Australia Betting Payment Methods

Is online betting legal in Australia?

Yes, with a licence from a state or territory. The federal law is the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). It makes it illegal to offer some online services to people in Australia: online casinos and slots, in-play betting on sports matches (allowed only when the bet is placed wholly by telephone), sports betting without an Australian licence and betting on lottery outcomes, and it bans the advertising of any of them. Betting on sports and racing before the event is lawful when the operator holds a wagering licence from a state or territory. The Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission, set up by the Racing and Wagering Act 2024, had 26 sports bookmakers on its books at 30 June 2025, and bet365, Betfair and Unibet are on its list of licensed operators through their Australian companies. ACMA publishes a register of every licensed interactive wagering provider.

Since the 2017 amendments ACMA can act against offshore sites: more than 220 online gambling services have left the Australian market, and since November 2019 ACMA asks internet providers to block the rest, 975 gambling and affiliate websites by May 2024. A blocked site shows ACMA’s notice that offering online betting to people in Australia without a state or territory licence is illegal. The Act is written against providers; what ACMA tells players is that an unlicensed service is unlikely to carry any consumer protection and that “our laws can’t help if something goes wrong” when such a site withholds winnings.

Licensed bookmakers work under the National Consumer Protection Framework. They may not give credit or refer you to a lender, must verify your identity within 72 hours of registration (since 2 May 2022; before that the limit was 14 days) and may not pay out winnings before that check, must prompt you to set a deposit limit before you bet and send monthly activity statements, and must check BetStop, the national self-exclusion register run by ACMA since 21 August 2023, which closes your accounts at every licensed provider for three months to life. Since 11 June 2024 the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Act 2023 bans credit cards, “funds linked to credit cards, including digital wallets” and digital currency as deposit methods for online and telephone betting, lotteries excepted; a provider that takes them faces fines of up to A$247,500, and the government reviews the ban two years on, from June 2026.

Winnings are not taxed. The Australian Taxation Office’s ruling IT 2655, dated 17 October 1991 and still in force, says it will be rare for a taxpayer with no connection with racing other than betting to be carrying on a business, and that there is no Australian case in which the winnings of a mere punter have been held to be assessable. The other side of the same rule is that losses are not deductible.

Which payment methods work from Australia

Of the 30 bookmakers open to Australia, 25 list Visa, 23 Mastercard, 23 Bitcoin, 21 Ethereum, 20 Neteller and 19 Skrill; 11 take Paysafecard, 8 Apple Pay, 8 Google Pay, 7 Revolut Pay and 3 PayPal. None lists American Express, Diners Club, Discover, UnionPay, RuPay or Verve. The table below gives the full count; the rules that decide what you can actually use are these.

• Credit cards. Refused at every Australian-licensed bookmaker since 11 June 2024, and the ban reaches “funds linked to a credit card (including digital wallets)”: a credit card inside Apple Pay or Google Pay, or a Skrill, Neteller, Jeton or MuchBetter balance loaded from one, is caught as well. Debit cards are outside the ban, and the regulator’s pages do not mention prepaid vouchers or cash paid in a shop.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay. Both work in Australia (the country is on Apple’s list of supported countries and on Google’s list for websites and apps), for deposits only, and only with a debit card behind the wallet. Withdrawals go back to the card or by bank transfer.
• PayPal. It admits gambling merchants only with prior approval and only where operator and customers are in jurisdictions where the activity is lawful. The three bookmakers in the list that take it, bet365, Betfair and Unibet, are the three with a Northern Territory licence.
• Revolut Pay. Revolut opens personal accounts for Australian residents, and 7 bookmakers show the button; it pays from your Revolut balance, so it is allowed as long as the balance was not topped up with a credit card.
• E-wallets. Skrill, Neteller, Payz and MiFinity accept Australian residents. eZeeWallet runs an Australian dollar account with the dearest table on its fee page: 6% to load by Neosurf or Paysafecard, BitPay free, deposits from A$20 to A$2,000 and 1% plus A$7 on each withdrawal to a bank. Sticpay pays out to Australian banks by local transfer at 1.5% plus A$3.
• Cryptocurrency. Digital currency is banned as a deposit method at licensed wagering sites. The 23 bookmakers in the list that take Bitcoin and the five that take only crypto (22Bit, 1xBit, Bet25, Rainbet, Dexsport) are offshore sites without an Australian licence, which puts them on the side of the Act that ACMA blocks; USDT appears at 3 of them.
• Vouchers. Paysafecard is sold in Australia (one of the 48 countries on its table) and 11 bookmakers list it. Flexepin is run by Flexewallet, licensed by ASIC in Melbourne: up to 10 vouchers of up to A$500 a day, A$5,000 held at most, A$4 a month deducted after the Use By Date and A$30 for a refund. CashtoCode barcodes are paid at the epay terminals of BP, Shell, Coles and Woolworths. Neosurf is listed by 3 bookmakers.

Local payment methods

Australia pays by bank account. PayID, Osko and BPAY are run by Australian Payments Plus, the domestic payments company owned by the banks; none of the 30 bookmakers names any of them in its cashier, but 13 list a bank transfer and two, bet365 and Betfair, a Pay by Bank button, and a transfer to or from an Australian bank account runs on these rails.

• PayID. A mobile number, e-mail address, ABN or Organisation Identifier linked to a bank account, offered by over 100 financial institutions. You type the PayID instead of a BSB and account number, the bank shows the name behind it before you confirm, and the payment travels on the New Payments Platform. The AP+ page states no fee; your bank’s product disclosure statement does.
• Osko. The fast-payment service inside online banking: transfers between participating banks arrive in under a minute, 24 hours a day, weekends included. Your bank’s daily transfer limit applies to Osko payments too, and the AP+ page names no fee.
• BPAY. The bill-payment service that has run since 1997: a Biller Code and a Customer Reference Number typed into the online banking of over 140 banks, with over 95,000 billers. Payments can be scheduled for a date when the money is in the account; the page gives no processing time, and the fee, if any, is set by your bank.

A bank transfer is a deposit method: the money leaves your account and the bookmaker credits it once it has matched it to yours. Withdrawals go back to a bank account or to the debit card you deposited with.

How to deposit and withdraw from Australia

• Keep the account in Australian dollars. 16 of the 30 bookmakers offer an AUD account; at the others every deposit and payout is converted by your card issuer or wallet, and a wallet such as Skrill charges 3.99% on each conversion.
• Use a debit card, PayID or a bank transfer, never a credit card. Licensed bookmakers must refuse credit cards, digital wallets funded by credit cards and cryptocurrency since 11 June 2024, and they may not lend you money or send you to a lender.
• Expect the identity check at once. A licensed provider must verify who you are within 72 hours of registration and cannot pay out winnings before it has. Register in your own name and have an identity document ready.
• Check the licence before you deposit. ACMA’s register lists every licensed interactive wagering provider; a site missing from it has no Australian licence, may be blocked by your internet provider at any time, and the law gives you no help if it keeps your money.
• Cheapest route: debit card in, bank transfer out. Card and bank deposits cost nothing on the bookmaker’s side, and a payout to your bank account needs no wallet in between. The wallets add their own fees on the way back to the bank: Skrill 1.75%, eZeeWallet 1% plus A$7, Sticpay 1.5% plus A$3.
• No tax on winnings. The ATO treats a punter’s winnings as outside assessable income (ruling IT 2655 of 1991), and the losses are not deductible.