The Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA), which is the watchdog tasked with acting against illegal iGaming websites, has published its report for the fourth quarter of the year.

ACMA breaks down enforcement action in the final quarter of 2024

The regulator said that it had received 301 enquiries and complaints, summing up that 243 of those were in fact legitimate. This represented 85% of the total and demanded further scrutiny and action under the Interactive Gambling Act which defines what businesses are allowed to offer games of chance and betting products in the country.

The regulator offered the following breakdown of the signals it has had to handle since October, including:

• October: 97 complaints 24, enquiries
• November: 68 complaints, 24 enquiries
• December 78 complaints, 10 enquiries

ACMA explained that it had conducted eight reviews of 16 different gambling websites which have breached the existing regulation as outlined under the Interactive Gambling Act. In one instance, 10 websites were found to have provided Australians with interactive gambling, meaning casino games of chance.

Another five companies were sanctioned over unlicensed regulated interactive gambling services to Australian customers, and one website was sanctioned over advertising a prohibited or unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service in the country, ACMA said without specifying the last case.

Apart from outlining the breaches, ACMA issued six formal warnings, some of which were issued to the same service. For example, Dama N.V. has warned over prohibited interactive gambling sites such as RollXO, Lucky Ones, SpinsUP, Rebellion Casino, MoonWin, Lucky Friends, Golden Star Casino, and N1 Bet.

FBC BV was targeted over FreeBitco.in, and Square Media Ltd was warned over the unregulated interactive gambling service Betsquare. Luster NV was warned over Eddy Vegas.

ACMA vows to continue protecting consumers by flagging aberrant behavior

In the period reviewed by the regulator, i.e. October-December, ACMA was able to issue a total of 75 blocks against individual websites. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) blocks are considered an effective tool in the watchdog’s arsenal against the illegal gambling sector.

ACMA has been systematically cracking down on websites over the past several years, bringing its total its of blocked services to more than 1,000 websites. The full list may be seen here with all individual websites listed alphabetically and numerically.

ACMA also reported 75 URLs to family-friendly providers to ensure that vulnerable people are not exposed to potentially harmful gambling products.

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