Online Gambling in Australia
Online gambling in Australia is governed by the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) of 2001. The act prohibits an online gambling operator from offering online casino games and poker to people located in Australia. It is also illegal to advertise online casino and poker services within Australia.
However, online lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet, as well as sports wagering, and race wagering are regarded as extensions of land-based offerings and are licensed and regulated by the individual states and territories of Australia.
Wagering on a sport, race or other event after it has already begun is not permitted, nor are keno-style games, scratch tickets, or instant lotteries.
Most Australian states and territories have licensing regimes for sports wagering and lotteries, but many of them permit only the state-authorized totalizator to offer sports betting. Tasmania licenses peer-to-peer betting exchanges.
In October of 2009, the Productivity Commission, an independent advisory body on gambling policy recommended that Australia lift the restrictions of the IGA and allow operators to offer poker and casino products to Australian residents.
About Australia
Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Neighboring countries include Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups.
After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, formally founded on 7 February 1788 (although formal possession of the land had occurred on 26 January 1788). The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.
A prosperous developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy.