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41 enquiries and complaints received and assessed |
 |
19 investigations completed involving 23 distinct gambling sites |
 |
26 breaches of the IGA found |
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8 formal warnings issued |
Enquiries and complaints
Of the 41 enquiries and complaints received, 23 (56%) were valid complaints that could be investigated under the IGA.
You can make a complaint to the ACMA if you have reason to believe that a prohibited interactive gambling service or an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service is being provided to Australian customers or advertised in Australia.
Investigations
We may investigate interactive gambling matters on our own initiative or where a valid complaint is made.
An investigation may look at a number of sites and may also include findings on a number of matters. For example, in a single investigation we might consider if a service is a prohibited interactive gambling service and also whether an advertisement for the service was published in Australia.
In this period, 19 investigations were completed, which considered a total of 23 distinct URLs.
One or more breaches of the IGA were found in 12 investigations. There were a total of 26 separate findings of breaches:
- 15 related to providing a prohibited interactive gambling service to Australian customers
- seven related to providing an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service to Australian customers
- four related to advertising a prohibited or unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service in Australia.
Investigation breaches by type
The ACMA does not publish the names of entities involved in investigations.
Enforcement action
We have a range of powers to deal effectively with breaches, including the power to:
- issue formal warnings
- issue infringement notices
- apply to the Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court for civil penalty orders and/or injunctions
- refer a matter to the Australian Federal Police for investigation, or to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, in connection with criminal offence provisions.
In addition, we can:
- notify relevant international licensing authorities if an operator is in breach of Australian law
- refer directors/principals of offending operators to border protection agencies for inclusion on the travel Movement Alert List
- report URLs to family-friendly filter providers.
Enforcement action undertaken in this quarter
| Action | Number |
|---|---|
| Formal warnings issued | 8 |
| Notifications sent to international licensing authorities | 6 |
| URLs reported to family-friendly filter providers | 10 |
Stakeholder engagement
We continue to actively engage with international regulators, national regulators, licensing authorities, service providers, sporting and racing bodies, and other federal government agencies to raise awareness of the IGA and to promote compliance.
Education and awareness-raising
To coincide with the FIFA World Cup, we began a social media campaign in mid-June 2018 to alert consumers that some gambling services are provided illegally and to raise awareness of the ACMA’s Register of licensed interactive wagering service providers.
