From the year 2001 onwards, the Australian government saw a surge in gambling practices among their citizens. To counter this the federal government enacted the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) on 11 July 2001. The statute curbed gambling significantly as many casinos and online betting companies were shut down.
The IGA did not prohibit all online gambling at the time. Sports betting was legal as long as the bets took place before the match started and the operators were licensed. The government banned all kinds of gambling or betting that take place during a match which is also called live ‘in-play’ betting or interactive betting.
Several bookies in Australia were against the decision of banning in-play betting as it was quite popular in European countries. The operators have been asking the government to change the law regarding interactive betting.
Offshore gambling and betting operators either totally ignore this law under IGA or are usually unaware of it. This allows the Australian residents to partake in in-play betting.
An interesting thing to note is that adherence to the IGA is the responsibility of operators. Due to this the citizens can freely bet on in-play betting and the penalties will be levied upon the operator and not the average resident.
Around 83% of Australian adults today gamble in one way or another. An average Australian spends over $1,200 on online gambling per year, according to Australian online gambling statistics.
While the regulations for gambling differ in various states some are universal such as:
1) A person must be 18 or over to gamble
2) The betting operator must obtain reasonable proof of identity from its customers.
The top online sports betting websites in Australia are:Â
- bet365
- BlueBet
- Unibet
- PlayUp
- Draftstars
- Picklebet
- Sportsbet
- TAB
- Ladbrokes
- Neds
Apart from online means people can also bet on sports offline. To place offline bets people can visit one of the outlets of the betting providers and place their bets prior to the start of a game. The major advantages include quick payouts as the bets keep going on in real time. Another advantage that these outlets provide is social interaction.
On the other hand, telephone betting was an early way of online betting. People can call registered bookmakers to place bets. After the match, the payout can be transferred to the punter’s account which was given to the bookmaker by submitting payment information using the phone’s keypad. Telephone betting allows in-play betting as well.
While many other websites are trying to reach the top of the charts, the aforementioned have already made their name among the Australian residents. These websites not only provide various sports to bet on but also give various bonuses.
They are also registered with the government. Some of the most famous games in sports betting in Australia include Horse Racing, Motor Racing, Cricket, Tennis, Basketball and Football.
Apart from online betting, lotteries and slot machines are also some of the popular ways of gambling in Australia. Another statistic shows that more than $151 million is spent annually on gambling in Australia by international visitors alone.