To check if a betting site is licensed in Australia, you look it up on the register of licensed interactive gambling providers that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) publishes. Then you confirm that the web address and the licensing authority on its row match the site you are using. ACMA's advice is that a provider must be on that register to operate in Australia.
The register is free to search and needs no account. When checked on 6 October 2026 it showed a last update of 7 September 2026 and held 219 rows. A site that is missing from it, or whose address differs from its row, has no Australian licence the register records.
Check a betting site on ACMA's register in seven steps
- Open ACMA's Check if a gambling operator is legal page by searching for ACMA yourself, not by following a link from the betting site.
- Note the Last updated date at the foot of the page, because rows are added, removed and flagged over time.
- Find the site's trading name. The table runs alphabetically by trading name; your browser's find function is quickest, and ACMA also offers the table as a CSV or JSON download.
- Compare the URL on the row with your address bar, from the first letter of the domain to its ending.
- Read the licensing authority. That is the body that hears complaints about the provider, whichever state you live in.
- Look for a note beside the trading name, such as telephone only or not currently operational.
- Match the licence holder to the company named in the site's terms. Where an authority publishes its own list, as the NT Wagering Commission does for its licensed wagering operators, that list is a second place to look.
Note: The law is as at 7 October 2026, and register details are as at the register's 7 September 2026 update, checked on 6 October 2026. This is general information only, not legal advice, and every part of the law has its own guide under the Australian betting laws hub.
What the register's four columns tell you
| Column | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Trading name | The brand the public sees, sometimes with a note such as telephone only or not currently operational | That it is the brand you are using, spelled the same |
| Licence holder | The company or person holding the licence | That it matches the company named in the site's terms |
| URL | The provider's website, or "No current URL" | That it matches your address bar exactly |
| Licensing authority | The state or territory body that issued the licence | That it is an Australian authority, and which one takes your complaints |
At the 7 September 2026 update, 29 rows were telephone-only bookmakers, 15 were marked not currently operational and 46 showed no current URL, most of them rows from the first two groups. A row without a website cannot vouch for one. If a site points to a telephone-only or not-operational row as its licence, the site and the row do not match.
Several trading names can also share one licence holder: one holder had 21 trading names on the register and another had 10. A brand you have never heard of is not unlicensed for that reason. Some brands run on another company's systems, the arrangement a white label bookmaker describes, and the register shows who holds each licence, not who supplies a brand's platform.
ACMA's page on the Act calls the same table its register of Australian-licensed interactive wagering service providers. Its licensing authority column decides where a complaint goes. The guide to Australia's gambling regulators lists all 10 authorities the register names and what each one handles.
Matching a site to its row
Most checks end in one of six results:
| What you find | What it means |
|---|---|
| Trading name, URL and authority all match, with no note on the row | The site is the provider on the register |
| The name matches but the URL differs | A different site using the name: do not deposit |
| The row says telephone only, or shows no current URL | The row covers no website, so it cannot cover the one you are on |
| The row says not currently operational | The brand was not trading under that licence at the last update: ask the licensing authority before you use a live site with that name |
| The name is not on the register | Search for the licence holder named in the site's terms; if that is missing too, treat the site as unlicensed |
| The site cites an overseas regulator | Not a licence s 15AA of the Interactive Gambling Act accepts |
Example: Illustrative only, not a real provider. The register shows a trading name, Bookmaker A, with a URL ending in .com.au and Liquor & Gaming NSW as its licensing authority. The site you found uses the Bookmaker A name and colours, but its address ends in .com, it takes cryptocurrency deposits and its terms cite a licence from another country. None of that matches the row, so treat it as a different business with no Australian licence.
Warning signs of an illegal betting site
Each of these is something a provider on the register is not allowed to do:
| What the site does | The rule it breaks |
|---|---|
| Takes deposits in cryptocurrency, by credit card or from a credit-linked digital wallet | Banned for online and phone wagering since 11 June 2024 (Interactive Gambling Act, s 15C) |
| Offers a bonus, credit or reward for opening an account or referring a friend | Banned by the national consumer protection framework since 26 May 2019 (NSW: 26 November 2019) |
| Takes online bets on a sporting event after it has begun | Banned for every provider (s 10B and s 8A(3)) |
| Offers online pokies, casino games or scratchies | Prohibited services, licence or not (s 5 and s 15) |
| Lets you bet before your identity is verified | Verification before the first bet, required since 29 September 2023 |
| Offers no deposit limit tool | Deposit limits must be offered and prompted at sign-up, since 26 May 2019 |
| Cites only an overseas licence | Only a state or territory licence counts (s 15AA) |
A warning sign is a reason to check, not proof either way: a provider on the register can still break a rule. The register, not the absence of warning signs, is the test.
If a site you used turns out to be unlicensed or blocked
ACMA asks Australian internet service providers to block websites that offer prohibited services, offer betting without an Australian licence, or advertise either, using s 313 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. It publishes the list of blocked gambling websites. Once a site is blocked, ACMA warns, you may not be able to log in and reach your existing account.
If you hold money at a site you now know is unlicensed:
- Stop depositing, and try to withdraw what is left.
- Keep dated screenshots of your balance, bets, deposits and any messages.
- Watch your bank statements. ACMA reports operators that kept taking money from customers' bank accounts after they stopped using them, so raise any payment you did not authorise with your bank.
- Expect no regulator to recover it. ACMA says Australian regulators cannot help with an illegal operator. It lists independent legal advice, a complaint to the ACCC or the relevant licensing authority as the options, and warns you are unlikely to see the money again.
Do not go looking for a way around a block. A VPN restores none of the protections a licensed provider owes you, and the VPN betting guide sets out what it can cost. From 1 January 2027 the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 also requires banks and other payment system participants to block payments from Australian accounts to illegal gambling operators. The offshore betting sites guide covers the protections an unlicensed site leaves out.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A licence decides who may take your bet and which protections apply, not whether the bet wins, and a balance held at an unlicensed site can be lost outright. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Report an illegal betting site to ACMA
If you think a website offers illegal gambling services, tell ACMA through its interactive gambling complaint form; you do not have to give your name. Useful details are the web address, what the site offered (for example sports bets after the start, casino games, a sign-up bonus or crypto deposits), when you saw it, and screenshots.
ACMA can investigate and ask internet service providers to block a site, and from 1 January 2027 the 2026 Act adds powers to have illegal gambling services and ads taken down. ACMA also takes complaints about a provider that is on the register but offers credit or takes online bets on a game after it starts. Other complaints about a licensed provider go first to the provider and then to the authority named on its row.
Mistakes that make a check worthless
| Mistake | What it can cost |
|---|---|
| Searching the brand name and skipping the address | A lookalike site with a familiar name takes your deposit |
| Trusting a licence badge or seal on the site | A badge is only an image on a page; the register row is the record |
| Using a list from an article or app review | Lists go stale: at the 7 September 2026 update, 15 rows were already flagged not currently operational |
| Checking once and never again | A brand can stop trading, or its row can change, between your first deposit and your next |
| Reading the register as a rating | A row shows who may take your bet, not that the prices are fair, and ACMA says it accepts no responsibility for loss from relying on the register |