On Wednesday, Palmer Bookmaking Pty Ltd, operating as Palmerbet, entered into an 18-month court-enforceable undertaking with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after an investigation revealed numerous breaches of the country’s national self-exclusion regulations.
The inquiry was initiated after a customer registered with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER), on September 2, 2023. Following registration, gambling operators must close any existing accounts for that individual “as soon as practicable.” Despite this legal requirement, Palmerbet accepted bets from the self-excluded customer on 18 occasions between December 2024 and February 2025. The account was not deactivated until February 22, 2025, almost 18 months after the registration with NSER.
The ACMA's findings highlighted Palmerbet's significant violations, including 18 breaches of section 61KA(3) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) for providing licensed interactive wagering services to an individual who was self-excluded—one violation for each day these services were rendered. Additionally, Palmerbet faced 535 breaches of section 61MB(5) for not closing the customer’s account promptly following the NSER registration, with each breach corresponding to a day beyond the expected closure timeline.
The NSER operates by matching customer details submitted by wagering operators against its database. Operators must accurately provide essential personal information such as full legal names, date of birth, and postcodes. However, Palmerbet frequently submitted checks for this customer using incorrect details, including a misspelled first name and an incorrect date of birth. These inaccuracies led to negative results from the register, allowing the individual to continue wagering.
Records indicated that Palmerbet first reported this customer to the database on September 6, 2023, using inaccurate information. The account was finally closed after a positive match from the register was returned on February 22, 2025.
The ACMA determined that Palmerbet had not taken sufficient precautions in verifying the customer’s identity data. Prior to the launch of NSER, the ACMA and the register operator provided technical specifications mandating accurate name and date of birth data as verified by government documents. This guidance was reaffirmed in March 2024. Though Palmerbet made updates to its onboarding procedures in mid-2023 to verify date of birth and other information, it failed to apply these consistent verification measures to legacy accounts, including the one in question. The regulator estimated that had accurate information been submitted in September 2023, the account could have been closed within 24 hours.
Instead of pursuing immediate legal actions or monetary penalties, the ACMA accepted Palmerbet’s commitment to the 18-month undertaking, which includes conducting an independent review of its NSER compliance systems and processes. As part of this undertaking, Palmerbet will also be required to refund all deposits made by the self-excluded individual from September 2023 until February 2025.
Earlier this month, another wagering operator, Dabble Sports, faced sanctions for similar failures to comply with BetStop. Carolyn Lidgerwood, an ACMA member, emphasized the necessity of honoring self-exclusion choices, stating, “providers must respect that decision” and “must have robust systems in place.” In a related effort, the ACMA has also sought to block access to additional illegal gambling websites, requesting internet service providers (ISPs) disable access to sites including Bet Ninja, Riobet188, ThePokies33, Spade69, and WinShark. This initiative forms part of an ongoing enforcement campaign; since November 2019, the ACMA has requested ISPs block 1,822 illegal gambling and affiliate websites, with 12 requested for blocking in June of this year. Additionally, over 230 operators have exited the Australian market since stricter enforcement measures were introduced in 2017.
