Australia Calls for Curacao Crackdown on Online Casinos – 90+ Platforms Continue to Accept Aussie Sign-Ups

Strewth! Australia Calls for Curacao Crackdown on 90+ Curacao-licensed online casinos targeting Aussie iGaming fans! (Image from geralt at pixabay.com)

There are no laws in place that make it illegal for people in Australia to gamble in offshore online casinos.

However, the Australian Government’s stance has always been clear, rightly or wrongly (depending on your view). It is against its citizens playing at online casinos. Hence there is no licensing in place for iGaming.

Under Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA), it is illegal for any online casino to operate in the country.

Consequently, the government constantly pushes offshore online casinos to refrain from accepting Australian players. This also includes requests to discontinue targeting Aussies with advertising campaigns or promotions.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) continually bans IPs of online casinos flouting its wishes, and strongly encourages players to visit any platforms outside the country.

With all that in mind, the Australian government has again called on Curacao to clamp down on all online casinos operating under its interactive gaming licensing framework brazenly targeting Australians.

This latest call for action comes amid regulatory changes in Curacao coming on September 21. With the Dutch Caribbean country set to make changes to its iGaming regulations aimed at improving player protection, the prevention of money laundering, and its overall reputation in the iGaming industry, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has taken the opportunity to have a conversation with Curacao government officials about its concerns.

While it has been well over two years since we first reported on Curacao looking to reform its iGaming regulations, it was the end of June when the government finally announced the changes coming this September. The government is creating a new regulatory body called the National Gambling Ordinance (LOK). It has tasked it with solidifying Curacao licensing as a trustworthy and reliable option for online gambling operators.

AMCA Wants a Clamp Down on 90+ Curacao Operators Openly Targeting Aussies

Having recently written to and met with Curacao government officials, the AMCA explicitly asks for action against over 90 Curacao-based online casinos that have openly offered services to Australian citizens and accepted them on their platforms. According to the AMCA, some online casinos even use Australian slang such as ‘G’day’ and ‘Cobber’ in the casino content alongside images of the Australian flag and indigenous species such as the Kangaroo and Koala bear.

In May, the AMCA wrote a letter to Curacao’s Finance Minister Javier Silvania, which underlined the frustrations of the Australian government. It complained about the lack of if any, response the AMCA had received from Curacao master license holders regarding the 90+ online casinos that flouted Australian laws. The letter claims that to this day, those operators were still openly targeting and accepting Australians. Following on from the letter, the AMCA met with their counterparts in June to further discuss their complaint.

Having seen snippets of the response, I am confident the AMCA needs to be more satisfied. Curacao’s gambling authority confirmed it would consider operators contravening laws in other jurisdictions when assessing the suitability of issuing a license (all operators will have to apply for a new license under the new regulations). However, rather than suggesting it would prevent these casinos from having a license, the authority stated it would become mandatory for any licensee to have dispute resolution mechanics in place for customers in countries such as Australia.

What Can Australia Do?

In my opinion, Australia has to regulate and allow online casino gambling within the country or accept that its laws mean nothing to offshore entities. Australia is a country whose residents are renowned for enjoying gambling. The AMCA will continue to fight a losing battle while online casinos are readily willing to accept those residents.

Fortunately, Curacao has been steadily improving over the years, and perhaps these steps will further increase the license’s reputation. After all, at least casinos under Curacao licensing have to abide by regulations. This is not the case for the many unlicensed operators targeting Australians. This is why we always encourage Aussie casino fans to stick to Curacao online casinos for the best chance of protection and fairness.

By the way, we’ll keep you up to date with the upcoming regulatory changes in Curacao as and when we know more. Stay tuned!