Revolut & Gambling in Australia

⚠️ Straight answer up front: it is illegal for any operator — Australian or offshore — to offer real-money online casino games (pokies, roulette, blackjack, online poker) to people in Australia. This page exists to explain that clearly. Online sports betting and racing wagering are a completely different, legal category.

The IGA makes it an offence to provide online casino-style games or online poker to anyone in Australia, regardless of where the operator is based — a site licensed in Curaçao is just as illegal under this law as one claiming to be Australian. The Act was tightened in 2017 to close an "in-play" betting loophole, and again in 2023-2024 with a ban on using credit cards or cryptocurrency to fund any online gambling. What remains fully legal online is sports betting and racing wagering, through a bookmaker licensed by an Australian state or territory (most commonly the Northern Territory).

The IGA targets operators, not players — there's no offence provision aimed at an individual using an offshore casino, and there have been no prosecutions of players in the law's history. The regulator, ACMA, instead blocks illegal sites at the ISP level: as of mid-2026 the running total has passed 1,700 illegal gambling and affiliate-marketing sites blocked since the programme began in 2019, with 230+ additional operators reported to have voluntarily withdrawn from the Australian market rather than face action. New sites are added to the blocklist every few weeks, so any specific total goes stale fast — check ACMA's own published register for the current figure. Separately, the Albanese government announced in April 2026 that new caps and bans on gambling advertising across TV, radio and online will take effect from January 2027.

BetStop, Australia's National Self-Exclusion Register, blocks you from every licensed Australian wagering operator with one registration. It does not cover offshore casino sites — those are outside the licensed system entirely — and it doesn't cover land-based venues, which run separate state-level self-exclusion schemes. Under the 2026 reforms, BetStop is being expanded with near-instant myGov sign-up and mandatory checks at every login rather than just at account creation.

As of 21 July 2026, Revolut holds a full Australian banking licence (an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution licence from APRA) and operates as Revolut Bank Australia — its first banking entity in the Asia-Pacific region. Existing Australian balances now carry Financial Claims Scheme protection up to AU$250,000, the same government-backed guarantee that covers the major domestic banks.

Free, confidential support is available around the clock through Gambling Help Online, including for family members affected by someone else's gambling. See our responsible gambling page for more.