A More Liberal Approach to Online Gambling in Australia

There is no doubt about it – Australians love to gamble. Over one fifth of the world slot machines are located in Australia and one study suggests that Australians spend more money on gambling each week than they do on gasoline. Online gambling in Australia, however, is a different story.

Despite the popularity of gambling in general, Australians are rather restricted from gambling online. There are many online casinos in Australia because the Australian government issues licenses to companies that want to run gaming sites. The only catch to such deals is that companies who do operate from Australia are not permitted to accept Australian players. Australians who wish to gamble online must do so through foreign based gambling sites.


Alas, things may be looking up for Australian online gamblers. There’s a good possibility that Australian gambling laws will be changing in the very near future. The Australian Federal Government’s independent advisory body for microeconomic reform, the Australian Productivity Commission, recently released a draft report which supports the liberalization of online gambling in Australia.


Two-hundred sixty-four Australian companies submitted proposals to the Productivity Commission in regards to online gambling, and the result was very positive. This doesn’t ensure government activity, however, the Australian government does take the PC’s input very seriously. The PC’s statement to the government reads as follows, “The Australian Government should repeal the Interactive Gambling Act, and in consultation with state and territory governments, should initiate a process for the managed liberalisation of online gaming.”


The PC came to the realization that the problems associated with online gambling are less risky then was earlier assumed. In turn, they believe that the liberalization of the online gambling industry and government regulation would reduce the number of problem gambling cases in Australia. Australian gamblers are one step closer to easy going. G’day progress!