BetStop is the National Self-Exclusion Register: a free Australian Government service that stops you betting, in one registration, with every online and phone wagering provider licensed in Australia. ACMA counts about 150 of them, as checked in October 2026. You choose how long it lasts, from 3 months to a lifetime, and once you are registered you can lengthen the exclusion but never shorten it.
BetStop launched on 21 August 2023 under Part 7B of the Interactive Gambling Act, and ACMA oversees it. The revised explanatory memorandum to the 2026 reform bill records over 63,000 registrations between launch and 2 June 2026, with over 39,000 active on that date. The way you leave the register changes on 1 January 2027, so the steps to leave depend on when you apply.
What BetStop covers, and what it does not
BetStop applies to every provider on ACMA's register of licensed interactive wagering providers, whether you bet with it on a website, in an app or over the phone. You cannot pick and choose: one registration covers all of them. Providers check the register, and ACMA says BetStop tells a provider whether a customer is registered and shares no other information about them.
| Betting or program | Covered by BetStop? |
|---|---|
| A website or app run by a provider licensed in Australia | Yes |
| A phone call to a provider licensed in Australia | Yes |
| In person at a pub, club, casino or other venue | No: venues have their own exclusion programs |
| One bookmaker's own self-exclusion, or a state or territory register | Separate: joining one does not register you with the other |
| An illegal offshore website | No: BetStop binds only providers licensed in Australia |
Pubs, clubs and casinos sit outside it, with exclusion schemes of their own that vary with where you live. Take a break vs self-exclusion sets those schemes beside BetStop and beside the short breaks a single bookmaker offers.
A word on offshore sites: it is illegal for an unlicensed site to offer online betting to people in Australia, ACMA warns that such sites may not pay out, and Australian regulators cannot help their customers.
How to register
You register yourself, online at betstop.gov.au. Nobody can register another person, and BetStop says signing up takes about 5 minutes. You need:
- a mobile phone number
- an email address
- an Australian driver's licence, an Australian passport or a Medicare card.
Then you choose the length. Under section 61JA of the Act it is a whole number of months (at least 3), a whole number of years, or the rest of your life.
You can also nominate up to 5 support people, such as a partner, a relative or a friend, and your application has to state that each of them has agreed. BetStop tells a support person how long you have excluded yourself, whether you extend, if you apply to leave early, when the exclusion is about to end, and if you remove them.
Tip: Choose the length knowing that it can be extended at any time but never shortened, and that you cannot apply to leave in the first 3 months. A support person you trust hears about any application to leave, which gives you someone to talk it through with.
What providers must do once you are registered
ACMA says every covered provider must close all your betting accounts and must not:
- let you place a bet
- let you open a new account
- send you marketing messages.
BetStop adds that providers should refund any credit in your accounts to you. The Act also bars a provider from offering you a benefit, or doing anything else, to influence you not to register or to leave the register (section 61JD).
If you think a provider has broken these rules, for example by taking a bet or emailing you an offer, you can complain to ACMA.
Tip: Write down each account's balance on the day you register. If money you are owed does not come back, raise it with the provider first and keep its reply.
Extending it, and what happens when it ends
You can extend an exclusion at any time through your BetStop account, by more months, more years or for life. You cannot reduce it.
Before a registration ends, BetStop contacts you and any support people and asks whether you want to extend. Section 61JH of the Act requires that notice at least 14 days before a known end date. When the period runs out, BetStop removes you from the register.
Your old accounts do not come back. They were closed when you registered, so betting again would mean opening a new account, with identity checks before the first bet. You can register again at any time.
From a day the Minister sets, which must fall after 1 January 2027, the 2026 reforms bar providers from direct-marketing inducements to anyone who left BetStop in the previous 90 days. The same goes for anyone who left earlier and has not expressly agreed to receive that marketing; stopping betting promotions covers those rules.
Leaving early, before and after 1 January 2027
ACMA puts it plainly: you cannot apply to be removed in the first 3 months of your exclusion. After that you can apply to leave before your chosen period ends, but the process changes on 1 January 2027, when Schedule 3 of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 starts.
The process as at October 2026
You apply in writing with a Commonwealth statutory declaration that you have had counselling or advice about leaving. It must come from a qualified counsellor, a qualified psychologist, a general practitioner or a listed support service. Under section 61JK of the Act, that counselling must have happened in the 3 months before you apply.
Your support people are told when you apply, and told that you can withdraw the application until the end of the 7th day after the day you applied. If you withdraw it, they are told of that. If you do not, you are removed 7 days after BetStop receives a valid application, and your support people are told of the removal.
The process from 1 January 2027
The application becomes the first of two steps. After applying, you must confirm it in writing, as the Register rules require, no earlier than 7 days after the day you applied. Without that confirmation nothing happens, because removal is no longer automatic. Once you confirm, BetStop must remove you within the period the Register rules set and tell any support person. You can withdraw the application at any time before you confirm, and your support people are told that you can, and told if you do. From that date the 3-month minimum applies to every registration.
| Step | As at October 2026 | From 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Earliest you can apply | After the first 3 months | After the first 3 months, on every registration |
| The application | In writing, with a statutory declaration about counselling or advice | The same |
| What follows | Removed 7 days after a valid application, unless you withdraw it | Removed only after you confirm in writing, no earlier than 7 days after applying |
| Support people | Told of the application, that you can withdraw it until the end of the 7th day after the day you applied, and of the removal or any withdrawal | Told that you can withdraw the application at any time before you confirm, and of the removal or any withdrawal |
Example: Illustrative dates. You register on Tuesday 20 October 2026 for 12 months. You cannot apply to leave until 3 months have passed, around 20 January 2027, so any application you make falls under the new process. Apply on Wednesday 27 January 2027 and the earliest you could confirm is a week later, with removal following within the period the Register rules set.
Note: If you apply close to 1 January 2027, check betstop.gov.au for the process that applies to your application, because the 2026 Act lets the Minister make transitional rules. Checked 7 October 2026.
If you use betting software
Registering closes your bookmaker accounts, but software and saved logins can outlast them. If you use betting software such as B337, stop it as well: stop every session, stop the bot on each computer, and ask B337 to close your account, which it will.
Remove betting apps and saved bookmaker logins from your phone and browser too. Never use software, another person's account or another person's identity to bet while you are excluded: accounts must be in your own name, and an exclusion only works if nothing goes around it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. BetStop reaches licensed online and phone providers only, so venues and illegal sites sit outside it, and it works best with support around it. See responsible gambling for how to stop B337, limits and support.
Mistakes people make with BetStop
| Mistake | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Expecting to leave the day you change your mind | No application in the first 3 months, then a statutory declaration and at least 7 days |
| Assuming it covers the pub, the club or the casino | It covers online and phone betting; venues need their own program |
| Assuming a bookmaker's own self-exclusion puts you on BetStop | They are separate programs, so each needs its own registration |
| Naming a support person without asking them | Your application has to state that they agreed |
| Expecting your accounts to reopen when it ends | They were closed, so betting again means opening a new account |
| Leaving betting software or saved logins in place | Stop the software and close its account as well |
Support that works alongside BetStop
BetStop is one tool among several. If you want a pause of days or weeks, a break at each bookmaker fits better, because a BetStop registration lasts at least 3 months and cannot be shortened. If breaks keep ending early, or the betting moves to another app, BetStop is the firmer choice. The responsible gambling tools hub covers deposit limits, bank gambling blocks and blocking software, and how to stop gambling puts them together into a plan.
Gambling Help Online offers free, confidential counselling on 1800 858 858, by chat and by email, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and family members can use it too. Gambling help services lists the others, including Lifeline on 13 11 14, 000 in an emergency, and the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 on weekdays.