The communications and media services regulatory body said it received numerous complaints about the 18 offshore unlicensed online gambling websites and found them to be operating in breach of the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act, after undertaking investigations.

Among the offending websites that the ACMA has requested to be blocked are Syndicate Casino, iLucki, King Billy Casino, Gunsbet, Spinago, Fast Pay Casino, Get Slots and King Johnnie. The ACMA said it “urges Australian users of these sites to withdraw their money now.”

The authority outlined that website blocking is one of a range of enforcement options it uses to tackle illegal online gambling in Australia, and 222 such sites have been blocked since it made its first blocking request in November 2019.

The ACMA also said more than 100 unlicensed operators have pulled out of the Australian market since the authority began enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.

An ACMA statement added: “Website blocking provides a valuable opportunity to alert the public to illegal gambling services through the messaging that appears when there is an attempt to access the site.”

The blocking requests follows the ACMA’s reminder to all licensed operators in Australia in November to comply with gambling advertising rules, after it highlighted a number of inconsistencies to how several operators interpreted current regulations.