Readers connecting from Australia see this page in place of every Rand Casinos page that presents operators: Australian law leaves no room for the offers those pages describe. Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, online casinos are among the "prohibited interactive gambling services" that may not be offered to customers in Australia, together with "in-play" sports betting (bets placed while a match is under way) and betting on the outcome of a lottery, and a provider without an Australian licence may not offer them sports betting either.
The providers of those services must not advertise them, wherever they are based, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the "ACMA") enforces the Act, with powers that reach websites as well as broadcasts.
No licence exists in Australia for an online casino. The casinos described on the rest of our site hold licences from foreign authorities, which authorise nothing there, so we present none of them here at all. This page lists no operators and no links to their sites; it explains which online gambling is licensed in Australia, what "self-exclusion" is and where to find help.
What is licensed
The online gambling that Australian law allows is "wagering" (betting on racing and on sports, within the limits that the Act sets on betting during an event) and lotteries other than the instant ones (scratch cards played on a screen), with a provider licensed by a state or territory, each with its own regulator. The ACMA keeps the list of licensed providers on its page for checking whether a gambling operator is legal, and a site that offers slots, roulette or blackjack for money to a customer in Australia cannot be on that list, whatever its seal or its footer says!
The ACMA has also had illegal gambling sites blocked by Australian internet providers, and its blocking has reached the "affiliate" sites that promote them (review sites that present offshore casinos as if they were independent recommendations).
In our view that is reason enough for a site like ours to show you nothing but this page if you are in Australia. A reader who follows a link to an offshore casino leaves the protection of every rule here, from the age checks to the complaint a state regulator would hear.
Self-exclusion
BetStop, the "National Self-Exclusion Register", is an Australian Government initiative that lets a person block themselves, free of charge, from all licensed Australian online and phone gambling providers at once, with a single request made on its site at any time. Once registered, a person may neither place a bet nor open a new betting account with those providers; none of them may send that person marketing messages either (betstop.gov.au). It covers licensed providers only. An "offshore" casino is outside the register as it is outside the law, and blocking software on the device (which our responsible gambling page describes) is the tool that reaches those sites, licensed or not.
Where to find help
Gambling Help Online answers on the National Gambling Helpline, 1800 858 858, and offers "chat" and email counselling, 24 hours a day, every day and free of charge. Gambling is for adults, and in Australia a person must be 18 or over to bet with a licensed provider, which checks the age of every customer before the first bet, as its licence requires.
The privacy policy explains how the site recognises the country from which a reader connects, and what it keeps of it (nothing, for this purpose), in the same terms for every country with a page of its own on this site.
Questions
Are online casinos legal in Australia?
No. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes online casinos a prohibited interactive gambling service for customers in Australia, and no licence for them exists; online, a licensed provider may offer wagering on racing and sports, and lotteries other than instant ones, but no casino games.
How can you check whether a betting site is licensed in Australia?
The ACMA's page for checking whether a gambling operator is legal lists the licensed providers; a site that is not on it, or that offers casino games, is not licensed.
How does BetStop work?
It is a free national register: a person who signs up is blocked from all licensed Australian online and phone gambling providers, which may neither take that person's bets nor send marketing.