Australian regulator ACMA has entered an 18-month enforceable undertaking with bookmaker Palmerbet following an investigation that uncovered hundreds of breaches of the national self-exclusion register BetStop.
A player registered with BetStop on 2 September 2023. Under law, operators must close such accounts 'as soon as practicable'. Palmerbet accepted 18 wagers from the player between December 2024 and February 2025. The account was finally closed on 22 February 2025 — nearly 18 months after registration.
ACMA recorded 18 violations of section 61KA(3) of the Interactive Gambling Act for providing services to a self-excluded person, and 535 violations of section 61MB(5) for failing to close the account. One breach for each day of delay.
The failure stemmed from incorrect data. Palmerbet queried BetStop using an abbreviated player name and wrong date of birth. The register returned negative matches and betting continued. The first check with faulty data ran on 6 September 2023. Only when the system finally found a match on 22 February 2025 was the account shut.
ACMA noted that Palmerbet failed to exercise due diligence with customer data. The bookmaker updated onboarding procedures in mid-2023 but did not apply verification to legacy accounts. With correct data, the account could have been closed within 24 hours.
Under the undertaking, Palmerbet will commission an independent audit of its BetStop integration and refund all deposits the player made from September 2023 to February 2025. Operator Dabble Sports faced similar sanctions in June.
ACMA also requested ISP blocks this week against five illegal sites: Bet Ninja, Riobet188, ThePokies33, Spade69 and WinShark. Since November 2019 the regulator has blocked 1,822 illegal domains.
