A betting activity statement is the monthly summary of your account that every licensed online bookmaker in Australia must email you for any month in which the account had a transaction. It lists what you spent, won and lost, the net result, deposits, withdrawals, opening and closing balances and a six-month graph, with links to support services.
The requirement has been in place since 31 July 2022, and the national rules give you no way to switch it off. The line easiest to misread is "You spent": it adds up your stakes, so it can run well above what the month cost you.
What the national rule requires
Activity statements are measure 7 of the National Consumer Protection Framework, the 10 minimum protections the Commonwealth, states and territories agreed for online wagering. The principles sit in the national policy statement the governments agreed, updated 3 May 2022 and published by the Department of Social Services (DSS). DSS gave providers official notice on 31 January 2022 and expected statements fully in place by 31 July 2022, starting with June 2022's. Each state and territory enforces the measure through its own laws and licences.
| Part of the rule | What the national policy statement says |
|---|---|
| Who gets one | A customer with an active account, meaning a transaction on it during the statement period |
| How often | Monthly, by email |
| Quiet months | No statement, and none to an account with no betting activity for more than 12 months |
| What it must show | Amount spent, wins and losses, number of bets, net win or loss, the balance at the start and end of the month, money deposited and withdrawn, the account balance, and a column graph of spending against net result over 6 months, compared with the same time last year |
| How it must look | Clear, everyday terms and no promotional or marketing content; losses should be in red and wins in black, with no green |
| What comes with it | A link to your transaction list, plus support services and safer gambling messages |
| Cost | Free, although the cost of posting a paper copy can be passed on |
| On demand | Online in your account at any time if you bet online, or on request by email or phone as an e-statement or on paper |
States can add detail of their own. For bookmakers serving Victorians, the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) lists four more duties (page updated 12 June 2026). The previous month's statement must stay accessible, and every statement must carry gambling harm taglines. Free and bonus bets must appear separately from other bets, with losses on free bets left out of the net amount.
Reading a statement line by line
DSS published a prototype statement it calls best practice. It has three blocks: your wins and losses for the month including bonus bets (DSS calls them free bets), an account summary, and the six-month graph. A provider may use another layout that meets the same principles, so the labels on yours can differ.
With illustrative figures, here is one month at Bookmaker A: 10 cash bets and two bonus bets, $45 already in the account, a $200 deposit and a $60 withdrawal.
| Line | Figure | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| You spent | $315 on 12 bets | $290 of cash stakes + $25 of bonus bets |
| You won | $135.50 from 4 bets | Pay out less stake on each winner: 35 + 48 + 22.50 + 30 |
| You lost | $225 from 8 bets | Stakes on seven losing cash bets; the losing $10 bonus bet counts as $0 |
| Your net result | -$89.50 | 135.50 - 225 |
| Opening balance | $45.00 | Carried from last month |
| Deposits | $200.00 | Money in from your bank |
| Withdrawals | -$60.00 | Money back to your bank |
| Closing balance | $95.50 | See the check below |
The four winners were $25 at $2.40, $15 at $4.20, $25 at $1.90 and the $15 bonus bet at $3.00. Their net results were 25 x 1.40 = 35, 15 x 3.20 = 48, 25 x 0.90 = 22.50 and 15 x 2.00 = 30. The seven cash losers were $30, $20, $40, $35, $50, $30 and $20, which total $225, and with the winners' $65 make the $290 of cash stakes.
The check that ties the summary together
The account summary has to balance: opening balance + deposits - withdrawals + net result = closing balance. Here that is 45 + 200 - 60 + (-89.50) = $95.50. If the figures on your own statement do not reach its closing balance, ask the bookmaker in writing which transaction the summary leaves out.
"You spent" is turnover, not money lost
The "You spent" line counts every stake, including stakes paid from winnings and the face value of bonus bets. In the example, $245 of funds ($45 already there plus $200 deposited) carried $290 of cash bets, because winnings were bet again, and $25 of bonus bets took "You spent" to $315. What the month did to your money is the net result: $89.50 down.
Bonus bets on the statement
The prototype counts a bonus bet in "You spent" at its face value. A losing one adds nothing to your losses, so the $10 bonus bet that lost scores $0. A winning one adds only what reached your balance: the $15 bonus bet at $3.00 adds 15 x (3.00 - 1) = $30. On the transaction list, that bet's pay out column can read $45 with the bonus included, while its net result column reads $30.
Bets that straddle two statements
DSS explains that its prototype statement works on a cash basis: a stake is recorded in the month you place the bet. A bet still open when that month ends counts as a negative result for its full stake. If it wins later, the pay out lands in the month it settles, with no stake beside it.
Example: Illustrative. In September you place a $20 futures bet at $8.00 on an event in November, and September's net result includes -$20 for it. If it wins, November shows a pay out of 20 x 8.00 = $160 with no stake. November looks $160 better and September $20 worse, while the bet itself made 160 - 20 = $140, and only the two months together show that.
Refunds behave the same way. DSS counts any benefit that flows to you from a bet as part of the pay out. A bet placed late in one month and voided early in the next therefore shows as a loss on the first statement and a pay out on the second. When big bets were open at a month end, judge your results over several months, not one.
Getting your full betting history
A statement is a summary. The detail sits in your transaction list, the bet-by-bet record each statement has to link to, and it is the right document for a dispute about one bet. Under the national policy statement:
| What you want | How to get it | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| This month's summary | Your email, or your account online | Monthly to active accounts, and online at any time if you bet online |
| An earlier statement | Ask by email or phone | In the format you choose, e-statement or paper; free apart from postage |
| Every transaction | The transaction list in your account | Available at all times to online customers |
| Every transaction, if you bet by phone | Ask for a copy | Posted or emailed to you within 14 days of asking |
| History from a closed account | Ask the bookmaker | At least 7 years of records should remain available |
Privacy law gives you a second route. Accepting bets is a service regulated by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says the Privacy Act covers every reporting entity under that Act, whatever its size. Requesting your personal information is free, the OAIC regards 30 days as a reasonable wait for a reply, and any charge for giving you access must not be excessive.
Tip: Download your transaction list before you close an account. You can still ask for it afterwards, but a file you already hold needs no request.
Using statements to track what betting costs you
A statement covers one account, so tracking means putting every account's figures side by side each month. Copy four numbers from each statement into one row. Each answers a different question:
| Question | Number to use | In the example |
|---|---|---|
| What did betting do to my money? | Net result | -$89.50 |
| How much went through my bets? | You spent | $315 |
| How much of my own money went in? | Deposits - withdrawals | 200 - 60 = $140 |
| How much is still sitting in the account? | Closing balance | $95.50 |
Together, the first and third answers give the money that stayed in the account: 140 + (-89.50) = $50.50, the rise from $45 to $95.50. Add the rows for every account you hold, because no single statement shows the whole of your betting; the guide to betting accounts in Australia works through three accounts at once.
Then read the graph. It sets each month's spending against its net result over six months and compares the period with the same time last year, so a run of red bars is hard to miss. For a record that goes further, with the odds you took and the final price before the start on every bet, track your betting results in one table and check it against each statement.
If more of your own money is going in than you planned, lower your deposit limit. Lowering it takes effect immediately; raising it again takes 7 days.
Risk: Betting involves risk. One month's statement can look better or worse than your betting really went, and one account's statement never shows the whole picture. If the totals worry you, responsible gambling explains the tools that cap spending and where to get free help.
Why you cannot opt out of statements
The national policy statement makes a monthly statement the provider's duty for every active account, and it sets out no way to decline one. Marketing works the other way: it needs your consent, and each marketing message has to include an unsubscribe that works. A statement may contain no marketing at all, so the unsubscribe link in a bookmaker's promotional emails does not reach it.
Statements stop in two ways only: a month with no transaction on the account, or closing the account. Closing does not wipe the history: the national policy statement says the holder of a closed account should still be able to access a record of at least the preceding 7 years of transactions. How to close a betting account sets out the steps.
Missing statements and figures that look wrong
| Problem | Likely reason | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No statement this month | No transaction that month, or an old email address on the account | Check the address and your junk folder, then ask the bookmaker for it |
| Net result looks too good or too bad | A bet open at the month end, or one settling from an earlier month | Find bets placed in one month and settled in another on the transaction list |
| The summary does not balance | A resettled bet, a charge or another transaction left out | Ask the bookmaker in writing to explain the gap |
| Offers or green figures on the statement | The bookmaker is not following the measure | Raise it with the bookmaker, then its licensing authority |
| Someone else reads your statements | A shared email address on the account | Change it to an address only you use |
A bookmaker that will not send statements, or fills them with offers, can be reported to the authority that licensed it, which its row on ACMA's register names. How to complain about a bookmaker sets out each step and deadline.