Australia is a country where gambling is completely legalized. Every year, residents of the country spend over USD 6 million in casinos. This is approximately USD 500 per person.
The results of analytical studies show that the majority of Australian gamblers prefer to play in online casinos. Next on the list are slot machines located outside of specialized gambling establishments. There are hundreds of pubs in Australia with slot machines. In total, there are several thousand slot machines of various models at the service of users.
In third place are elite land-based casinos. Today, over 400 licensed gambling outlets are officially operating in the country, including land-based casinos, casinos on cruise ships, hippodromes, etc.
Online gambling in Australia
Online gambling in Australia is federally regulated. In 2001, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Interactive Gambling Act, which is the same for all the country.
Online gambling is also divided into several categories: casino games: roulette, card games, poker, craps, others; slot machines; lotteries, bingo, keno; sweepstakes bets; sports betting.
The law allows the provision of online services. However, the operator must be registered in Australia. At the same time, it is allowed to accept players from other countries where the gambling business is legalized.
Australian Casino Software Developers
The addiction to gambling among the inhabitants of the country is expressed not only in participation in games. Several well-known game software manufacturers have come from Australia. The companies are world-famous.
Aristocrat Leisure Limited is a corporation founded over 60 years ago. The developer specializes in the production of land-based slot machines, online slots, original bonus systems. The company has licenses to operate in more than 250 gaming jurisdictions around the world. The assortment of the manufacturer's gambling games includes several hundred models. Aristocrat developments have received numerous awards at prestigious international exhibitions.
Ainthworth is a company created in 1995 by one of the founders of Aristocrat. Initially, she specialized in the development of devices for land-based casinos. However, over time, the manufacturer took up the development of the online industry, adapting several of its models. Today Ainthworth is the provider of slot machines to most of Europe's leading online casinos. The collection of games has several dozen different models. Representative offices of the company operate in the USA, South America, Great Britain.
Lightning Box is a company founded in 2004 by former employees of Aristocrat and IGT. Today it offers interesting models for offline establishments and online casinos. The manufacturer works with most gambling operators. Most Lightning Box developments are available in multi-platform casinos.
Reel Time Gaming (not to be confused with Real Time Gaming). The company specializes in the release of offline machines, gaming platforms that combine the most popular brand developments, individual games available for integration with any casino. The developer's catalog includes over a hundred models.
In addition, there are also little-known manufacturers of gaming software. For example, Merge Gaming Network is a game developer for online portals.
Prospects for the development of the gambling business in Australia
The increased interest of local residents in gambling and the tireless work of the country's leadership to improve legislation are factors that testify in favor of the development of the gambling business in Australia. Despite discussions about the feasibility of expanding the industry and tightening requirements for business organizers, the Australian market attracts many international operators.
In the past few months alone, several well-known companies have announced their expansion:
- British bookmaker Ladbrokes signed a partnership agreement with the Australian Professional Golfers Association;
- Australian studio Royal Wins announced the update of its online casino;
- William Hill reopens its betting service in Australia.
- In addition, certain concessions are offered in some states. In particular, Western Australia recently lifted a ban on the organization of gambling onboard casino liners.
A special system of protection against gambling addiction has been developed for local users. The new provisions are planned to be legalized at the federal level. Federal and state governments have reached an agreement on most of the points.
Considering these and other factors, experts predict the further successful development of the gambling business in Australia.
Author: Bob Gilbert
