To stop gambling, put barriers between yourself and a bet and get support at the same time. Register with BetStop, which closes your betting accounts, block gambling payments at your bank and betting apps and sites on your devices, and talk to a counsellor on 1800 858 858. BetStop is a free Australian Government register that shuts you out of online and phone betting with all of the roughly 150 providers licensed in Australia (ACMA's figure, checked October 2026), for anywhere from 3 months to a lifetime.
No single step closes every way to bet, which is why they work as a set. Plan for slips too: Gambling Help Online says a return to gambling is a common part of recovery, so the barriers you put up today should stay up after the urge to bet fades.
How to stop betting online in the first 24 hours
Most of these steps fit into one evening. Do them in this order: support first, then a record of your balances before anything closes, then the barriers:
- Ring the National Gambling Helpline (1800 858 858) or start a chat at Gambling Help Online, and say you want to stop. It is free and confidential, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the call is not listed on your phone bill.
- Write down each account's balance and any bets still waiting to settle, so you can check the money comes back.
- Register with BetStop at betstop.gov.au and choose how long the exclusion lasts.
- Switch on a gambling block at every bank you use, on every card and account.
- Delete betting apps and saved logins, turn off their notifications, and install blocking software on each device.
- Tell one person you trust what you have done, and ask them to check in on a set day.
- If you run betting software on your accounts, end its sessions, close it on every computer it runs on, and ask the company behind it to close your account.
Each barrier covers something the others miss:
| Barrier | What it stops | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| BetStop | Bets and new accounts at all online and phone providers licensed in Australia | Betting in person at a venue, and illegal offshore sites |
| Closing an account yourself | That one account, once its bets settle | A new account, there or anywhere else |
| Bank gambling block | Gambling payments from the cards and accounts it is set on, as far as that bank's block reaches | Money already sitting in a betting account, and other banks |
| Blocking software | Gambling sites and apps on that device | Every device without it |
The responsible gambling tools hub explains who runs each tool and how each one is switched on and off.
Self-exclude with BetStop, or close accounts yourself
Registration is something only you can do, and ACMA describes it as quick and easy. Once you are on the register, every covered provider must close your betting accounts, and none may accept your bets, let you open a new account or market to you. You cannot choose which providers to leave out.
The length is yours, from 3 months to a lifetime, and you can extend it at any time but never cut it short. Leaving takes time: ACMA says no application to leave can be made in the first 3 months, and BetStop explained sets out the removal steps as at October 2026 and the written confirmation added from 1 January 2027. If you want to quit rather than pause, set a length that runs past the dates that tempt you most, such as a season's finals or a spring carnival.
Registering means every covered provider closes your accounts, so you do not have to contact each one. Under the national framework's policy statement, money in your active accounts is returned once all your bets have settled, and the accounts are then closed. Keep the balances you wrote down, so you can follow up anything that does not arrive.
If you close an account yourself, the same framework says closure must start as soon as you ask and finish once every bet on it has settled. The bookmaker must not talk you into staying, or market to you afterwards. A futures bet can hold an account open until its market is decided, and closing never stops you opening a new account, which is why BetStop matters. How to close a betting account has the steps.
If you are not ready to register yet, cut the deposit limit at every account you still hold, today. The framework makes a lower limit apply as soon as you set it and holds back a higher one for 7 days. Deposit limits explained shows how to set one.
BetStop covers online and phone providers, not gambling in person. Its own site points to separate programs for casinos and for venues with poker machines, and those programs differ between states and territories. If you also play the pokies or bet at a venue, find the program where you live. Take a break vs self-exclusion shows how they sit beside BetStop.
Cut off payments, apps and sites
A bank gambling block stops new money leaving your bank for gambling. Set it in your banking app or by phone, card by card and bank by bank, and pick the slowest way back out that your bank allows. Withdraw any balance still sitting with a bookmaker as well, because a block only stops money leaving the bank. Blocking gambling transactions covers what to ask your bank.
Then work through your devices:
- delete every betting app, and remove saved betting logins and passwords from your browser
- turn off notifications from anything that sends odds, tips or offers
- install blocking software on each phone, tablet and computer, and give the password to someone you trust
- unsubscribe from betting emails and texts, which stopping betting promotions walks through.
BetStop cannot close one door: illegal offshore sites. An operator without an Australian licence commits an offence by offering online betting to people in Australia, and it is outside the register's reach. ACMA warns that winnings from such operators may never be paid and that Australian regulators cannot step in for their customers, so moving your betting to one swaps the protections you had for none. Offshore betting sites explains the risks.
Tell someone, and get support that fits
Telling one person makes the decision real and gives you someone to call when an urge hits. Pick someone who will not lend you money, and tell them what you have set up, for example: "I've joined BetStop and blocked my cards. If I ask you for money, say no and ask me why." When you register with BetStop you can also nominate support people, who are told if you later apply to leave.
Support you can use straight away:
- The National Gambling Helpline, 1800 858 858: a trained counsellor listens, suggests strategies, gives crisis support and can refer you to ongoing counselling near you.
- Gambling Help Online's live chat, at any hour, if talking out loud is hard.
- Your GP, for the stress, sleep problems or low mood that can come with gambling harm.
- Lifeline on 13 11 14 if you feel unsafe, or 000 if anyone is in immediate danger.
Gambling help services compares each one, including email counselling, interpreters and support for family members.
Deal with debts without betting
Betting to pay off a debt tends to add to it, because every extra bet carries the bookmaker's margin; chasing losses works through what a chase does to a loss. The way out runs through a plan:
- List every debt: who you owe, how much, and the next payment date.
- Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 for free financial counselling; its phone line is open on weekdays only.
- Ask the gambling helpline for a referral to a gambling financial counsellor. According to Gambling Help Online, these counsellors can help with a budget, negotiate with banks and other creditors on your behalf, and seek hardship changes to existing loans.
- Keep your records. The national framework says you should still be able to see 7 years of account transactions after an account closes.
With illustrative figures, here is what stopping frees up. Over the last 12 weeks, the transaction records from three accounts show:
| Account | Net result over 12 weeks |
|---|---|
| Bookmaker A | -$1,095 |
| Bookmaker B | -$630 |
| Bookmaker C | +$165 |
| All three | -$1,560 |
That is $1,560 / 12 = $130 a week leaving your budget. Paid to a $2,600 debt instead, it clears the debt in $2,600 / $130 = 20 weeks, before any interest or fees. A financial counsellor can turn a figure like that into an arrangement with your creditors.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Barriers work because they are set up on a calm day and still hold on a bad night, so put them in place before the next urge arrives. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Triggers, and how to stop sports betting around the games
Gambling Help Online describes a trigger as a situation, feeling or thought your brain has linked with gambling, so meeting it again brings on an urge. Its list includes conflict with other people, worry about debts, unpleasant feelings, peer pressure, situations involving winning and a need for excitement. Knowing yours lets you plan around them instead of meeting each one cold.
For sports betting, the game itself is often the trigger:
| Trigger | What it looks like | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Game time | The app open during the pre-game coverage, a last bet before the start to make it interesting | Watch with your phone in another room, or with people who do not bet |
| Group chats | Mates sharing multis before the game starts | Mute or leave the chat |
| Payday | Money lands, and so does the urge | Set transfers that pay bills and savings on payday |
| A win or a near miss | A big result, yours or someone else's | Tell your support person, and wait before deciding anything |
| Boredom late at night | Racing from overseas, odds on everything | Plan those hours ahead, and use the helpline or chat, open at any hour |
| Worry about money | The thought that one win would fix it | Call a financial counsellor instead |
The same pattern holds for racing: plan the race days and carnivals you used to bet on.
Lapses and relapse: keep the supports in place
Gambling Help Online separates a lapse, a one-off slip where you gamble when you did not mean to, from a relapse, a return to your old level of gambling that can last days, weeks or longer. It says returning to gambling is a common part of recovery and does not necessarily mean the change has failed.
If you slip:
- stop at that bet, and do not try to win the money back
- tell your support person, or call 1800 858 858
- work out what led to it: the time, the place, the feeling
- go easy on yourself, because Gambling Help Online says shame and guilt can raise the risk of a lapse becoming a relapse
- add the barrier that was missing, such as blocking software on the device you used.
Keep every barrier up after the urges fade, because a good month is exactly when a block starts to feel unnecessary. BetStop can be extended at any time, a bank block usually takes longer to lift than to switch on, and counselling stays free when things are going well.
Mistakes that undo a decision to quit
| Mistake | What it leaves open | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Closing accounts one at a time and stopping there | A new account with any provider | Register with BetStop |
| Relying on BetStop alone | Venues and illegal offshore sites | Add a bank block, blocking software and a venue program if you bet in person |
| Lifting a block after a good month | Your old routes back to a bet | Leave it on; urges can return |
| Betting to clear a debt | A bigger debt | A financial counsellor on 1800 007 007 |
| Keeping it to yourself | Nobody to notice a slip | Tell one person, and nominate BetStop support people |
| Treating a slip as the end | A lapse turning into a relapse | Stop, call 1800 858 858 and close the gap |