In the three months to March 2026 the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) referred 109 websites to internet service providers for blocking, according to its quarterly report. A website that stops loading may be one of the ACMA's blocked gambling sites, and a block is an action against the website and the company behind it. This guide explains why the ACMA blocks websites, where the list is published and what a block means for an account and its balance.

A block can be unsettling, particularly when you cannot log in and money is still in your account. If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 is free and confidential. This guide gives general information and is not legal advice.

What a blocked website shows you

A blocked website does not load. In its place a notice says that access has been blocked because the ACMA found the site in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (the Act). The notice gives the ACMA's contact details and points to Gambling Help Online. Both are worth reading before anything else.

The notice names the ACMA as the authority behind the block. The internet service provider carries it out at the ACMA's request. That distinction matters, because it shows who decided and who to contact about the decision.

A person who thinks a website was blocked in error can say so. The ACMA's guidance for consumers says that you can tell the ACMA why you think a website should not be blocked, and that no personal details are needed to do it.

The ACMA says it can ask internet service providers to help disrupt illegal online content by blocking access to websites, and that this authority comes from section 313 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. The ACMA publishes the reasons it blocks gambling websites on a page of its own. The power is general, so the gambling rules supply the reason.

Those rules are in the Act, which sets rules for whoever provides a gambling service. According to the ACMA, prohibited online services include online casinos, in-play sports betting, sports betting services without an Australian licence and betting on the outcome of a lottery. The full picture of what the Act bans and what it licenses sits in the guide to what Australia's online gambling laws prohibit.

The ACMA's page lists three grounds for a block: providing prohibited interactive gambling services to customers in Australia, providing an unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service to customers in Australia and publishing ads for either kind of service in Australia. The grounds describe conduct by a provider or an advertiser. They do not describe conduct by a customer.

The ACMA's own totals count ‘illegal gambling and affiliate websites’ together, so a block can reach a website that advertises a service as well as one that offers it. What the law covers for a person who plays at an offshore casino is a separate question, answered in the guide to what the law covers when you play at an offshore casino.

One change is on the way. Under the gambling reform that Parliament passed in August 2026, banks and payment systems will be able to block transactions to illegal operators, and most of the reform is due to begin from 1 January 2027.

How the ACMA blocks a website, step by step

The ACMA describes the stages of enforcement in several places. Read together, they give this sequence.

  1. A complaint or enquiry reaches the ACMA. According to the ACMA, a complaint about an illegal gambling website can be made without giving a name.
  2. The ACMA investigates and decides whether the website breaches the Act.
  3. If it does, the ACMA asks internet service providers to block access to the website in Australia.
  4. The website is added to the public list of blocked websites, and the ACMA announces blocks in its news releases.
  5. The ACMA passes blocked addresses to accredited family-friendly filter providers. For January to March 2026 it reported 109 URLs to them.

Blocking is one tool among several. The ACMA's page on investigations lists the others: a formal notice that a rule was broken, an infringement notice, referral to police or the Director of Public Prosecutions, and a report to the border protection agency about the directors of offending companies, which may place them on the Movement Alert List. Civil penalties reach $2,347,500 per day for an individual and $11,737,500 per day for a corporation.

The reach of a block has limits. A block restricts access from Australia. It does not close the operator's business overseas, and none of the ACMA pages listed under Sources describes a block as a way of recovering a customer's money. The list changes as new websites are added. A block does not change who licenses a website or where a complaint about it goes, which is why the register of licensed providers, not the blocked list, is the better test.

The ACMA's list of blocked gambling sites and how to read it

The ACMA publishes an alphabetical list of blocked illegal gambling websites on the same page that explains the blocks. It is the place to look when a website stops loading and a person wants to know whether the ACMA acted.

Two limits apply to the list. The first is that it is a record of action taken so far. The ACMA's March 2026 update warns that ‘even if a service looks legitimate, it's unlikely to have important customer protections’. A website that is missing from the list has not been checked and approved. It may simply not have been dealt with yet.

The second limit is the one that matters most. Absence from the list does not mean a website holds a licence. The ACMA publishes a register of licensed interactive gambling providers, and that register is the check that answers the licensing question. One habit helps: look up the operator in the register before anything else and write down the date of the check.

This guide does not give a count of entries or a last-updated date for the list, because neither could be confirmed from the ACMA page. Any total quoted here comes from an ACMA news release or report and carries its date.

What happens to your account and balance

The ACMA is direct about the risk. On its consumer page it says that websites offering illegal services may be blocked, which means ‘you may not be able to log in and access your existing account’. The same page says Australian regulators will not be able to help a person who uses an illegal service if the provider withholds winnings, and that ‘you are unlikely to see your money again in these situations’.

The ACMA also describes how problems with illegal operators tend to look. A person can deposit money, win and then find that the winnings cannot be accessed. Another pattern is a provider that keeps taking money from a bank account after the person stops using it. Neither pattern depends on a block.

An earlier warning shows the same worry. When the first websites were blocked in November 2019, the ACMA urged people with accounts at those websites to withdraw their money. That statement belongs to its time and to those websites. It explains why a block matters and is not a step to take now.

The ACMA's consumer page also introduces a list of options for recovering money from an overseas gambling website. The ACMA lists those options on its own page, and this guide does not restate them. The page is the source to read.

Records matter more than memory in these situations. A useful file holds the website address as it appeared, the dates and amounts of each deposit and withdrawal request, any messages from the operator's support team and the date you last logged in successfully. A file like that can be handed to a bank or attached to an ACMA complaint without further explanation.

If a website a person uses has been blocked, these steps keep the situation under control:

  1. Read the notice on the blocked page. It says who blocked the website and why.
  2. Look up the operator in the ACMA's register of licensed interactive gambling providers and write down the date of the check.
  3. Keep records: emails, screenshots and bank statements, each with its date.
  4. Check the bank statement. If payments leave the account without agreement, contact the bank. This guide cannot say whether a particular payment can be reversed.
  5. Make a complaint to the ACMA about the website. A complaint can lead to an investigation, but it does not return money.
  6. If gambling is affecting your life, call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858.

Whether gambling winnings are taxed in Australia is a separate question, set out in the guide to whether gambling winnings are taxed in Australia.

The numbers behind the blocks

The ACMA's figures come from news releases and quarterly reports. Each row below carries its period and source, and no total has been added up from separate periods.

MeasureFigurePeriodSource
Illegal gambling and affiliate websites blocked1,564Since November 2019, as of March 2026ACMA news release
Illegal services withdrawn from the marketOver 225Since 2017, as of March 2026ACMA news release
Enquiries and complaints received422January to March 2026ACMA quarterly report
Valid complaints among them366 (87%)January to March 2026ACMA quarterly report
Investigations completed25, covering 60 websitesJanuary to March 2026ACMA quarterly report
Formal warnings to providers13January to March 2026ACMA quarterly report
Websites referred to internet service providers for blocking109January to March 2026ACMA quarterly report

The rows measure different things, so they should be read one at a time. The March 2026 total counts blocks over more than six years, while the quarterly rows count a single quarter. Complaints come first in the process, investigations follow and referrals for blocking come last. Adding the quarter to the total would probably count some websites twice, because the total already runs up to March 2026.

The sources are the ACMA's March 2026 news release and its report for January to March 2026. A newer ACMA total may exist, so a person who needs the latest figure should check the ACMA's news page.

Where to complain about a block and where to get help

The ACMA takes complaints about illegal gambling websites. According to its page on investigations, anyone who believes someone has broken a rule in the Act can make a complaint. The ACMA's guidance for consumers adds that a person can also say why a website should not be blocked.

A complaint is easier to assess when it is specific. It helps to give the website address, the dates on which the website was used, what the website offered to customers in Australia and what happened to the account. A complaint about a block that looks mistaken works the same way, with the reasons the website should not have been blocked. Neither kind of complaint needs a legal argument, and the ACMA does not ask for one.

Help with gambling harm is separate from any complaint. The National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 and Gambling Help Online offer free and confidential support to a person experiencing gambling harm and to people close to them. Calling does not depend on whether a website has been blocked or whether money has been lost.

BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, applies to licensed Australian online and phone gambling providers, so it does not reach offshore websites. The guide to safer gambling tools and where to get help covers the tools that do apply.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I open a gambling website in Australia?

A website that will not open may have been blocked by an internet service provider at the ACMA's request. According to the ACMA, a blocked page says that access has been blocked because the website is in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Other causes exist, such as a technical fault, so read the notice on the page first.

Who decides which gambling websites are blocked?

The ACMA decides. It investigates, finds a breach of the Act and then asks internet service providers to block access to the website in Australia, using the authority in section 313 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. The internet service providers carry out the block at the ACMA's request.

Where can I find the list of ACMA blocked gambling sites?

The ACMA publishes an alphabetical list on its page for blocked gambling websites. The list changes as new websites are added, so read the page itself and not a copy. Absence from the list is not evidence that a website holds a licence.

Does it mean a website is licensed if it isn't on the blocked list?

No. The blocked list records websites the ACMA has acted against so far. A licence is checked in the register of licensed interactive gambling providers that the ACMA publishes. The ACMA also warns that even if a service looks legitimate, it is unlikely to have important customer protections.

What happens to the money in my account when a website is blocked?

The ACMA says a block can mean you may not be able to log in and access your existing account. For people who use an illegal service it adds that Australian regulators will not be able to help if winnings are withheld. Keep dated records and check the bank statement.

Can the ACMA get my money back from a blocked website?

The ACMA warns that people who use illegal services are unlikely to see their money again. A complaint can lead to an investigation of the website, but none of the ACMA pages listed under Sources describes the ACMA returning money to customers. The consumer page lists options for overseas websites.

How do I report an illegal gambling website to the ACMA?

Anyone who believes a provider has broken a rule in the Act can make a complaint to the ACMA through its website. According to the ACMA, a complaint can be made without giving a name. Keep the website address, screenshots and the dates of any payments, because dated records are useful whatever happens next.

Can I tell the ACMA a website was blocked by mistake?

Yes. The ACMA says you can tell it why you think a website should not be blocked, and that no personal details are needed. Use the contact details on the blocked-website notice or on the ACMA's website, and describe what the website offers and why the block looks wrong.

Sources