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Australian Prediction Market News — ACMA, ASIC & the IGA

Australia has taken one of the world's firmest lines on offshore prediction markets — blocking Polymarket outright — while the question of whether a domestic, regulated prediction market belongs to ASIC or to gambling regulators stays unresolved.

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Latest developments — Australia

  1. Enforcement

    Gambling-ad crackdown leaves offshore prediction markets still blocked in Australia

    Australia's federal government announced a gambling-advertising reform package on 2 April 2026 — banning ads during live sport, capping other ads, and barring celebrity endorsements, commencing in 2027. The rules target licensed domestic wagering operators and do not change the status of crypto-based prediction platforms, which remain outside Australia's licensed framework: Polymarket stays ISP-blocked under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

    Source: Yahoo News (Newsweek)

  2. Regulation

    FOI documents reveal ACMA rejected Polymarket's 'financial product' defence

    Documents obtained by Crikey under freedom-of-information law revealed the ACMA’s reasoning for classifying Polymarket as gambling rather than a financial product: it found no risk-management structure, no investment mechanism, and no non-cash settlement, concluding users were simply staking money on binary outcomes. The release showed ACMA staff had registered and placed bets using Australian details to test enforceability, finding no IP-blocking or location verification in place. Polymarket gave no formal response before or after the August 2025 block.

    Source: Crikey

  3. Research

    Lawyers: prediction markets sit in an Australian regulatory grey zone

    The Law Society Journal reported fintech lawyer Steven Pettigrove (partner, Piper Alderman) saying both ASIC and ACMA have taken an interest in prediction markets, but no regulated prediction market has entered the Australian market. Pettigrove described the products as sitting in a grey area between financial products (ASIC’s domain, with tight retail-derivatives restrictions) and gambling (state and territory wagering law), warning any entrant would face significant compliance. The piece also recaps ASIC’s 2021 product-intervention order banning binary options for retail clients.

    Source: Law Society Journal

  4. Enforcement

    ACMA orders ISP block of Polymarket under the Interactive Gambling Act

    The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) directed Australian ISPs to block access to Polymarket on 13 August 2025, finding the platform provided a prohibited and unlicensed interactive gambling service to Australian users in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. It followed a formal warning the ACMA issued on 2 July 2025 to Polymarket’s operator, Adventure One QSS. The ACMA’s investigation found roughly 1.88 million Australian visits between November 2024 and May 2025, and the block added Polymarket to a national register of nearly 1,300 blocked gambling sites.

    Source: SBS News

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Frequently asked questions

Are prediction markets legal in Australia?
Offshore prediction markets are treated as unlicensed interactive gambling. The ACMA ordered ISPs to block Polymarket in August 2025 under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. No regulated prediction market has launched domestically, and lawyers describe the products as sitting in a grey zone between ASIC’s financial-product remit and state and territory gambling law.
Why did the ACMA block Polymarket?
The ACMA found Polymarket offered a prohibited and unlicensed interactive gambling service to Australians. Freedom-of-information documents later showed the regulator rejected Polymarket’s argument that it was a financial product, finding no risk-management structure, no investment mechanism, and no non-cash settlement — users were simply staking money on binary outcomes.
Can Australians legally trade event contracts?
There is no clearly licensed domestic route. ASIC has issued no direct determination on the product class, and its 2021 product-intervention order banned binary options for retail clients. Any regulated Australian prediction market would first need to resolve whether it falls under ASIC or gambling regulators.