Palmer Bookmaking Pty Ltd, operating as Palmerbet, has entered into an 18-month court-enforceable agreement with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) following an investigation that revealed numerous violations of Australia’s self-exclusion laws. The inquiry highlighted issues surrounding a customer who registered with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER), on September 2, 2023.
Under the law, gambling operators are mandated to close any existing accounts of customers who self-exclude as soon as practicable. However, Palmerbet continued to accept wagers from this customer on 18 occasions between December 2024 and February 2025, with the account finally being shut down on February 22, 2025—almost 18 months after the customer registered with NSER.
The ACMA identified a total of 553 breaches by Palmerbet, comprising 18 contraventions of section 61KA(3) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 for allowing a self-excluded individual to bet, one for each day this occurred. Additionally, there were 535 violations of section 61MB(5) due to failing to promptly close the customer's account after registration, counted as one contravention for each day past the expected closure date.
A significant aspect of the failure involved the mismatching of the customer's personal information through NSER checks. For these checks, Palmerbet submitted incorrect details, such as a shortened first name and an incorrect date of birth, leading to negative matches which allowed the customer to continue gambling. Records show that Palmerbet first uploaded this flawed information to the database on September 6, 2023, and the account closure only occurred after a correct match was returned on February 22, 2025.
The ACMA's review concluded that Palmerbet did not take reasonable precautions to verify and secure the identity data of the customer. Prior to the NSER’s launch, both the ACMA and the register operator had outlined strict requirements for accurate personal information confirmation using Australian government documents. Although Palmerbet updated its onboarding procedures in mid-2023, it did not consistently apply these standards to older accounts, such as that of the individual in question. The regulator indicated that had accurate data been submitted in September 2023, the account could have been closed within a day.
In lieu of pursuing immediate legal action or penalties, the ACMA agreed to Palmerbet’s framework for an 18-month enforceable undertaking, which includes an independent compliance review of Palmerbet’s NSER processes. Additionally, Palmerbet is required to refund all deposits made by the self-excluded individual from September 2023 until the account closure in February 2025.
This issue follows a series of penalties imposed on other wagering operators for similar compliance failures, including Dabble Sports, which faced penalties for not adhering to BetStop regulations earlier this month. Carolyn Lidgerwood, an ACMA member, stressed the importance of respecting customers’ self-exclusion decisions, stating that providers must honor these choices and maintain effective systems.
In another development, the ACMA has asked internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to several illegal gambling websites, including Bet Ninja, Riobet188, ThePokies33, Spade69, and WinShark. This request is part of an ongoing enforcement campaign in which the ACMA has asked ISPs to block a total of 1,822 illicit gambling sites since November 2019, including twelve sites requested for blocking just this past June. Furthermore, more than 230 operators have exited the Australian market following stricter enforcement measures that began in 2017.
