Best Online Casinos in Australia & Gambling Regulations
Top Casinos Accepting Players In Australia
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So, if you are an Aussie player who wants to play online, you’ll find the best casinos online for players from Australia right here at GoodLuckMates. To make things easy for you, we have gathered the casinos available to you and compiled them into a list. Simply check out your options, pick the one that speaks to you, and head on over to the casino to sign up and play!
Finding the best Australian casino online
In order for you to find the best casino that suits Australian residents, there are a few aspects you’ll need to look out for. You’ll want a casino that acknowledges players from Australia, as that means they have a product specifically made for you, such as unique bonuses and an optimised game selection. You can also expect great welcome offers, experienced customer support as well as a larger selection of promotions than what is offered to markets of less priority by the operator.
An online casino Australia will offer all relevant features and options needed for a comfortable gaming experience. In order for you to be able to easily spot if a casino is good for Aussie players, we’ve put together a checklist. Cross-check the casinos with these questions:
- Is the site in English and does it specifically mention Australian players and/or offer Australian dollars as a currency?
- Can you participate in the welcome offer available?
- Do they offer the type of games that you are looking for, such as table games, slots, live casino, poker, odds or bingo?
- Is the customer support available 24/7, or do they have operating hours? If so, do they operate during the hours that are comfortable for you?
- What license do they have? Is the casino safe (encryption, audits etc.)
- Are there offers, bonuses or loyalty programs available to Australian players?
Unless you’re quite well-versed in the world of online casinos, finding answers to these questions might take some time. This is why our experts at GoodLuckMate have done all the hard work for you! We’ve checked which casino online for Australia meets the criteria for being a good Aussie casino, and we have also reviewed them. Check out our top picks to find the online casino best suited for you!
Gambling regulation – The Interactive Gambling Act 2001
The Australian gambling market is only regulated to allow local casino operators to offer gambling, and there are different regulations for different parts of the country. Australian operators are not allowed to offer their services to players outside of the country, and they are required to acquire a gambling license to offer their products full stop. Casino and live casino games are regulated by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications while betting, bingo and lotteries are regulated individually within each state or territory. Poker online is prohibited in the country, but regular poker is still offered in casinos and hotels.
Although the market is so restricted in Australia, some online casinos do still accept players who are Australian residents. An operator not located in the country will also not operate under the Gambling Act, which will allow you to enjoy all of the services offered. If you are looking for one of these casinos, it’s a good idea to choose one that has a gambling license provided from within Europe. These would be either issued from Malta or Gibraltar, although there are casinos with licenses outside of Europe, such as Curacao, and there are also casinos who lack a license altogether. For Aussie players, playing online does come at a risk, as you’re not covered legally, so if you do, we recommend that you at least choose one with a license.
Casino in Australia
Australia is evidently a regulated gambling market, where mainly land-based casinos are given licenses to operate in the country, with a very small exception for some operators in the Northern Territory. For other online games such as bingo and lottery, online gambling is regulated by each individual state or territory. This means that if you want to enjoy playing at online casino Australia you’ll have to look at operators offering their services to Australians from outside the country. Alternatively, if you can live without the online part of the situation, visit a land-based casino to play at the live tables and poker machines offered there.
Dispute resolution – can I get help from a third party?
A gambling license is intended to protect players, and one of its main functions is to provide a mechanism for resolving disputes when they come up. If you have a dispute with a casino, and the casino is being unreasonable, the gambling authority will help you. For many licenses, this means you can contact the gambling authority to get help processing your withdrawals, claiming money the casino has debited from your account, or resolving other disputes that might arise. The likelihood that the gambling authority will help you in ways that are effective, however, depends on the procedures they have in place for this. This is yet another reason why choosing to play at a casino that has a safe license is important.
Getting help directly from the gambling authority is not always necessary, or even an option. A lot of regulators have now enforced third-party dispute resolution. This means casinos must have an agreement with an arbitrator who will look into disputes on the behalf of players from a particular casino. This ensures your dispute will be reviewed by an objective third party. All trusted online casinos have information about arbitration on their websites if they use this option, or they’ll have the contact information for the gambling authority you should consult. However, you should always try to resolve your issues with the casino first, and a lot of casinos have separate email addresses specifically for handling complaints.
Secure payments – can I trust a casino with my money?
If you’re worried about the security of the transactions you’re making at a casino, you should look for a logo with the acronym PCI DSS. This stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and this is something the payment industry has created. If you see this logo, it means the casino can be trusted for safe money transactions since they follow all of the rules set by the payment industry. Information about this can also be found in an FAQ section on the casino’s website.
Another thing to look out for in terms of payments is where your money is kept while you play. Some gambling authorities, all of the best ones actually, regulate what the casino can do with your money while they are holding it. Your money shouldn’t go into a general bank account held by the casino; it should go into an account that is strictly for holding player funds. This means that as long as you have the money in your player account, it can’t be spent by the casino. Your deposit will be kept separate from the operating funds of the casino until your player account is empty, which will happen if you make a funds withdrawal or if you lose the money while playing.Fair gaming – do the games give me a fair chance to win?
The best known system tool for ensuring that a casino offers fair games is eCogra; however, there are other providers that also offer these kinds of systems. You want to make sure that the casino is using a certified third-party control system to ensure that the games of chance you’re playing are actually based on chance and not on other types of metrics. Rigged games are ones that have been set up to pay out less than they claim to or ones that give some players a greater chance of winning than others.
The eCogra logo can often be found in the footer of the casino’s website, but not all casinos choose to display it. If you can’t see this logo, go to the FAQs and see if you can find information about random number generators. If there are no FAQs on the site, check out their terms and conditions or contact the casino’s support and ask how they ensure their games are safe.
Encrypted website – how is my information kept safe?
An SSL-encrypted website should be mandatory for any casino, and very few casinos operate without this or similar safe encryption features. Always keep in mind that you are giving the casino quite a bit of sensitive information, including your payment details. When you’re uploading and sending documents to verify your identity, you want to make sure that no unauthorized third-party has access to them. Site security, therefore, doesn’t only include the website itself but also what the casino does on the backend. You should always look into a casino’s data security. You’ll normally find information about this in their terms and conditions and their privacy policy. If in doubt, contact their support and ask for more detailed information.
Most trustworthy casinos have information about site security in the website footer, so simply scroll down and look for the logo of a well-known security system.
Gambling license – can I play at a casino from my country?
The gambling license a casino operates under will have a big impact on your security. Not all licenses are equally safe for players for the simple reason that they are issued by different gambling authorities that work in different ways and have different rules. The rules and regulations may be quite similar, but the way they are enforced is a different story entirely. For example, if a casino doesn’t comply with the regulations, some gambling authorities may just issue a fine while others may revoke the casino’s license outright. How often gambling authorities show up for an unscheduled inspection or control will also vary.
The biggest differences between a safe, high quality gambling license and one that isn’t as good will usually show up in the areas of fair gaming, dispute resolution and the rules and systems for identifying and handling problem gamblers (responsible gambling). If your country of residence has its own gambling authority, playing at casinos that are licensed by them will be the safest option for you. Other international licenses that can be trusted are issued by the Malta Gambling Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. Curacao eGaming is getting better at protecting players whereas licenses from Panama and Costa Rica, for instance, are considered less safe. The worst option is obviously a casino with no license whatsoever.
Our casino experts have tried and tested all aspects of each and every casino, so you can feel confident when signing up.
