A deposit limit on a betting account caps how much money you can pay into that account over a period you choose, such as a day, a week, a fortnight or a month. Every online wagering provider in Australia must offer one, prompt you to set it when you open the account, and refuse a deposit that would take you over it. Lowering the limit applies immediately; raising it cannot take effect until 7 days after the provider receives your request.
The rule is measure 6 of the National Consumer Protection Framework, in place since 26 May 2019. A limit caps new money only, and it works one bookmaker at a time, which is where most mistakes with it begin.
What the national rules require
The national policy statement, updated 3 May 2022, sets these minimums for every provider:
| Rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Must be offered | Every provider has to offer deposit limits; other kinds, such as spend limits, are optional |
| Prompt at sign-up | You are asked to set one when you open the account, and you can decline |
| Binding | The provider must not accept a deposit above the limit you set |
| Periods | You choose from a range that includes daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly |
| Channels | Any channel you can bet through works for setting or changing a limit, and so does writing to the provider |
| Lowering | Applied immediately |
| Raising | Not applied until 7 days after the day the request was received |
| Yearly prompt | At your next bet after each anniversary of your first bet, you are asked to set or review a limit, even if you never set one |
The yearly prompt applies while the account is active, meaning it has had a transaction in the previous 12 months, and it comes through whichever channel you are betting on at the time. The Department of Social Services puts the measure in one line: deposit limits "cannot be increased on the spot".
Note: These are national minimums, enforced by each state and territory through its own laws and licences. A bookmaker can offer more, so check yours for the periods and limit types it supports. Checked 7 October 2026.
How to set a deposit limit
Bookmakers usually put the setting in the account's responsible gambling section. Then:
- Pick the period that matches how you are paid or how you budget: weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
- Enter the amount for that period, worked out from your budget (below).
- Save it, and check that the confirmation shows the amount and period you meant.
- Repeat at every bookmaker where you hold an account, including ones you rarely use.
You can also set or change a limit through any other channel you can bet through, or in writing, such as by email to the provider.
Ask whether the period runs on calendar dates, such as a week starting on Monday, or rolls from the time of each deposit. Bookmakers can handle this differently, and it changes when your next deposit becomes possible.
Changing a limit: lower at once, raise after 7 days
A limit you could lift the moment it bites would only stop you on days you did not want to bet anyway. The 7-day wait, often called a cooling-off period, puts a week between the decision and the extra money, which gives a bad run, or a good one, time to stop driving the choice. Lowering works the other way: the cap tightens as soon as you ask.
With illustrative amounts, here is how the two kinds of change land:
| Request | Made on | Earliest it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lower a weekly limit from $60 to $30 | Saturday 14 November 2026 | Immediately |
| Raise a weekly limit from $60 to $250 | Saturday 14 November 2026 | Saturday 21 November 2026, 7 days after the day it was received |
Until the increase applies, the $60 limit still binds. Asking to remove a limit altogether lifts the cap, so expect it to wait like any other increase, and check how your bookmaker handles it. If the urge to raise a limit arrives straight after a loss, that is the moment the wait was built for; chasing losses explains where that urge comes from.
A limit at one bookmaker does nothing at another
The policy statement says deposit limits apply on an operator basis: each provider caps deposits into its own accounts. A limit with Bookmaker A has no effect at Bookmaker B, so every account needs its own, and the limits across your accounts add up.
Example: Illustrative. You hold accounts with three bookmakers and set a weekly limit of $100 at each. Together they allow 3 x $100 = $300 a week, which is 300 x 52 / 12 = $1,300 in an average month. If the most you meant to spend was $300 a month, the three limits allow more than four times that.
Do not assume two brands share a limit because they share an owner: check each brand's terms, and set a limit at every brand you use. If you find yourself opening a new account because another has hit its limit, the limit has done its job and the urge is a warning sign; signs of a gambling problem covers what it can mean.
Choosing a limit from your budget
Start with the money you could lose entirely after rent, bills, food, debt repayments and savings, not with what you hope to win. Divide it across the accounts you use, in the period you choose. Fewer accounts make the sums easier.
With an illustrative budget of $200 a month and two bookmaker accounts:
| Limit set at each account | Arithmetic | Deposits it allows in an average month |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly limit of $100 | 2 x $100 | $200 |
| Weekly limit of $25 | 2 x $25 x 52 / 12 | about $216.67 |
| Daily limit of $20 | 2 x $20 x 365 / 12 | about $1,216.67 |
The weekly setting runs over budget because a month averages 52 / 12, about 4.33 weeks, and some months hold more. A month with five weekly periods allows 2 x $25 x 5 = $250. If the limit resets each Monday, a month of 30 or 31 days can touch six weeks, as November 2026 does, which allows 2 x $25 x 6 = $300.
To average $200 a month or less on weekly limits, work back: 200 x 12 / 52 = about $46.15 a week, or about $23 at each account. Even then, a five-period month allows 2 x $23 x 5 = $230, and a six-week month 2 x $23 x 6 = $276.
The daily setting looks small, yet in an average month it allows 1,216.67 / 200 = about 6.1 times the budget. A monthly limit matches a monthly budget most closely, while a weekly or fortnightly one spreads your deposits more evenly through the month.
Bankroll management covers sizing stakes inside the amount you set aside.
What a deposit limit does not do
Everything you pay in under a limit can still be lost; the limit only decides how much reaches the account. With illustrative amounts, here is what it leaves open:
- It is not a loss limit. Winnings left in the balance can be bet without counting against it, so a $400 balance built from winnings can all go back into play while the limit records no deposits at all.
- It is not a stake limit: a single deposit can go on a single bet.
- It does not reach your accounts with other bookmakers.
- It does not pause the account. For a pause, take a break or self-exclude; to stop online and phone betting with every licensed provider, there is BetStop, the national register.
- It is not a target. A $100 weekly limit allows $100; it does not ask for it.
Some bookmakers offer other limits as well, such as caps on losses, stakes or time spent. The framework makes those optional, so check what yours offers and use them as extra layers, never as a replacement. The responsible gambling tools hub covers the layers beyond the bookmaker, from BetStop to bank gambling blocks.
The national credit ban also shapes what you can deposit with. Since 11 June 2024, credit cards, money drawn from a credit card through a digital wallet, and digital currency such as cryptocurrency have all been off limits for online and phone betting.
Deposit limits when software places the bets
Deposit limits are set with each bookmaker, not inside betting software. If you use automation such as B337, the limit at one bookmaker still does nothing at another.
Sessions run on your own computer, which has to be on, awake, online and running B337 while they place bets. They bet only from the balances already in your accounts, so the deposit limit at each bookmaker is also the ceiling on how much new money automation can put at risk. That matters, because automation can bet far more, far faster, than by hand.
Example: Illustrative. A session places 30 bets of $20 in a week at one bookmaker, which is 30 x $20 = $600 of turnover. If that account starts the week empty and carries a $100 weekly deposit limit, at most $100 of new money can reach it that week. Turnover can still run past $100, because winnings get staked again.
B337's own stops, such as run windows, stake caps, profit-kill and loss-kill, are ordinary settings, not a guarantee: a command can fail to reach your computer or act late. Treat them as a backup to the limits your bookmaker enforces, and set the bookmaker's deposit limit first.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Many bookmakers restrict or prohibit automated betting and third-party access in their terms, and a bookmaker can limit stakes, void bets or close an account. Software settings can fail or act late, so the deposit limit at each bookmaker is the firmer cap. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Mistakes that weaken a limit
With illustrative amounts:
| Mistake | What it costs | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Setting a limit at one bookmaker only | Every other account stays uncapped | Set one at every account, old ones included |
| A $50 weekly limit at each of four accounts | 4 x $50 = $200 a week, and 200 x 52 / 12 = about $866.67 in an average month | Divide one budget across the accounts |
| Raising the limit after a losing run | A higher cap just as the urge to chase peaks | Leave it alone, or lower it and take a break |
| Leaving large winnings in the balance | The limit stops nothing until the balance runs down | Withdraw what you want to keep |
| Treating the limit as an allowance | The full amount goes in every period | Deposit only what you planned to spend |