Australia Officially Bans Online Casinos

In March, 2017 online casinos were officially banned in Australia. The Senate approved amendments to the Gambling Bill. By these amendments all online casinos and poker sites were banned. The bill was passed on the 9^th August, 2017 and as it is expected it will come into force within 30 days term.

These drastic changes to the IGAB 2016 bill were made by the Australian Senate as a measure to stop or decrease the gambling addiction.

The amendments in the legislation will be followed by many changes in this industry.  A big number of software providers are going to leave Australia very soon.

Sites as Vera&John and 32Red Casino were the among the first that jumped from the ship. As it is expected the PokerStars will be the next to make the jump. By an announcement they showed readiness to pull out of Australia as soon as the bill was passed.  

The Australian Senate completely ignored the opinion of Senator Leyonhjelm – one of the main supporters of legal poker gambling in the country.

Poker discussion

A new online poker inquiry was released and many in the industry hoped that the legislative amendments will be delayed. The report is about how players viewed the online poker industry. It is going to be published in the middle of September.

The report was supported by  Senator Leyonhjelm. According to his opinion online poker is actually a game of skill and should be reclassified. The poker sector could be perfectly regulated by separation from online casinos that rely on slots and games of luck. 

The Australian Senate has already passed the amendments in the gambling bill and the changes refer to online casinos and poker sites as well.

According to the new changes no new casinos will be allowed to be available in Australia. But Senator Leyonhjelm thinks that this will open illegal ways for the players. They will continue having fun with their favorite online casino games. We'll live, we' ll see. 

Look for further information about Australian online casinos and the passing of the bill to make your own decision.