The Best Online and Land Based Casinos in Australia
Australia has always loved gambling and casinos.
This includes sports betting, online casinos, general casino gaming, card games, and any other kind of gambling you could imagine.
Australians have always loved and continue to love gambling.
The market for gambling and casinos in Australia continues its rapid, unprecedented growth. Australian players are one of the reasons casinos and slot machine designers are making such solid technological advancements. Both online and land-based casinos in Australia must remain at the top of their game to compete in the gambling industry.
This “Best Online and Land-Based Casinos in Australia” guide exists to show Australian visitors what you should understand before diving into online or land-based gambling. This page explains all the legalities, tax obligations, gaming choices, and informational terms you need to known before playing.
Gambling Legislation and Situations in Australia
When British settlers arrived on the shoreline of Australia in the early 18th century, they brought along gambling concepts and strategies and games. The original Australian settlers loved to gamble, and the Aboriginal Australians loved gambling, too. After all, Chinese sellers had been delivering card games to the area for a long time. This love of gambling evolved along with the other ways of socializing.
Throughout the history of Australia, the national government has regulated gaming and gambling. Australian laws have always struggled to stay current with gambling trends and technologies. The technology now involved in gambling online has introduced a world of continuous challenges, exacerbated by the overwhelming desire of Australian residents to gamble.
The number of online casinos makes it hard for Australian governmental authorities to regulate online gambling within national borders. This being the case, as the realm of online gaming progresses, the lawstry to progress in parallel.
When were the first Australian laws on gambling passed?
In 1852, the Australian government passed its first laws on gambling, entitled the “Act to Restrain the Practice of Gambling and the Use of Obscene Language”. The following year saw the passing of the Vagrant Act, which was enacted to halt the playing of games such as tan-tan and two-up.
With both these laws in place, gambling on horse racing and other kinds of betting remained legal. The laws stated that these banned card games had posed a set of unknown dangers to the small population of the large country. These laws were limited to these card games.
What kind of laws apply to modern Australian gambling?
Card game prohibition before the 1970s included land-based casinos.
But a newer wave of public sentiments has led to the overturning of these laws in recent decades. The Australian government saw the potential revenue opportunities that taxation and regulation of Australian online casinos meant. Additional tourism benefits were also attractive.
So most gambling authority was left up to the territories and states, and in 1973, the first land-based casino in Australia (Hobart) was opened.
The concept of online gambling has become a strong factor in the 90s, as the Internet blossomed with online casinos and poker websites. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia passed another act in 2001, the Interactive Gambling Act. This tried to limit the real-money Internet games being offered to Australian citizens, and it also tried to stop advertising of these services.
But the Australian government had a hard time enforcing these laws, as online casinos around the globe continued attracting hordes of players from the constantly growing online gambling market to their offerings.
More recently, a 2017 law brought about an amendment to this Gambling Act that required additional gambling site licenses by authorities in Australia. This law also added methods for gamblers to opt out of online gambling, protecting themselves from problem gambling. This law additionally prohibited offers such as free betting incentives and prevented in-play betting for already established casinos.
Who regulates the gaming industry in Australia?
While the Commonwealth of Australia oversees gambling industries in Australia, many regulations are delegated to the states and territories (much like the United States being regulated by states, and Canada being regulated by the territories).
Examples include:
- The Australian Capital Territory Racing and Gambling Commission
- The Northern Territory Commission of Licensing
- The New South Wales Liquor Office
- The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation
- The South Australia Independent Gaming Authority
Player Information for Australians
Live gambling in the country of Australia has little to fear from the national government. Betting platforms are widely available nationwide, and casinos provide a high number of slot machine and table games. Live poker and gambling are popular in both tournament and cash forms. Players can access many of the largest casinos on earth. Only a couple cities of mention that offer this are Sydney and Melbourne.
Online gamblers also have the freedom to gamble on whatever websites they like, and they have a wide variety of available game options, including:
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Baccarat
- Video poker
- Poker
- Slots
- Roulette
- Sports betting
While the Australian government has some potential issues defining these laws regarding online casino sites and poker establishments internationally, players still are free to use these sites without the dangers of being sued in any way, shape, or form. The laws are being amended still, and have been formed to follow the latest technological advancements. They succumb to player demands, but players aren’t named in any laws and legalities as participating in activities that may be considered criminal in nature.
What is the data on regular gambling of Australians?
Some 2007 data has shown that well over 80 percent of people in Australia engage in some type of gambling annually. Australia has collected over $5 billion in revenue and taxes from these gambling ventures. Live poker machinery has comprised over 60 percent of this. Another study in 2011 has showed that over 70 percent of Australia gambled. Tax revenues for the country are between $12 billion and $16 billion per year.
Can Australian players play at international casinos online?
They most definitely can. The Australian government has issues with sites themselves, and how and when they market themselves to Australian players. They also try to license these overseas providers as well.
But players have zero part in the legal battle that could possibly ensue. These players are more than free to select whichever sites are available to them, and to compete in table games online, virtual slot machines, and poker.
Can Australian players legally withdraw and deposit money to online casinos?
Payment processors make depositing and withdrawing money a snap. While the Australian government might frown upon Australian banking allowing these transactions, many third-party payment processors are available for Australians. These methods allow for easy withdrawals and deposits using a variety of methods.
Some of the methods we suggest include:
- Best payment processing method for stronger anonymity at Australian online casinos: Bitcoin.
- Best payment processing method for other electronic wallet options at Australian online casinos: Instadebit, Skrill, Entropay, Neteller, PaySafeCard.
- Best payment processing method for more wide-ranging payment capacity at Australian online casinos: PayPal.
- Best payment processing method for real credit cards at Australian online casinos: MasterCard, VISA, American Express.
Will Australians need to pay tax on online gambling winnings?
Australia is one of the greatest countries regarding taxes on gambling winnings. There are no tax obligations to players, win or lose. Online gaming is not a profession; it’s a game of luck. Winnings are assumed to eventually balance with losses in Australian online gambling.
Gaming operations (like the owners of casinos and companies handling betting) are highly taxed. The Australian government considers these the only tax-paying entities. Of course, every territory has their different taxation rate.
Players, though, pay nothing.
Safety in Australian Online Casino Play for Players
How can Australian players feel safe that their funds are in good hands?
Players at online casinos in Australia should be aware of the sites they are playing. Look hard for regulatory compliance with one of the licensing commissions in the country. This will provide quality information regarding the online casino’s legitimacy.
Additionally, organizations such as eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) will provide images and banners for websites deemed trustworthy and responsible enough to have earned their seal of approval. Through the course of regular auditing and additional forms of oversight, online casinos in Australia need to prove that they have earned proper rights and approvals from eCOGRA.
This will, in turn, give online gamblers some peace of mind when participating in gambling on their websites of choice.
Do online casinos play fair in Australia?
They sure do.
Australian online casinos and offshore casinos offering games to Australian citizens and residents that are licensed properly (per the above) use multiple types of software to encrypt data and random number generation systems to ensure both customer safety and fairness.
On these sites, all play is fair. Players can rest assured that not only is their personal banking or payment processing account information safe from malicious intent, but also that their spins, hands, rolls, and plays are not biased in any way towards the Australian-focused casino. Practices and fair use such as this are required for the online casinos to remain viable for their licensure.
What recourse do Australian players have if they see unfair activity?
Your first step is to contact the Australian Gaming authorities in your area, as well as your local and provincial governments. To take things a step further, players can also contact eCOGRA, or whichever licensing agency the online casino is involved with, and inform them that it is suspected that unfair activity is going on. Players have recourse in situations such as these, and the websites are required to demonstrate to these licensing boards and government entities that they aren’t engaging in the accused activities to retain their licenses and remain in good graces with their industry.
The 5 Best Australian Casinos
Australia is a beautiful, dangerous, and friendly country. Situated off the coast of Asia, Australia is well known for many things, and one of them is their work-hard, play-hard attitude.
Australia has long been considered a haven for those with a strong love for gambling. While Australia follows similar laws to Canada regarding online casino usage (they are fully regulated and completely legal Down Under), land-based, brick and mortar casinos have always been, and will always be, pivotal for the Australian gambler.
By gambling online exclusively, potential Australian casino players are missing out on the entire modernist, maximal vibe that these land-based Australian casinos offer players.
Because Australia’s population is almost exclusively situated along the coastline, there’s not a lot of space for casinos to be developed. So there are only around twenty larger casinos in the entire country.
But these twenty casinos are mountains of fun. They have plenty of amenities to ensure that even the biggest Australian gambling stickler can walk away happy.
There are five amazing casinos in Australia that are worth taking a visit to. Each one is unique, and each will leave you with a sense of awe. They have a wide range of slot machines (referred to in Australia as “pokies”), table games, poker tables, restaurants, entertainment options, and hotels.
These five properties are:
- The (under construction) Crown Sydney, located in Barangaroo, Sydney
- The Star Sydney, located in Pyrmont, Sydney
- The Crown Melbourne, located in Melbourne on the Yarra River
- The Treasury Casino, located in Brisbane, Queensland (set to be repurposed in 2022)
- The Crown Perth, located in Burswood, Western Australia
The Crown Sydney: Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia
Sydney’s Crown Casino is a hotel and casino property under construction in the center of the Barangaroo district in Sydney, Australia. With an opening date of 2020, the Crown will become only the second casino legally allowed to operate inside Sydney city limits (the other casino in question is the Star Sydney). In comparison to The Star Sydney, the Crown Sydney will have membership-based restrictions, basically requiring people to register for a membership VIP card before playing.
One thing setting the Crown Sydney apart from other casinos, and even other buildings, in Australia is its stature. With seventy-five floors in total, including mezzanines and lobbies, the structure will stand at a height of 271 meters (or 890 feet). This will make the Crown Sydney, upon completion and opening, the tallest building in the city of five million people, a title currently held by Chifley Tower.
This billion-dollar project will be a massive casino with thousands of slot machines, hundreds of table games, and dozens of poker tables. The hotel will have 350 rooms as well.
Web: crownsydney.com.au | Phone: +61 2 9267 6793 | Address: 160-162 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
The Star Sydney: Pyrmont, Sydney, Australia
Sydney’s Star Casino is a casino and hotel property in the Pyrmont district of Sydney, Australia. After the Crown Casino in Melbourne, the Star Casino is the largest casino in Australia. The Star Casino features two separate gaming floors. The main floor is on the first level. This section is for general entry into the property. There is also a room called the Sovereign Room on the third level of the casino, where the table games are located. The bets for the standard table games range between $25 and $75 thousand. There is also a separate room referred to as the Inner Sanctum where the bets range from $100 to $500 thousand.
These two areas of the casino are only available to “high roller” players and international guests who are required to apply for membership and be reviewed by the casino management. Recent construction updates have added additional gaming space on the main floor, and has also added the Thirty-Six Degree Bar and Oasis Lounge. The main floor’s gaming space is divided into table games, electronic games (slot machines), and poker tables, of which there are forty.
The Star Sydney provides quite a few traditional casino games, including Miniature Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud, Craps, Pai Gow, Poker, Pontoon, Roulette, Rapid Roulette, Sic Bo and Three-card poker. There are fifteen hundred slot machines on the main gaming floor as well. There are also eight restaurants, eight bars, a nightclub, and a hotel on site with eight hundred rooms.
Web: star.com.au | Phone: +61 1800 700 700 | Address: 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW NSW 2009, Australia
The Crown Melbourne: Yarra River, Melbourne, Australia
The Crown Casino in Melbourne exudes royalty with every step. As mentioned above, the Crown is the largest casino in all of Australia. It remains one of the central features of the Southbank precinct of the Melbourne central business district. The entire complex has a space of 510,000 m²—the equivalent to two city blocks—making it the largest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world. Every single facet of the Crown Melbourne is top-notch and bigger and better than guests could have ever imagined.
The Crown Melbourne has three separate hotel towers with over sixteen hundred rooms, and a fourth tower is being constructed starting in 2018. This property also has a very wide variety of dining options for guests, with six restaurants including Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Conservatory, Koko, Rockport Bar and Grill, Nobu Melbourne, and The Atlantic. There is also an atrium with dozens of shops and stores, including such stores as Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and more.
The gambling options on property consist of over thirty-five hundred slot machines. There is also over forty unique table game options, stretching out over four hundred tables. There is also an additional fifty dedicated poker tables. Also, the Crown Melbourne started offering host to the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific back in 2013, and has hosted the event ever since.
Web: crownmelbourne.com.au | Phone: 03 9292 8888 | Address: 8 Whiteman St, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia
The Treasury Casino: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
The Treasury Casino in Brisbane is also referred to as The Treasury. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Queensland, and houses a large hotel, six different restaurants, five separate bars, and a nightclub. Operated by Star Entertainment Group, the property encompasses two historic Nineteenth-century buildings: The Treasury Building and the Lands Administration Building. These two buildings have a beautiful Queens Gardens in the center, featuring incredible flowers and foliage. Under the park is a 700-car parking garage.
The building has ornate colonnades and vintage Victorian designs. There are thick walls of sandstone, and a seventy-foot center atrium, as well as a three-floor gaming center with over eighty table games and thirteen hundred table games. This property was opened in sprint of 1995. The Lands Administration Building houses the hotel area of the property.
Additionally, there are meeting rooms that range from vintage meeting space to modern business conference areas. The casino offers a plethora of games such as blackjack, Spanish 21, Treasury 21, miniature baccarat, Australian Bix Six, Caribbean stud poker, craps, roulette, three-card poker and many, many slot machines. Also, there is a solid poker room that offers Omaha stud and No limits Texas Hold ‘em cash games. There are also standard poker tournaments. This property is part of Queen’s Wharf, and in 2022, a new casino will open, and the current building is going to be converted into a massive department store.
Web: treasurybrisbane.com.au | Phone: 07 3306 8888 | Address: Top of the Queen Street Mall, Brisbane QLD 4000
The Crown Perth: Burswood, Western Australia, Australia
The Crown Perth is a beautiful casino and resort located in Burswood, Western Australia, on the banks of the majestic Swan River. The Crown Perth resort and casino consists of a massive expanse of gaming space, a large convention center, many meeting rooms, a movie theater, and multiple ballrooms. There are also thirty-two restaurants on property, the most of almost any casino on earth, multiple bars, recreational facilities, and two nightclubs.
There are an incredible three hotels on property: The Crown Metropolitan Perth (405 rooms), the Crown Promenade Perth (291 rooms), and the Crown Towers Perth (500 luxury rooms). The latter was recently opened in December of 2016. This property is in operation 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and is the only casino located in Perth, and the only property in Western Australia.
There are up to 2,400 coin-operated game machines with a variety of games such as Keno, Video Poker and others involving dice, dominoes and balls. Jackpots are linked to many of these games. Reel-slots, operated with a pull-down lever, are not permitted in Western Australia. The table games include Baccarat, Mini Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette, Poker (Texas Hold’Em, Omaha), Three Card Poker, Casino War, Progressive Texas Hold’Em, Pai Gow, Money Wheel, Sic Bo and Caribbean Stud.
Web: crownperth.com.au | Phone: 1800 556 688 | Address: Great Eastern Hwy, Burswood WA 6100, Australia