| Legislature: | Parliament of Australia |
| Long Title: | An Act about interactive gambling, and for related purposes |
| Territorial Extent: | States and territories of Australia |
| Introduced By: | Senator Ian Campbell |
| 1St Reading: | 5 April 2001 |
| 2Nd Reading: | 28 June 2001 |
| 3Rd Reading: | 28 June 2001 |
| Introduced By2: | Warren Entsch MP |
| 1St Reading2: | 29 June 2001 |
| 2Nd Reading2: | 29 June 2001 |
| 3Rd Reading2: | 29 June 2001 |
| Royal Assent: | 11 July 2001 |
| Status: | in force |
The Interactive Gambling Act (Cth) (or IGA for short) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, with the purpose of regulating online gambling. The law makes it an offence for online gambling websites to provide their services to customers within Australia, among other measures designed to protect the public from the detrimental effects of gambling. The Act was passed by the Australian Parliament on 29 June 2001, and has been amended a number of times, most recently in 2023.
The Interactive Gambling Act was passed by the Parliament of Australia on 28 June 2001.[1] It received assent on 11 July 2001.[2]
The IGA is targeted at online gambling operators and makes it an offence 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.[3]
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'.[4] A country can be called designated upon request of the government of this country and on condition that there is corresponding legislation in this country.[5]
Offense
Reasonable diligence
An offence will not be deemed to have been committed if the online gambling operator could not, with due diligence, have known that they were offering their services to residents of Australia. The IGA defines 'reasonable diligence' in the following ways:
Online wagering
There is some leniency in the Interactive Gambling Act that means not all online gambling was prohibited. For example, sports betting through licensed operators is still legal as long as the betting occurs prior to the sporting event starting – this way the individual is not gambling 'interactively'. Online lotteries are also legal according to the Act, as long as they are not the 'instant-win' style scratch cards.
Advertising
The IGA made it an offence to advertise an interactive gambling service or product - the advertising ban extended across all forms of media (from electronic to print).[6]
Complaints
The IGA has a formal complaints process that is managed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority in which people can register any concerns regarding the advertising of Interactive gambling products.
Act review
On 24 August 2011, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, released a discussion paper for the review of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The main reasons for reviewing the document are:
The final report has to be presented by the first half of 2012, subject to the Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform reporting by the end of 2011.[7]