Unlicenced iGaming to drop in Australia

According to local authorities, unlicensed online gambling operations’ revenue will drop 50% this year after regulatory changes.

Australia.- The recent reforms to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) are set to have a major impact in Australia this year, local authorities report. According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), unlicensed online gambling operators’ revenue will drop 50% this year.

An ACMA report showed that revenue is expected to jump down to €126 million from €285 million after last September’s changes to the IGA. The reforms expanded the authority’s power to act against unlicensed offshore operators and set up to €5 million penalties per day to offenders, which lured them out of the country.

‘Over the past year, we’ve moved decisively to disrupt the provision of illegal offshore gambling to Australians,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said. “We’ve made it clear that Australia’s laws are unambiguous. If you provide prohibited or unlicensed gambling services to customers in Australia, you are breaching Australian law and we will take enforcement action,” she added.

The ACMA also set up an Interactive Gambling Taskforce, which is determined to educate, engage and enforce action to break down unauthorised gambling operations.