Responsible gambling: help, limits and blocks in Australia

We run a site that compares online casinos, and we earn money when readers sign up through our links. You can read exactly how on how we make money. That's also why this page exists. If gambling stops being something you choose and starts being something that happens to you, the most useful thing we can do is point you to real help and to tools that work.

This page won't lecture you. It lists the free services, explains what each blocking tool covers and what it doesn't, and suggests how to support someone else. Everything here comes from the services themselves or from government sources, linked at the bottom.

National Gambling Helpline

1800 858 858, free, 24/7

Crisis support

Lifeline 13 11 14, 24/7

Online counselling

Gambling Help Online: chat and email, 24/7

Self-exclusion

BetStop, for Australian-licensed betting providers

Where can you get gambling help in Australia?

The main national service has two doors. The National Gambling Helpline is a phone line, 1800 858 858. Gambling Help Online is the website at gamblinghelponline.org.au, offering free chat and email counselling. ACMA describes the support as free, professional, confidential and available 24 hours a day, every day. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also lists the helpline as available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In Victoria, the same 1800 858 858 number is branded Gambler's Help. It's the same free, confidential, 24/7 service, so you don't need to look up a different number if you live there.

According to Gambling Help Online, a call puts you through to a trained counsellor who can offer counselling, information and referrals to other services, including face-to-face help in your area. You don't need to have reached a crisis point to call. Many people ring simply to talk through whether their gambling is a problem at all.

Which service to use

Warning signs worth taking seriously

There's no single line that separates fine from not fine, and you're the best judge of your own situation. Still, some patterns come up again and again when people describe how gambling got away from them. If several of these feel familiar, it's worth a conversation with a counsellor, even if only to rule it out.

• Spending more money or time than you planned, more often than not.
• Chasing losses: playing on, or depositing again, to win back what's gone.
• Borrowing, using bill money or selling things to gamble.
• Hiding how much you gamble from a partner, family or friends.
• Feeling anxious, irritable or low when you can't gamble, or after you have.
• Gambling to escape stress, boredom or a problem, rather than for fun.
• Promising yourself to stop or cut down, and not managing it.

You're not alone in this. The AIHW reports that the share of Australian adults gambling at high risk rose from 1.1% in 2018 to 1.8% in 2022. Australians lost about $33.0 billion on gambling in 2024–25 according to the Queensland Government Statistician, around $1,528 per adult. Those numbers are not about you personally, but they do show that difficulty with gambling is common, and that asking for help is ordinary.

Setting limits inside your casino account

If you play online, the quickest tools are often in the account you already have. Most casino accounts have a section called something like "responsible gambling", "safer play" or "account limits". It's worth opening before you deposit, not after a bad night.

1. Deposit limit. A cap per day, week or month. Set it at an amount you would be comfortable losing in full, because that's what it may cost.
2. Loss or wager limit. Where offered, this caps how much you can lose or stake over a period, regardless of deposits.
3. Session reminders. A pop-up showing how long you've been playing and your net result.
4. Time-out. A short break, from a day to several weeks, during which you can't log in to play.
5. Self-exclusion and account closure. A longer or permanent block on that site.

A well-run site lets you lower a limit straight away and makes raising it take longer, so a decision made in a calm moment can't be undone in a heated one. Check how your site handles this. Whether these tools exist, and whether you can use them yourself without arguing with support, is one of the things we record when we test a casino, as described on how we review.

One limitation to know: a time-out or self-exclusion at one casino covers that casino only. Online casino sites are not connected to each other or to BetStop, so if you want to stop gambling online altogether, combine account tools with the bank and device options below.

How does BetStop work?

BetStop is the National Self-Exclusion Register, run under the Commonwealth and regulated by ACMA. It launched on 21 August 2023. Registering is free and done in one go at betstop.gov.au. You'll need a mobile number, an email address and ID such as an Australian driver's licence, passport or Medicare card.

Once you're registered, every Australian-licensed online and phone wagering provider (around 150 of them, according to ACMA) must close your existing accounts, stop you opening new ones or betting, and stop sending you marketing. You choose the length: from a minimum of 3 months up to a lifetime. You can't pick and choose providers, and you can't shorten the period you chose.

It's used widely. ACMA's report for the June 2026 quarter shows 65,430 registrations since launch, including 25,155 lifetime exclusions and 11,784 at the 3-month minimum. Of all registrants, 30,081 were aged 30 or younger.

For help with registering, BetStop's assistance line is 1800 238 786. If you later want to end an exclusion, ACMA says you can't apply in the first 3 months, removal requires a statutory declaration that you've had counselling or advice, and it takes effect 7 days later.

Bank gambling blocks

A bank gambling block stops your card being used for transactions that merchants classify as gambling. Because it works at the payment level, it can catch sites that BetStop doesn't cover, although no block is perfect, and it won't stop other payment methods. All four major banks offer one.

Before you switch a block on, it's worth checking three things in your bank's help pages: which cards it covers (debit, credit or both), whether it also covers digital wallets on your phone, and how long it takes to switch off. If you hold cards with more than one bank, set a block at each of them, because a block only works on the bank that issued it.

If your bank isn't listed, search its help pages for "gambling block" or ask in a branch. The delay before you can switch a block off is the point: it gives the urge time to pass.

Blocking software and other barriers

Blocking software works on your phone, tablet or computer and stops gambling websites and apps from opening. Several paid and free products exist, and many can be set so they're hard to remove on impulse. Some people give the password to a trusted friend. Gambling Help Online counsellors can talk through options if you're not sure where to start.

Other barriers that cost nothing:

• Delete gambling apps and remove saved cards from any site you've used.
• Unsubscribe from casino and bookmaker emails and texts, and mute gambling accounts on social media.
• Keep only a small amount in your everyday account and move the rest where it takes a day to reach.
• If you bet with licensed Australian bookmakers, read the monthly activity statements they're required to send. Seeing the total in black and white helps.

Advertising should also get quieter. The gambling reform bill passed on 19 August 2026 includes a global opt-out register for gambling ads, and most of its measures start on 1 January 2027. Our guide to the law covers the reforms.

What to do straight after a big loss

The hours after a heavy loss are when the urge to win it back is strongest, and when decisions tend to be at their worst. If you're reading this in that moment, a short checklist helps more than a long explanation.

1. Stop for today. Log out, close the app, and put the phone down for an hour. Nothing has to be fixed tonight.
2. Use the time-out button. Most casino accounts let you lock yourself out for a day or longer in a couple of taps. Do it now, while the decision is easy.
3. Switch on your bank's gambling block. It takes a minute in the app, and the cooling-off period protects you tomorrow.
4. Cover the essentials first. Rent, bills and food come before any thought of recovering the money.
5. Tell one person or call the helpline. Saying it out loud takes a lot of its pressure away. 1800 858 858 is answered at any hour.

A loss feels like a debt to the game that you need to settle. It isn't. The money is gone either way, and chasing it is the most common route from one bad night to a bad month.

How to help a family member or friend

Gambling harm rarely stays with one person. Partners, parents and friends feel it through money, trust and worry. The National Gambling Helpline is open to you too. Gambling Help Online says its counsellors can help family members and friends support someone's recovery, and can also offer self-care support for the person doing the supporting.

• Pick a calm moment. Not straight after a loss, an argument or a discovery.
• Talk about what you've noticed, not who they are. "I've seen the account statements and I'm worried" lands better than an accusation.
• Protect yourself financially. Separate accounts, change shared passwords, and don't pay off debts in a way that removes the consequence without a plan.
• Offer a next step, not an ultimatum. Suggest calling the helpline together, or show them BetStop and their bank's gambling block.
• Look after yourself. You can call the helpline for your own support, whether or not the other person is ready.

Change usually takes more than one conversation. That's normal, and it doesn't mean the first one failed. Keep the door open, keep the tone steady, and keep the helpline number somewhere you can both find it.

Responsible gambling Australia habits: keeping it as entertainment

For many people gambling stays a hobby. The habits that tend to keep it there are simple. Treat money you gamble as the cost of entertainment, not an investment, because the games are built so the house keeps a share over time. Decide your budget and your stopping time before you start. Don't gamble with borrowed money, and don't play to win back losses.

Keep it social and visible where you can. Take regular breaks away from the screen. Avoid gambling when you're upset, tired or have been drinking. And keep a running note of what you've deposited and withdrawn, so you know where you stand rather than guessing.

None of this is a rule you have to follow. It's what tends to work. If it stops working, the services at the top of this page are free, open all day and night, and used by thousands of people who once thought they wouldn't need them either.

FAQ

Sources

1. ACMA: About the Interactive Gambling Act (help services) (checked 14 October 2026)
2. Gambling Help Online: telephone support (checked 14 October 2026)
3. Lifeline Australia (checked 14 October 2026)
4. AIHW: Gambling in Australia (checked 14 October 2026)
5. Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation: Gambler's Help (checked 14 October 2026)
6. ACMA: BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (checked 14 October 2026)
7. BetStop: FAQs (checked 14 October 2026)
8. ACMA: BetStop statistics Q4 2025–26 (checked 14 October 2026)
9. CommBank: Gambling support (checked 14 October 2026)
10. NAB: Gambling restriction (checked 14 October 2026)
11. Westpac: Gambling support (checked 14 October 2026)
12. ANZ Plus: Gambling block (checked 14 October 2026)
13. QGSO: Australian Gambling Statistics, 41st edition (checked 14 October 2026)