Australia's credit card betting ban stops online and phone betting providers taking three kinds of payment: a credit card, an account or digital wallet that pays from a linked credit card, and digital currency, cryptocurrency included. It has applied since 11 June 2024, it is written into section 15C of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, and ACMA enforces it.
The ban binds the business, not you: the offence and the civil penalty attach to the provider that accepts the payment. It reaches the online and phone services of on-course bookmakers and leaves lotteries out. It also sits beside an older rule, in force since 17 February 2018, that bars providers from giving you credit, with one narrow exception for small phone bookmakers. Betting accounts in Australia links the ban to the other rules that govern an account.
What the credit ban covers
Section 15C(4A) names the banned payment methods, and ACMA's credit ban page states them in plain terms.
| Payment | For online and phone betting | Where the rule sits |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card | Banned since 11 June 2024 | s 15C(4A)(a) |
| A wallet, account or other facility paying from a linked credit card | Banned since 11 June 2024 | s 15C(4A)(b) |
| Cryptocurrency or other digital currency | Banned since 11 June 2024 | s 15C(4A)(c), using the meaning of digital currency in the GST Act |
| A payment method the Minister adds | Banned once a legislative instrument names it | s 15C(4A)(d) |
| Debit card, bank transfer, PayID | Not on the list | Each bookmaker's terms say what it accepts |
| Lotteries | Outside the ban | ACMA's credit ban page |
The ban follows the service. ACMA says it applies to online and telephone betting, including the online and phone services of on-course bookmakers. Betting in person at a venue falls under state and territory law, and when the online ban began, the Government said credit card use was already banned for land-based gambling. Betting deposit methods compares what you can still pay with and how quickly each method moves.
How the ban came about
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 17 February 2018 | Providers barred from offering credit or helping customers get it from a third party, under changes made to the Act in 2017; the third-party rule exempted credit given "by way of an independently-issued credit card" |
| November 2021 | A report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services recommends banning credit cards for online gambling |
| 11 December 2023 | The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Act 2023, Act No. 114 of 2023, receives assent with a 6-month lead time |
| 11 June 2024 | The payment ban starts, and the words carving out independently issued credit cards are deleted |
| From June 2026 | A statutory review must start as soon as practicable after the ban's first 2 years and be finished within 6 months, with its report tabled in Parliament |
The 6-month gap was deliberate: the Government's announcement said the transition period let the industry prepare. In its May 2026 response to the "You win some, you lose more" report, the Government said the review was due to start in June 2026 and would consider whether the ban is working as intended.
Providers cannot offer you credit either
The payment ban sits on top of a wider rule. Under s 15C(1) and (3), a betting provider must not provide or offer you credit, and must not facilitate or promote credit from a third party. ACMA says it is illegal for operators to help you get credit from third parties such as payday lenders. Measure 2 of the National Consumer Protection Framework goes further on payday loans. A provider must not advertise small amount credit contracts on its website, refer you to a credit provider to pay for betting, or hand your details to one, and the rule also binds its related companies.
One narrow exception remains, for credit rather than cards. Section 15D lets a small telephone bookmaker give credit where every dealing about it is by voice call, its wagering turnover, or its group's, is under $30 million a year, and it operates at an Australian racecourse. The payment ban has no such exception, so an on-course bookmaker's phone service still cannot take your credit card. Corporate vs on-course bookmakers explains how phone betting with on-course bookmakers works.
Buy now pay later and personal loans are not named in s 15C(4A). The Government's response says the Minister can extend the ban by legislative instrument to new types of credit product that come onto the market. Treat every form of borrowing as off limits for betting, whatever its label.
Penalties fall on providers, not punters
Section 15C makes accepting a banned payment both a criminal offence (s 15C(1A)) and a civil penalty contravention (s 15C(3A)). Each is aimed at a person who provides a wagering service and accepts, or offers to accept, the payment from a customer in Australia, and each day a breach continues counts separately. Nothing in the section penalises the customer who tries to pay.
The provider carries the checking too. Its defence under s 15C(5A) works only if it neither knew nor, with reasonable diligence, could have worked out that a payment used a banned method. That is one reason a bookmaker may question or refuse a card or wallet it cannot identify as non-credit.
If a provider takes your credit card or cryptocurrency, or offers you credit, you can complain to ACMA, which takes complaints about breaches of these provisions under s 16 of the Act. For a complaint about being offered credit, its credit ban page says you can choose to remain anonymous.
Why Australia banned credit for betting
When the ban started, the Minister for Communications put the Government's case in one line: "Australians should not be gambling with money they do not have." The joint announcement with the Minister for Social Services said the ban aligned online wagering with land-based gambling regulation, where credit card use was already banned, and framed it as protecting vulnerable Australians and their loved ones from gambling harm. The Department of Social Services notes that the parliamentary committee above recommended it.
Example: Illustrative figures. Say $500 of betting losses sat on a credit card charging an illustrative 20% a year and stayed unpaid for 12 months. Simple interest alone is 500 x 0.20 = $100, so the losses would cost $600 before any fees, and compounding adds more. Paid from a debit card, the same losses cost the $500 you already had.
Edge cases people ask about
A credit card you have paid into credit
Still banned. Section 15C(4A)(a) names the card, not its balance, so a credit card stays off limits even when you owe nothing on it.
A wallet holding a credit card and a debit card
The source of each payment decides. A wallet payment drawn from the debit card is outside the ban; the same wallet paying from the credit card is inside it. Set the debit card as the paying card before you deposit, and read the bookmaker's terms on wallets.
A betting site that still takes credit cards or crypto
A betting site that accepts either from people in Australia is breaking s 15C or is not licensed here at all. Check it on ACMA's register of licensed providers. ACMA's warning about illegal operators lists what can go wrong: winnings left unpaid, a site that closes or moves with customers' money, and no Australian regulator to turn to. Offshore betting sites goes through those risks in more detail.
Mistakes people make about the ban
| Belief | The rule |
|---|---|
| "My card is in credit, so it is not really a credit card" | A credit card is banned whatever its balance |
| "Paying through a wallet gets around it" | The ban covers any wallet or account paying from a linked credit card |
| "Crypto is fine because it is not credit" | Digital currency is named in the ban |
| "I could be fined for trying" | The penalties in s 15C are aimed at the provider |
| "The ban covers the lotto" | ACMA says lotteries are outside it |
| "A betting site that takes my credit card must be allowed to" | It is either breaking s 15C or not licensed in Australia |
The ban decides what a provider may accept. A bank gambling block decides what your own cards may pay for, and you control it: how to block gambling transactions shows how to set one up. The Interactive Gambling Act explained sets the ban in the context of the whole Act.
Risk: Betting involves risk, and betting with borrowed money adds interest to every loss. If debt from betting is building up, free financial counselling is available from the National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007, weekdays). For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au, and see responsible gambling for limits and BetStop.