A new bill to tighten restrictions on offshore operators that operate online gambling services in Australia has been unveiled by the federal government. On Thursday the communications minister. Online casino gaming is prohibited in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth) (Interactive Gambling Act). However, a person may still apply for an ‘internet gaming licence’ in the Northern Territory and offer their gaming products outside of Australia in certain circumstances.

Any hopes by Australia’s estimated 130,000 online poker players that the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill of 2016 may have faltered has now been dashed after it was approved overwhelmingly in the Senate. The vote went ahead on Wednesday, with a nationwide ban of online gambling, including poker, expected to go into effect next month.
The amended bill provides an update to the country’s Interactive Gambling Act (2001), with provisions having now been included to prevent online gambling and sports betting operators from exploiting gray areas in the law not included in the original piece of legislation. The bill was subsequently introduced in November 2016, and in June of this year made progress without any carve outs being included for online poker.
There was then a slight glimmer of hope that special treatment may be given to the online poker industry after a panel convened headed by Sen. David Leyonhjelm, but while the evidentiary information provided by poker players, gambling industry experts, and addiction specialists was due for consideration on September 21st, the recent vote by the Senate has now rendered the whole process moot. As a result, enforcement of the strict ban is due to go ahead on September 9th, and while the bill now requires operators to acquire an Australian iGambling license in order to offer their products, no regulatory body exists where such a license can be obtained.
Australia has one of the highest rates of gambling and addiction in the world, and a key reason for the bill’s adoption was the need to offer vulnerable people protection from the harms of gambling addiction, and other social ills related to an uncontrolled and unregulated gambling landscape. Commenting on the bill and the inclusion of online poker in the legislation, Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield addressing Parliament this year, explained:
“With the law being clarified, it is evident that a number of these operators have begun withdrawing their services from Australians. Whilst I appreciate that this is not welcomed by those individuals who have been using these services, it is a fact that online poker has always been a prohibited service under the act. It is not something that this bill is enacting. Whether online poker should be legal in Australia or not is a separate debate.”

Providing prohibited interactive gambling services to customers in Australia (such as online casinos, online slot machines and services that allow in-play online sports betting) providing an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service to customers in Australia (such as online betting services that don’t have a valid Australian licence).

Self-exclusion (or self-banning) is a voluntary process where a person with a gambling concern excludes themselves from areas of specific gambling venues, or online providers.

It can provide a concrete tool to help keep you safe from excessive gambling.

All Australian gambling providers are required to provide customers with the option to self-exclude from their venue or products. So whether someone wants to ban themselves from entering the premises of venues such as clubs, pubs or TABs or from placing a bet on gambling websites such as SportsBet, TattsBet or Tattersall's, self-exclusion is available.

Self-exclusion is not available from sites registered outside Australia.

There are no costs involved and there is a minimum period of exclusion agreed upon when you join a program.

Information about how to arrange self-exclusion is available at venues and Australian gambling websites. For online sites, you are able to download and complete a self-exclusion application form from the sites. In general search under Responsible Gambling or Self-Exclusion.

Some examples with links are provided below:

Here are some ways you can try to self-exclude depending on how you gamble:

For venue self-exclusion, you will generally have an interview, sign a deed of self-exclusion, which nominates the venue/s or areas of a venue you will be excluded from. By signing the deed you agree that you will not enter the restricted gaming area and give staff permission to remove you if you enter.

At the interview you will have your photograph taken. This photo is only available to appropriate staff members of the nominated gaming venue/s so they can help enforce the self exclusion.

If you decide to self-exclude, your details are treated with discretion at all times. There is no charge for self-exclusion from gaming venues or online gambling.

Who do I contact?

Different states and territories have different regulations, time frames and methods of participation.

For information and procedures on how to exclude yourself from the different providers in your area, visit your state or territory page.

You can also find out more by chatting with one of our counsellors – start by signing up today.

Please note we do not have any affiliation with any of these products and have no control over how they operate or their effectiveness.

Some people have found the following software filtering products that try to block access to international websites not under Australian regulation useful:

Internet Activity Monitoring software packages are also available. These products are often used by parents wanting to prevent underage children accessing sites, but may be an option for people trying to limit their gambling.

Examples of these include:

AdBlock Plus is a free extension for web browsers that blocks ads from appearing on webpages. AdBlock Plus disables a range of advertising while you browse the web, including banners, YouTube ads, pop-ups and social media ads.

It is free and currently available to use with:

• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera.

Visit the AdBlock Plus website for download links for all browsers and more information on the features it provides.

There are also apps available to block iPhone, iPad and Android gambling. Search in the app store for gambling block and see what you can find.

Steps to block gambling content on an iPhone:

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• The first step is to open up Settings. This can be accessed from your iPhone’s Home Screen
• Next, select General
• Now, you need to click on Restrictions
• If you have already enabled your iPhone’s Restrictions, you will need to enter your Passcode. Otherwise, you need to enable Restrictions, and create a new passcode
• Under the Allowed Content, you need to click on Websites
• The next step is to click on Add A Website. You will see this listed under Never Allow
• The last step is to click Done. The website will now be blocked
• You can repeat this for all the sites you want to block.

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Here are a few articles that explain ways to block gambling websites:

Online Gambling Ban Australia Ban

• Ehow – Block gambling websites.