The Australian Communications and Media Authority has directed internet service providers to block a further batch of illegal online gambling and affiliate marketing websites, following investigations that found the services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The latest orders bring the total number of illegal gambling and affiliate sites restricted since November 2019 to 1,640. More than 230 illegal services have exited the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing updated online gambling rules in 2017.
How the Blocking Works
ACMA uses DNS-level blocking as its primary enforcement tool. When the regulator identifies a site operating illegally, it requests that Australian ISPs restrict access at the domain name system level, preventing users from reaching the site through standard browsing. The approach is not a one-off — ACMA issues new blocking requests on a rolling basis as fresh investigations conclude.
The cumulative scale of those actions reflects both the regulator’s sustained pace and the ongoing appetite among offshore operators to target Australian bettors. Blocks have now covered individual casino brands, affiliate marketing networks, and, more recently, prediction market platforms. Earlier in 2026, ACMA ordered ISPs to block access to eight sites found violating the Act: Lucky Mate, Vegastars, Wombet, Cosmobet, Fortune Play, Fortunica, Rolletto, and Velobet. Polymarket, the US-based prediction market platform, was also blocked after ACMA classified prediction markets as gambling under the Interactive Gambling Act — a determination that set a precedent for how the regulator handles newer product categories.
DNS blocking has drawn criticism. Observers note that determined users can bypass restrictions using virtual private networks, and that offshore operators frequently launch mirror domains to replace blocked services. ACMA has acknowledged these technical limitations while maintaining that the cumulative effect of enforcement — combined with market exits — justifies the approach. Industry analysis estimated illegal offshore wagering at approximately AU$1.1 billion in 2023, representing around 15% of the national online betting market, underscoring that the challenge has not been resolved by site blocking alone.
The enforcement parallels approaches taken in other regulated markets. Italy launched a digital firewall initiative targeting unlicensed gambling services, with its own ISP-directed blocking framework now active across dozens of domains. The mechanisms differ at a technical level, but the policy logic is the same: reduce consumer access to unlicensed operators rather than pursue each operator individually through lengthy legal proceedings.
Scale of the Illegal Market
The pace of ACMA’s enforcement gives some indication of how active the offshore sector remains. In Q1 2025 alone, the regulator received 350 consumer enquiries related to illegal gambling services. Of those, 283 were valid and investigated under the Interactive Gambling Act. Twenty-two investigations were completed, covering 25 gambling websites. All identified at least one breach, with 33 breaches recorded in total — 20 instances of providing a prohibited interactive gambling service, 12 of operating an unlicensed regulated wagering service, and one advertising breach.
Formal warnings were issued to a range of providers including CoinPoker, Leon Casino, and Woo Casino. The volume of first-quarter activity alone signals that ACMA’s enforcement load is substantial, and that unlicensed operators have not been deterred by the existence of a blocking regime.
ACMA has been clear about the consumer risk. Unlicensed platforms operating outside Australian law carry no obligation to maintain separate player funds, provide dispute resolution, or implement harm reduction measures that apply to licensed operators. Players depositing money with offshore services have limited practical recourse if accounts are frozen, withdrawals refused, or personal data misused. The regulator directs consumers to its official register to verify whether a wagering service holds a valid Australian state or territory licence before using it.
Enforcement Extends to Promoters
In 2025, ACMA expanded its enforcement reach beyond operators to the promotional networks that drive traffic to illegal sites. The regulator issued formal warnings to social media influencers, who face fines of up to AU$2.4 million for promoting illegal offshore gambling services to Australian audiences. Several influencer accounts had promoted offshore casino brands to large followings, including services operating without Australian authorisation.
The warning is consistent with a wider regulatory pattern. Regulators across multiple markets have moved from penalising operators alone to targeting the full distribution chain — affiliates, payment processors, and now content creators. For offshore operators, affiliate and influencer channels remain among the lowest-cost acquisition routes into regulated markets, which gives regulators an incentive to disrupt them alongside the sites themselves.
Social media platforms have been slower to respond. Reports from 2025 documented cases in which posts promoting crypto casinos targeting Australian users remained live after user reports, with platform moderators citing policy compliance. ACMA has taken the position that responsibility lies with both the promoter and the platform.
What the Numbers Signal
The trajectory of Australia’s blocking programme raises a question that ACMA has not resolved: whether site blocking and market exits, taken together, are making a meaningful dent in illegal market share, or whether offshore operators are simply cycling through domains quickly enough to maintain reach.
The 230-plus market exits since 2017 suggest enforcement does carry weight for operators with regulated market ambitions elsewhere — a blocking order or warning from a major jurisdiction’s regulator creates compliance risk in other markets. That calculus may not apply to purely offshore operators with no licensing exposure. For those, the friction of a DNS block is operational, not existential.
The UK Gambling Commission’s final report on the illegal online gambling market reached similar conclusions about the limits of reactive enforcement, pointing to consumer demand as the underlying driver. ACMA faces the same structural problem: a legal and regulated market that does not offer online casino games creates persistent demand that offshore operators are positioned to serve.
Whether that gap narrows depends on legislative decisions that sit beyond ACMA’s remit. For now, the regulator’s blocking programme continues at its established pace.
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority
