How we rank betting sites in Australia

What we rank

Our ranking of the best betting sites in Australia compares bookmakers that people in Australia can legally use online: companies licensed by an Australian state or territory, on the register of licensed interactive gambling providers kept by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), at the website the register lists. We check every candidate against the register and against the published decisions of ACMA, AUSTRAC and the state and territory regulators on the day we review it; our legality check uses the same register, plus ACMA’s list of blocked sites.

The six criteria

Each criterion gets a rating from 0 to 10; the overall score is the weighted average, rounded to one decimal, and the ranking follows it.

How we rate each criterion

• Licensing & safety: every bookmaker we rank is licensed, so the score turns on its record. We read the decisions of ACMA, AUSTRAC, the regulator that licenses it and the other states’ regulators since 2022. Breaches that hurt vulnerable punters cost the most, such as letting people registered with BetStop keep betting, marketing to people who had excluded themselves or missing clear signs of harm, followed by money-laundering cases and large spam penalties, the more so the larger, more recent and more repeated they are. Fines against an operator whose customers a bookmaker has taken over count too, but for less. Where we know an AUSTRAC action only from its release title, the review says so.
• Markets & features: AFL, NRL, cricket and racing first, then same-game multis and how many legs they take, cash out, live streaming and the phone service for in-play bets. Every licensed bookmaker works under the same ban on online in-play betting on sport, so we don’t reward or punish what the law doesn’t allow.
• Odds & limits: published maximum payouts and minimum stakes. Higher, clearly published limits score better: a $100,000 payout cap scores lower than $1 million, and limits published sport by sport score best.
• Payments & payouts: published withdrawal times count most, then minimums, fees and the choice of methods, such as PayID, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Credit cards and crypto are banned at every licensed bookmaker, and none of the bookmakers we checked lists POLi, so neither changes a score.
• App & experience: ratings on the Australian App Store and Google Play on the date checked, weighted by how many people rated them. Where a bookmaker uses one app for several countries, the review says so.
• Support & responsible gambling: round-the-clock support by chat and phone scores best, and unstated hours score worst. Every licensed bookmaker must check BetStop, ask new customers to set a deposit limit and send monthly activity statements, so points come from what’s added: loss limits, a deposit limit for every new customer, longer breaks and clear explanations.

What we leave out

Bonuses and promotions. NSW, Victoria and South Australia ban advertising inducements to gamble or to open a betting account, and NSW says a website that publishes a prohibited inducement ad for a benefit can be liable, even with a disclaimer that the offer isn’t available in NSW. We don’t list, compare or score bonuses.

Odds. Several bookmakers’ terms forbid automated collection of their odds or content, so we don’t scrape them. We score what each bookmaker publishes and leave the price comparison to you, with our margin calculator.

Offshore sites. A licence from Curaçao, Malta or anywhere else doesn’t allow a site to take bets from people in Australia. Under the Interactive Gambling Act, online casino games, online pokies, online poker and online in-play sports betting can’t be offered to people in Australia, offering betting without a state or territory licence is an offence, and so is advertising those services. We never rank or link to them.

How we follow Australian advertising rules

• Licensed bookmakers only. Our links go only to bookmakers on ACMA’s register, at the website it lists for them.
• The tagline. Our Australian pages carry one of the seven taglines the National Consumer Protection Framework requires in betting ads, with its call to action: “Chances are you’re about to lose. For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au”.
• No inducements. We don’t publish bonus offers or promotions.
• Clearly marked as advertising. Our Australian pages say that SafeBet.ai may be paid by the operators shown, and that we only link to betting services on ACMA’s register.

Where our facts come from

ACMA’s register and list of blocked sites, the Interactive Gambling Act and the 2026 reform act on the Federal Register of Legislation, the published decisions of the NT Wagering Commission and of the Victorian, NSW and Tasmanian regulators, ACMA’s and AUSTRAC’s media releases, each bookmaker’s terms and help centre, and the Australian App Store and Google Play, each dated on the page. ACMA’s and AUSTRAC’s websites didn’t load for us, so we read ACMA’s releases in the Internet Archive; some AUSTRAC releases we know only by their titles, and the reviews say so. The websites of Sportsbet, PointsBet and Dabble didn’t load for us either, so we used their help centres, terms and app listings.

Independence

SafeBet.ai may be paid by bookmakers whose links are marked as advertising, but a bookmaker can’t buy a place or a score. From January 1, 2027, the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 bans licensed bookmakers from paying commissions linked to customer activity, such as sign-ups, deposits or bets, to anyone involved in referring customers to them. See our editorial policy, and tell us if something’s out of date.