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Australian Gambling and Betting Laws

As mentioned, online sports and horse race betting are legal in Australia, and for the operators it is handled at a state and territorial level. This section provides an overview of our ten states and territories that have gambling commissions.

Australian Capital Territory

The Gambling and Racing Commission is licensing body of the Australian Capital Territory. It first legalized online casinos effective 24 September 1998. This was overridden by the Commonwealths law (IGA) in 2001. Today there are no licensed online casinos in ACT, and only a single brick and mortar casino – Casino Canberra Ltd located at 21 Binara Street, Civic.

They do however license other forms of gambling. For brick and mortar this includes lotteries, housies (bingo), sports betting, horse racing and of course pokies. Detailed information about the various laws can be found on their website www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au.

As far as licensing online sports and horse race betting is concerned, this commission does not have the best track record. Google searching the topic Sports Alive you can read about their failures as a gambling commission. They do however have a lot of favourable player rules, open disclosures and do mitigate player vs. bookmaker disputes. Again all these details can be found on their website.

New South Wales

The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing is responsible for licensing all forms of gambling in New South Wales. For sports betting they license Tabcorp (NSW Division) and a small number of bookmakers. While they do have rules in place for online betting, excessive regulatory requirements makes this is a less appealing location for internet operators. For offline betting the gambling commission is however strong. They regulate Australia’s second largest casino ‘The Star’ as well as lotteries, pokies, pubs and clubs, housie and much more. Their website www.olgr.nsw.gov.au is comprehensive covering all gambling laws, licensing requirements, dispute resolution and more.

Norfolk Island

Many Australians might not even be aware Norfolk Island exists. This is a tiny island with a population around 2,300 that while part of the Australian Commonwealth enjoys the most freedom to remain self-governing. They act primarily as a tax haven and it is difficult to evaluate how safe their gambling commission actually is. We can note that this is where Austote was licensed before it was purchased by IASBet, and is now where bookmaker.com.au is licensed. Here the gambling is regulated by the Norfolk Island Gaming Authority whose website is www.gaming.gov.nf.

Northern Territory

Northern Territory has the most significant Australian gambling history. In 1993, they issued Centrebet the first ever Australian bookmaker licence. While worldwide Intertops was the first online sportsbook, Centrebet came online the same year. In 1996 they became the first to operate legally from the Southern Hemisphere.

A limited number of brick and mortar casinos have been licensed here since the late 1970’s. The oldest is Skycity Darwin, formerly known as both MGM Grand Darwin and the Diamond Beach Casino, and the most noteworthy is Lasseters Hotel Casino. This property opened in 1981. In 1999, it launched the first legal Australian casino called Lasseters Online. This story was discussed earlier in this article.

In February 2000, the Liquor Commission, Private Security Licensing Authority, Escort Agency Licensing Board, Gaming Machine Commission and Gaming Control Commission all merged to create the Northern Territory Licensing Commission which now (among other tasks) regulates all forms of gambling in NT.

The NT Licensing Commission is strict about which companies they are willing to license. However, they also have the most favourable tax rates of all states and territories. While elsewhere operators can pay up to 58.33% on their upper earnings, here all taxes are capped. The scheme is 10% of gross profits paid monthly but to a maximum of $250,000 per year in taxes. This is quite attractive to major corporations. As a result, many of the top global bookmakers have launched Australian divisions from NT including www.bet365.com.au and www.sportingbet.com.au.

You can learn more about the NT licensing commission at their website: www.nt.gov.au/justice/commission/

Queensland

The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation licenses all forms of gambling in Queensland Australia. Their website archives all are at, www.olgr.qld.gov.au. You can see from this page the first brick and mortar casino legislation came in 1982, pokies in 1991, Keno in 1996, lotteries in 1997, online gambling in 1998 and charitable games in 1999. This commission is dedicated to preventing minors from accessing gambling and has a strong focus on protecting problem gamblers.

Queensland is not an attractive location for online betting operators. Their tax rate is 20% of on net profit (of which 8.5% is allocated to the Community Investment Fund) and they also require a $192,900 quarterly licence fee. With the high tax rate, TAB Corp – who also operators keno here, appears to be the only operator interested in offering online betting from Queensland. This is because, remember, most Australians can gamble legally at sites licensed in other states or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

Worth noting is Queensland does have three well established land casinos in Jupiters Hotel and Casino, The Reef Hotel Casino and Treasury Casino.

South Australia

I mentioned earlier in this article, most Australian gambling laws relate to the operators as opposed to telling players what they can do with their own money. South Australia laws are an exception. Here the gambling laws are strict and were first laid out in the Lottery and Gaming Act of 1936.

This law straight out banned many games. For example it includes: “The games, tricks, or devices commonly known as “the purse trick”, “the three card trick”, “thimble rig”, “faro”, “banker”, “fan tan”, “two up”, “pitch-and-toss”, “hazard”, and all other games played in the same way, or of a kindred nature, are hereby declared to be unlawful games.. It also made it an up to $10,000 fine and up to 2-years imprisonment for any public gambling. Even a simple wager involving a coin was declared an offense and carried a $1,250 fine. This is only a few examples of the many restrictions included in Lottery and Gaming Act.

The forms of gambling long allowed in South Australia were lottery and a horse racing tote licensed by the Lotteries Commission. This same commission issued Adelaide Casino a license to operate a casino on its behalf in 1985. To this date, this remains the only land based casino in the state.

Originally, all gambling here was owned by the state government. It wasn’t until after the
Independent Gambling Authority Act, 1995 passed that private gambling became widespread in the state. This created the current gambling commission in place now that is known simply as the Independent Gambling Authority. Their website is www.iga.sa.gov.au.

In 2000, the Independent Gambling Authority, passed the TAB (Disposal) Act, sold its casino to SKYCITY Entertainment Group, and passed both the Racing (Proprietary Business Licensing) Act and the Authorised Betting Operations Act. While these actions privatised gambling in South Australia, the rules and laws are still excessive.

To make a long story short, it is only legal for those residing here to use official licensed betting sources. Luckily, IGA does offer interstate licensing to online betting companies licensed in other Australian states and territories. Their website includes a List of Authorized Betting Operators. Note that all of these companies agree to follow IGA rules which prohibit gamblers from being enticed. This means South Australians are generally prohibited from receiving bonuses and are not eligible for promotions offered by Australian betting sites.

Tasmania

Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state and has a history of being a gambling trend setter. On 14 December 1968 it held a one-question referendum on whether to issue Australia’s first land based casino license to the Federal Group. This passed with a 53% yes vote, and on 10 February 1973 the Wrest Point Hotel Casino opened becoming the first Aussie casino. It is still standing today and is located in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania. In 1982 a second casino still standing opened here – Country Club Casino located in Launceston, Tasmania.

Online betting from Tasmania came about sometime after the Tasmanian Gaming Commission was established as the result of their Gaming Control Act 1993. Today this is a small three-person body whose members are Mr Peter Hoult (Chairman), Professor Kate Warner and Mr Stuart Barry. What makes them unique again from a trend setter standpoint is to date they are the only gambling commission in Australia that has licensed a peer to peer betting exchange. This is the state in which www.betfair.com.au is licensed which is available to residents of all Australian states and territories.

To learn more about the Tasmanian Gaming Commission refer to their website.

Victoria

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation– known when referencing gambling only as VCGR – regulates all forms of gambling in Victoria. This includes the states single casino (Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) which is the largest in Australia. It also includes pokies, wagering, keno, interactive gaming, bookmakers, public lotteries, trade promotion lotteries, and community and charitable gaming (such as raffles and bingo).

This commissions website www.vcglr.vic.gov.au is extremely comprehensive. Most anything you want to know can be found here. You can also find the list of the over 500 different gambling venues they oversee. You can even find net monthly loss by venue. The information that can be found here truly seems endless. In short, this is a very well ran gambling commission. Even key employees must be licensed as part of their employment, which involves strict background checks and agreement to adhere to a code of ethics.

For this article’s purpose there isn’t too much to comment on regarding online betting except for one particular intricacy. The same as South Australia, Victoria has a rule that prevents bookmakers from inducing gamblers to open accounts and/or make deposits. Victoria residents are excluded from receiving free bets, sign up bonuses, and certain promotions at Australian online bookmakers.

As far as operators located here, this is not a popular state for running an online betting site. The tax on fixed odds sports betting is 19.11%, compared to 10% with a $250,000 annual cap in Northern Territory. Also, gambling regulation in the state now totals over 1,000 written pages. The compliance expenses and large taxes operators face are significant. There have however been recent proposals for gambling tax reform. This could change in the future, but at this time this is not a state that appeals to operators of online betting websites.

Western Australia

Western Australia was initially opposed to gambling. Only two years after becoming a self-governing British colony, the Western Australian Police Act 1892 made not only betting an illegal act but also playing any game of chance for entertainment. Despite this illegal gambling thrived and in 1936 the Lotteries Control Act was passed to allow charitable lotteries. Both the Betting Control Act 1954 and the Totalisator Agency Board Betting Act 1960 made horse race betting more accessible. In 1982 charitable bingo was allowed.

By the early 1980’s other Australian states had land based casinos but the government here was split and mostly opposed to the idea. Finally, what is now named the Crown Perth was built and opened on 30 December 1985. The link just provided is to its Wikipedia page which covers the history of the casino and the surrounding legislation.

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Today, all forms of gambling in Western Australia are regulated by Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor. Their website is extremely comprehensive and includes what games are allowed, who is licensed, the history of gambling in the state and much more. To learn more about Western Australia gambling laws and regulatory information visit www.rgl.wa.gov.au.

Gambling Income Tax in Australia

Australia taxes professional gamblers income tax at a rate of 30%. This is not a concern to anyone other than those gambling as a profession / primary source of income. For all recreational players gambling is generally not considered income for tax purposes.

The rules of whether a player is recreational or not have been well tested. Previously, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) was looking to collect 30% of Joe Hachem’s $7.5 million (USD) prize for winning the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Hachem argued at the time he won he was playing poker as a hobby and it wasn’t his main source of income. The ATO eventually agreed and he owed no taxes on his winning.

Understand if a player can spend $10,000 buying into a poker tournament and is not professional despite booking a $7.5 million (USD) win, chances are considerable most reading this article owe no Aussie taxes on their gambling winnings.

1 2

Gambling is an activity undertaken by many Australians. Over 80% of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind, which is the highest rate of gambling in the world.^[1] This number includes some 4% of the adult population who play the pokies once a week, accounting for some 62% of locals' annual gambling spend.^[2]

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Gambling is a significant public health issue, with around 80,000 to 160,000 (or 0.5 - 1.0%) of Australian adults experiencing significant problems from gambling and a further 250,000 to 350,000 (or 1.4 - 2.1% of adults) experiencing moderate risks that may make them vulnerable to problem gambling.^[3]

Revenue[edit]

In 2015–16, gambling revenue made up 7.7% of state and territory taxation revenue. The rate was lowest in Western Australia (2.5%) and highest in the Northern Territory (12.0%). Gambling revenue made up 2.5% of total state revenue when other revenue sources were taken into account. The rate was lowest in WA (0.9%) and highest in Victoria (3.2%). Gambling revenue as a portion of state taxation revenue has fallen for all states and territories between 2006–07 and 2015–16.^[4]

Total Australian gambling revenue in 2008-09 was just over $19 billion and the share of household consumption was 3.1%^[3]

New South Wales[edit]

New South Wales has a long history of gambling; Australia's first official horse racing meeting occurred in 1810 at Hyde Park in Sydney; the first official Australian lottery occurred in 1881 at the Sydney Cup; and registered clubs operated the first legal poker machines in Australia from 1956.^[5]

Approximately 95,800 of 'pokies' are in NSW, a state total beaten only by Nevada, which operated 181,109 gambling machines in 2014.^[6]

Between 1 December 2017 to 31 May 2018 NSW Clubs made a net profit of $1,945,161,625 and hotels made a net profit of $1,169,040,731 from pokies alone.^[7]

Fairfield[edit]

Fairfield had the highest poker machine revenue in the state for 2013, generating $298 million in clubs and $93 million in pubs, from the start of the year to August.^[8] This figure is $123 million greater than the combined total of profits generated from poker machines in the City of Sydney.^[8]

Hunter Region[edit]

From January to March 2013 poker machines in the Hunter region had a turn over of $4.5 billion, showing an increase of $500 million since 2010.^[9] Daily figures show a spend of $12.5 million, working out to be $8682 per minute.^[9] The Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing found that Newcastle was the Hunter Regions most profitable location with the 3206 poker machines averaging $44,963 each.^[9]The top five most profitable clubs for gaming revenue in the Hunter region in 2010 were:^[10]

• 1. Western Suburbs Leagues Club (Wests), New Lambton
• 2. Wests (formerly Club Phoenix), Mayfield
• 3. Wallsend RSL & Community Club, Wallsend
• 4. Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club, Belmont
• 5. Cardiff Panthers, Cardiff

The top five most profitable hotels for gaming revenue in the Hunter region in 2010 were.^[10]

• 1. The George Tavern, East Maitland
• 2. Bay Hotel Motel, Bonnells Bay
• 3. Hotel Jesmond, Jesmond
• 4. The Lake Macquarie Tavern, Mount Hutton
• 5. Warners Bay Hotel, Warners Bay

Central Coast Region[edit]

According to the latest figures from Liquor and Gaming NSW there are 4,046 poker machines in 39 clubs on the Central Coast, and 626 poker machines in 29 hotels; making a total of 4,672 poker machines on the Central Coast. That means 2.37% of the total number of poker machines in Australia are on the NSW Central Coast.^[11]

Gosford has approximately 1928 pokies, spread across 37 venues. That is the equivalent of one poker machine for every 71 adults. In 2010–11, venues in Gosford made approximately $95,865,000 in profit from pokies. That equates to $700 for each adult member of Gosford's population.^[12]

Wyong has approximately 2608 pokies, spread across 35 venues. That is the equivalent of one poker machine for every 47 adults. In 2010–11, venues in Wyong made approximately $123,159,000 in profit from pokies. That equates to $1,000 for each adult member of Wyong's population.^[12]

The Central Coast has a higher prevalence of problem gambling than the NSW average. Young men between the ages of 18-24 living on the Central Coast are the biggest players of poker machines in NSW and are the highest risk group for problem gambling.^[13]

In 2008 Central Coast Gambling Help carried out a survey of 200 young people aged from 13-24 and found:

• 96% of people from 18-24 had gambled for money or possessions
• 62% of those under 14 years old and 77% of those aged up to 17 had gambled for money or items, including mobile phones and MP3 players
• 25.5% of 14- to 17-year-olds and 55% of 18- to 24-year-olds had lost more than they had intended
• and 6% under 18 had played a poker machine^[14]

Regulatory authorities[edit]

Since the introduction of new gambling services, including online gambling, the Commonwealth has taken a more active role in the regulation of gambling, but the Australian gambling industry is also regulated by State and Territory authorities:^[15]

• Australian Capital Territory - ACT Gambling and Racing Commission
• New South Wales - New South Wales Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing
• Northern Territory - Licensing Commission
• Queensland - Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
• South Australia - Independent Gambling Authority
• Tasmania - Tasmanian Gaming Commission
• Victoria - Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation
• Western Australia - Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor

Key legislation[edit]

Traditionally gambling has been legislated at a state and territory level rather than by the Commonwealth:^[16]

• Australian Capital Territory
  • Betting (ACTTAB Limited) Act 1964
  • Casino Control Act 2006
  • Gaming Machine Act 2004
  • Interactive Gambling Act 1998
  • Lotteries Act 1964
  • Pool Betting Act 1964
  • Race and Sports Bookmaking Act 2001
  • Racing Act 1999
  • Unlawful Gambling
• New South Wales
  • Betting Tax Act 2001
  • Casino Control Act 1992
  • Charitable Fundraising Act 1991
  • Gambling (Two-Up) Act 1998
  • Gaming and Liquor Administration Act 2007
  • Gaming Machines Act 2001
  • Gaming Machines Tax Act 2001
  • Liquor Act 2007
  • Lotteries and Art Unions Act 1901
  • Public Lotteries Act 1996
  • Racing Administration Act 1998
  • Registered Clubs Act 1976
  • Totalizator Act 1997
  • Unlawful Gambling Act 1998.
• Northern Territory
  • Gaming Control Act 2005;
  • Gaming Machine Act 2005;
  • Northern Territory Licensing Commission Act 2001;
  • Racing and Betting Act 2004;
  • Soccer Football Pools Act 2004;
  • Totalisator Licensing and Regulation Act 2004; and
  • Unlawful Betting Act 2004.
• Queensland
  • Brisbane Casino Agreement Act 1992
  • Breakwater Island Casino Agreement Act 1984
  • Cairns Casino Agreement Act 1993
  • Casino Control Act 1982
  • Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act 1999
  • Gaming Machine Act 1991
  • Interactive Gambling (Player Protection) Act 1998
  • Jupiters Casino Agreement Act 1983
  • Keno Act 1996
  • Lotteries Act 1997
  • Wagering Act 1998.
• South Australia
  • Authorised Betting Operations Act 2000
  • Casino Act 1997
  • Gaming Machines Act 1992
  • Lottery and Gaming Act 1936
  • State Lotteries Act 1966
• Tasmania
  • Gaming Control Act 1993
  • TT-Line Gaming Act 1993
• Victoria
  • Casino control Act
  • Casino (Management Agreement) Act 1993
  • Gambling Regulation Act 2003.
• Western Australia
  • Betting Control Act 1954
  • Bookmakers Betting Levy Act 1954
  • Casino (Burswood Island) Agreement Act 1985
  • Casino Control Act 1984
  • Gaming and Betting (Contracts and Securities) Act 1985
  • Gaming and Wagering Commission Act 1987
  • Gaming and Wagering Commission (Continuing Lotteries Levy) Act 2000
  • Racing and Wagering Western Australia Act 2003
  • Racing and Wagering Western Australia Tax Act 2003
  • Racing Restriction Act 2003
  • Racing Bets Levy Act 2009

Online gambling[edit]

The Interactive Gambling Act (2001) was passed by the Australian Commonwealth Parliament on 28 June 2001.^[17] It received assent on 11 July 2001^[18]

The Act is targeted at online gambling operators, making it an offense for them to offer 'real-money' online interactive gambling to residents of Australia. It also makes it illegal for online gambling operators to advertise 'real-money' interactive gambling services (such as online poker and casino) to Australian citizens.^[17]That being said, the amount spent on online gaming by Australians reached some $800 million by 2010, according to the official 2010 Productivity Report of the Australian Government.^[2]

Accessing and using the interactive gambling services is not an offence. It is also allowed to companies based in Australia to offer their gambling services to gamblers located outside Australia with the exception of those countries that were called 'designated countries'.^[19]

Taxation laws on gambling in Australia[edit]

Gamblers' winnings in Australia are not taxed. There are 3 main reasons for that:

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• Gambling is not considered a profession, it's treated as a hobby or recreational activity.
• The Australian government views gains from gambling activities not as income, but as a result of good luck. Even if someone wins big, they also lose a lot in other gambling sessions.
• The government taxes gambling operators instead.^[20][21]

Taxation of gambling operators in Australia differs from state to state and different gambling services are taxed in a different way. There are taxes on the turnover, on player loss and net profit. As gambling operators need to obtain a license to offer their services, certain fees must also be paid at this stage of gambling business development.^[22]

The use of different tax rates and tax bases makes it difficult to compare taxes across states. For example, the ACT's keno tax rate of 2.53% of turnover is equivalent to a tax rate on gross profits of 10.12%.^[23]

Tax rates (2015–16)^[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Bryant, Nick 'Australia in thrall of gambling mania', BBC, 30 January 2007
2. ^ ^abAustralian Gambling Habits
3. ^ ^abProductivity, Commission. 'Productivity Commission Inquiry Report'. pc.gov.au/. Australian Government. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
4. ^Fourth social and economic impact study of gambling in Tasmania (2017), Volume 1: Industry trends and impacts(PDF). ACIL Allen Consulting. pp. 57–60. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
5. ^Australian Institute of Gambling Research. 'Australian Gambling Comparative History and Analysis'(PDF). www.vcgr.vic.gov.au. Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
6. ^Ziolkowski, S. 'The World Count of Gaming Machines 2013'(PDF). www.gamingta.com. The Gaming Technologies Association. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
7. ^McNally, Caroline. 'Gambling in Australia'. problemgambling.net.au. Central Coast Gambling Help.
8. ^ ^abNeedham, Kristy. 'Punters in west pile money in pokies', 'The Sydney Morning Herald', Australia, 23 March 2014. Retrieved on 10 September 2014.
9. ^ ^abcPage, Donna. 'Hunter punters blow $8682 a minute on pokies', 'Newcastle Herald', Australia, 4 October 2013. Retrieved on 9 September 2014.
10. ^ ^abPage, Donna.'How the Hunter gambled $4bn', 'Newcastle Herald', Australia, 26 July 2010. Retrieved on 9 September 2014.
11. ^Office of Liquor and gambin NSW 2018 https://www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au/resources/gaming-machine-data
12. ^ ^abMarkham, Francis. 'Who wins big from gambling in Australia'. theconversation.com. The Conversation. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
13. ^ACNielsen. 'Prevalence of Gambling and Problem Gambling in NSW – A Community Survey 2006'. www.olgr.nsw.gov.au. NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
14. ^McNally, Caroline. 'Gambling in Australia'. problemgambling.net.au. Central Coast Gambling Help. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
15. ^Parliament Library: Gambling Policy and Regulation
16. ^Australian Gambling Statistics, 1986-87 and 2011-12, 29th Edition, 2004, p. 7.
17. ^ ^abInteractive Gambling Act Receives Assent
18. ^Interactive Gambling Act 2001: Compilation
19. ^Review of the Interactive Gaming Act 2001
20. ^Australia’s future tax system - Report to the Treasurer 2009^{[permanent dead link]}
21. ^Australian Gambling laws: Taxes
22. ^ ^ab'Australian Gaming Council: Gamblng Taxes'(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
23. ^Joint Select Committee on Future Gaming Markets: Final Report. Parliament of Tasmania. p. 146. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
24. ^Joint Select Committee on Future Gaming Markets: Final Report. Parliament of Tasmania. pp. Tables 6–10. Retrieved 11 January 2018.

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