Key points:
- The operators were offering gambling services to customers in Australia
- This breaches the Interactive Gambling Act 2001
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has stepped in after two operators were found to contravene the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The first operator, Hollycorn NV, is responsible for Billy Billion and Crown Slots.
The investigation by the ACMA found that both platforms offered “casino-style games of chance or mixed chance and skill” to customers physically present in Australia.
Many forms of online gambling are prohibited in Australia, including online casinos, online poker and live sports betting.
Good to know: Under Section 8 of the Interactive Gambling Act, a gambling service is classed as having an Australian-customer link if “any or all” of the customers are physically present in Australia
Since 2019, the ACMA has blocked more than 1,100 illegal gambling and affiliate websites and a further 220 have voluntarily withdrawn from the market.
The second operator, Dama NV, is responsible for the online platform Woo Casino.
During this investigation, the ACMA found that Woo Casino offered several gambling services, including “services for the placing, making, receiving or acceptance of bets… including in-play betting services.”
Woo Casino also had an Australian customer-link, which meant that customers in Australia could access the website.
However, the ACMA emphasised in this report that Dama NV is not licensed by an Australian state or territory to provide regulated interactive gambling to players in the country.
Both Hollycorn NV and Dama NV have been issued formal warnings for these infractions.
