ACMA's Blocklist Passes 1,788 Sites, in a Market With No Legal Online Casino to Send Players To

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has issued fresh blocking orders against two gambling brands, Casea and Crown96, both found to breach the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The regulator maintains a manually curated blocklist enforced through internet service providers, which now runs to 1,788 illegal gambling and affiliate websites. Since ACMA began taking action in 2017, 230 services have left the country voluntarily.

The limits of the method are well documented. Once a domain is shut, mirror domains can be stood up quickly to keep serving Australian players, and critics point out that jurisdictions blocking hundreds of thousands of domains still face the same problem. Denmark, which has blocked 870 sites since 2012 and added 98 more in July including Polymarket, has drawn the same criticism.

Australia's version has a structural weakness the others do not. Online casino games are not licensed domestically at all, so a player who wants to play has no legal operator to use and must send money to an offshore site the regulator itself calls unsafe. That leaves illegal operators with an effective monopoly on the product and ACMA permanently playing catch-up. The regulator urges consumer vigilance without being able to offer an alternative.

ACMA has been active beyond blocking. It fined Tabcorp AU$1.9 million over advertising breaches, alleging the company sent promotional text messages to self-excluded players. Tabcorp is separately acquiring B2B supplier BetMakers for AU$283 million. The regulator has also warned online influencers against promoting illegal gambling content to their audiences.