson Casino, Malibu Club Casino, and Viggoslots will be blocked after ACMA investigations found that the sites were operating in breach of the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act.
The ACMA, which said it received a number of complaints about the websites, has urged customers who have an account with the sites to withdraw any funds as soon as possible.
Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, some 180 illegal gambling websites have been blocked.
More than 100 illegal operators have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new rules for offshore gambling in 2017. More than 180 illegal gambling sites that have been blocked, 30 of which were blocked during 2020.
Last month, the ACMA flagged both Dinkum Pokies and Fortune Clock Casino as operating illegally, having in August ordered eight sites to be blocked, 11 in July and nine in January.
