Is Joe Fortune legal in Australia?

The short answer

No. Joe Fortune is an online casino, and online casino games can’t legally be offered to people in Australia, whatever licence the operator holds. On September 10, 2025, ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, issued a formal warning to Ridley Media N.V., the Curaçao company behind Joe Fortune. It found that by providing Joe Fortune’s casino games and betting, including in-play betting, to customers in Australia without an Australian licence, the company had broken the Interactive Gambling Act. ACMA has had 18 Joe Fortune addresses blocked, but the casino carries on at a new one.

What Joe Fortune is

Joe Fortune is an online casino; when ACMA investigated it in 2025, it also took bets. Its home page is titled “Online Casino Australia” and describes it as a casino “built for Aussie players who want a fair dinkum place to have a punt”. Its responsible gaming page sends players to Gambling Help Online “for counselling in Australia” and to the helpline on 1800 858 858. You can deposit by credit card or in cryptocurrency, according to its own pages.

The footer of its site says Joe Fortune is owned and operated by Ridley Media N.V., a company incorporated under the laws of Curaçao with company number 140544, and licensed by the Curaçao Gaming Authority under licence number OGL/2024/676/0726.

ACMA’s formal warning

ACMA opened an investigation into Joe Fortune on June 10, 2025, under section 21 of the Interactive Gambling Act. At the time, the service was available at joefortune.fun. ACMA found that:

• Joe Fortune offered “casino-style games of chance or mixed chance and skill, played for money”, and betting services, “including in-play betting services”;
• the service had an Australian-customer link: it had customers in Australia;
• “Ridley Media N.V. is not licensed by an Australian State or Territory” to provide gambling services to Australians.

Its conclusion: as the provider of the Joe Fortune service, Ridley Media N.V. contravened sections 15(2A) and 15AA(3) of the Act “by providing a prohibited and unlicensed regulated interactive gambling service to customers physically present in Australia”. The warning, issued under section 64A, is dated September 10, 2025, and ACMA published it on its website; the page was last updated on October 30, 2025. The letter went to the statutory director of Ridley Media N.V., who is also named as the statutory director of G-Force Corporate Services B.V. and Global Related Services B.V.; the director’s name is redacted.

A formal warning isn’t a fine, but both provisions carry civil penalties of up to 7,500 penalty units for every day the contravention continues, and ACMA can take an operator to court. In July 2026, in a case about an online poker service, the Federal Court ordered penalties of $24 million. Our guide to whether online casinos are legal in Australia explains the law.

The blocked addresses

On October 25, 2026, ACMA’s list of blocked gambling websites held 18 Joe Fortune addresses:

• joefortune with the endings .club, .com, .com.lv, .eu, .eu.com, .fun, .lv, .net, .ooo, .win and .zone;
• joefortuneonlinepokies.com, .eu and .net;
• joefortunepokies.com, .eu, .net and .win.

Both the address ACMA investigated, joefortune.fun, and the address named on Joe Fortune’s Curaçao certificate, joefortune.ooo, are blocked. But when we checked on October 23, 2026, joefortune.com, joefortune.ooo and joefortunepokies.com all redirected to joefortuneonlinepokies.club, an address that wasn’t on ACMA’s list, and joefortune.com still did on October 25. These copies are known as mirror sites: ACMA told Parliament in 2023 that about half of the sites it had blocked had tried to get around the block this way.

From January 1, 2027, the Gambling Reform Act 2026 adds new duties: internet providers, app stores and search engines must stop their services being used for illegal gambling services, and banks and payment providers must stop payments to them, including in digital currency.

Why the Curaçao licence doesn’t make it legal

The Curaçao Gaming Authority’s certificate page confirms that joefortune.ooo is operated by Ridley Media N.V. under licence OGL/2024/676/0726, and says “The license was granted on 14/07/2025 and its current status is Active”. Joe Fortune’s FAQ says it “operates under a valid Curaçao Gaming License”.

That licence counts in Curaçao, not in Australia. The Interactive Gambling Act applies to services provided from outside Australia, and it bans online casino games for customers in Australia whoever offers them. For betting, only a licence from an Australian state or territory counts, and ACMA found Ridley Media N.V. has none. ACMA’s register of licensed interactive gambling providers doesn’t list Joe Fortune.

What Joe Fortune says about the law

Joe Fortune’s FAQ asks “Is online gambling legal in Australia?” and answers “Yes, Australians can legally access many online gambling services”, adding that the rules vary by product and provider and suggesting you check “the latest guidance relevant to your location”. The page doesn’t mention that online casino games are among the products the law bans, or that ACMA has found Joe Fortune itself illegal.

Its terms of service, last updated January 3, 2024, don’t mention Australia and list no countries where playing is restricted. Instead, they say players are “solely responsible for checking the laws” where they live.

What you should know if you’ve played there

• You haven’t committed an offence. The Act’s offences target the operator. A parliamentary committee put it plainly in 2023: “The IGA does not target consumers.”
• BetStop doesn’t apply. The national self-exclusion register “does not apply to online casino games or other gambling services that are illegally provided in Australia”.
• If it doesn’t pay, there’s no Australian help. Joe Fortune’s terms send disputes to its own dispute office and then to an alternative dispute resolution provider accredited by the Curaçao Gaming Authority; the terms add that the authority “does not mediate in individual disputes”. They also require arbitration and rule out class actions.
• Inactive balances can be lost. Under its terms, account balances are “zeroed out” after 18 months of inactivity.
• Payment methods that are banned for licensed sites. Joe Fortune takes deposits by credit card and cryptocurrency. Licensed Australian betting sites have been banned from accepting both since June 11, 2024.
• You can complain to ACMA. ACMA can investigate, have more addresses blocked, warn the operator or take it to court, but the Act gives it no way to get your money back.

If gambling is causing you problems, call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858: it’s free, confidential and open 24/7. Our guide to gambling help in Australia also explains how BetStop works.

Legal alternatives

There’s no legal online casino in Australia: casino games are legal at land-based casinos, and pokies on gaming machines in licensed venues. Online, you can legally bet on racing, on sport before it starts and on approved events, with a provider on ACMA’s register. Every licensed provider is covered by BetStop and can’t take credit cards or crypto. Compare them in our ranking of the best licensed betting sites, see the legal ways to bet on events, or check any site with our legality check.