• Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

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29 August 2011The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (the IGA) was drafted with the aim of minimising the scope for problem gambling among Australians by limiting the provision of gambling services to Australians through interactive technologies such as the internet.

Under the IGA, it is an offence to provide certain interactive gambling services to customers physically located in Australia. This offence, which carries a maximum penalty of $220 000 per day for individuals and $1.1 million per day for corporations, applies to all interactive gambling service providers, whether based in Australia or offshore, and whether Australian or foreign-owned. Prohibited interactive services typically provide customers with access, via the internet, to games of chance, or games of mixed chance and skill. The IGA also makes it an offence to advertise prohibited interactive gambling services in Australia.

However, the IGA does not make it an offence for Australian customers to access and use prohibited interactive gambling services. Also, the IGA does not prohibit Australian-based-companies providing prohibited services to people in other countries (although it has the capacity to do so with the IGA making it an offence to provide Australian-based interactive gambling services to customers in countries which the Minister has declared ‘designated countries’).