In various social media platforms, it is common to see Chinese in Australia posting about their winnings in sports betting, particularly enjoying the popular SGP game.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of gambling stories in Australia, where the gambling culture seems to be ingrained in their DNA.
High Income VS "Nation of Gamblers"
Australia has a population of only 27 million, with a median pre-tax income of 80,000 Australian dollars, ranking among the wealthiest globally. Australia, rich in natural resources, ranks eighth among the wealthiest nations globally. Thanks to real estate and pension surpluses, Australian household net asset returns are the second highest globally, allowing for a comfortable lifestyle.
The Australian government's revenue includes over 10% from gambling taxes, with more than half of the population participating in gambling-related activities annually, fostering a pro-gambling environment.
Creating an Exclusive Online Gambling Community in Australia
As early as 2001, the Australian Federal Parliament enacted the "Australian Online Gambling Act," which was revised in 2017 to close loopholes for offshore companies operating online gambling in Australia. Sports betting and horse racing operations in Australia require a gambling license, and licensed online gambling companies have secured the exclusive .au domain suffix.
For those with Australian gambling accounts, how to participate in local gambling from abroad.
Australia blocks local IP access to all unlicensed gambling websites, and attempts to access foreign-operated services using an Australian IP are blocked. Similarly, accessing .au domains using IPs from other regions is mostly prohibited.
In Australia, licensed operators do not need to provide additional mapped website domain names, reducing incidents of fraud through fake links.
From a brand operation perspective, this is a regional domestic market.
Horse Racing, Sports Betting, and Lottery
Horse racing, sports betting, and the lottery are the three main pillars of Australia's online gambling consumption. Consumers should consider whether to "release horses," "release cattle," or "release sheep" to empower the industry.
Horse (and dog) racing betting is a crucial part of the local horse/dog racing industry loop, almost financially powering the development of Australia's horse industry. For local gamblers, domestic horse races provide more information and a stronger desire to bet. Sports betting offers more sports options, and lotteries provide high-return cumulative jackpots.
Localized Services
Among the companies holding Australian online gambling licenses, local brands like TAB, Sportsbet, and TABtouch are prominent. As the Commonwealth's sovereign state, British gambling brands have a high penetration rate in the Australian online gambling industry, including Ladbrokes, Bet365, Betfair, Unibet, etc., which have established their commercial services in Australia.
Like Australia, the UK's horse/dog racing industry is highly developed, giving rise to many retail gambling brands focused on horse racing. British gambling brands easily connect with local users through horse racing services, and when services are specialized, they easily establish their commercial presence in Australia.
The advantage of operating gambling services in all English-speaking countries is the elimination of the need for multilingual online services, reducing customer service labor costs. In system integration, seamless embedding of original data is possible.
Main Brand Business and Product Introduction
TAB (Australia)
The parent company is the Australian listed company Tabcorp (ASX code TAX), headquartered in Melbourne. TAB is their betting business brand, with retail outlets covering almost all of Australia.
Another brand under Tabcorp, Sky Racing, handles media operations, broadcasting horse racing and sports events to Australia and the world.
Sportsbet (Australia)
A brand specializing in the Australian market under the American listed company Flutter Group (NYSE: Flutter), leading in online sports betting and horse racing in Australia.
They perform exceptionally well in Australia's sports betting market, and the brand is commonly used among local Chinese and Chinese international students in Australia, who particularly enjoy using their "skills" in the SGP game of sports betting to demonstrate their extraordinary predictive abilities.
TABtouch (Australia)
Australia's earliest online gambling brand (Ozbet), headquartered in Western Australia, known for its favorable horse racing odds. It is also one of the few websites that non-Australian/New Zealand IPs can freely access, providing insights into how Australian gambling retailers effectively display their products and services on their homepages.
It offers a countdown service for the nearest horse and dog races, facilitating last-minute bets by gamblers.
It provides the fastest connection methods for major events, making it easy for customers to quickly find the races they want to bet on.
Trending Bets and Trending Bet Combinations (TSRM) offer customers a "simple and joyful" foolproof betting (consumption) experience, replacing individual information gathering and analysis with the collective wisdom of market trends, saving customers a lot of time.
Ladbrokes Australia
Ladbrokes Australia's operating philosophy: Horse racing first.
In the early years, mainland lottery enthusiasts knew Ladbrokes for its three-way odds in the English Premier League. In fact, the company was established with retail gambling focused on horse/dog racing. Searching for Ladbrokes on social media yields news about horse and dog racing.
A few years ago, Ladbrokes Australia's parent company acquired the local company Neds, which has a hardcore horse/dog racing business in Australia.
Unibet (Australia)
Unibet's business core is in Europe, but they also have a presence in Australia and the USA, overall a brand with excellent marketing. Their Australian-operated website can be accessed using non-Australian IPs, and the author needs a sports betting promotional page and horse racing services for comparison.
Compared to TABtouch, Unibet's homepage coverage is insufficient. From a consumption stimulation perspective, sports events also lack the urgency of horse/dog racing events in terms of timing.
They have listed some of today's popular sports events in their popular betting events section, offering a variety of combination bets in the popular SGP format, a typical British sales technique. This product not only brings higher profit margins but also enhances user engagement.
Financial Settlement
Australian online gambling companies generally use the Australian dollar as the currency for account use and cash flow settlements, allowing users to use Mastercard or Visa-branded debit cards and local bank transfers for deposits and withdrawals. The use of e-wallets like PayPal, POLi, BPAY, and Apple Pay is also common.
Sportsbet offers a potentially better Sportsbet Card mode for financial settlements.
Overall, the financial settlement channels of Australian online gambling companies are regulated by the Australian government, avoiding issues of unclear funding sources.
Social Problems Arising from Excessive Entertainment Consumption
Can't Stop—Addiction to Entertainment Consumption in Sports Betting
The Guardian in Australia published a survey by Rory Morgan in June this year, which surveyed 16,000 Australians on their sports betting practices from April 2023 to March 2024. During the survey period, 3.26 million Australians participated in sports betting, accounting for 15.5% of the total population. 10% of participants identified themselves as problem gamblers, accounting for 34% of the total consumption.
The survey report indicated that the number of Australians participating in sports betting in 2023-2024 doubled compared to 2019-2020.
A few months ago, Australia banned the use of credit cards and cryptocurrencies for funding online gambling accounts.
Domestic Capital Outflow—Offshore Illegal Gambling
In the offshore horse racing market, Citibet (Great Wall Horse Racing) in the Philippines has always been a target of suppression by interest groups in Australia, Japan, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, and is also a key target for crackdowns on horse racing credit houses in China's southern coastal region. Due to the considerable revenue from the tax burden of the domestic gambling industry, the capital outflow caused by illegal horse racing gambling is intolerable to the Australian government.
The nature of entertainment in gambling consumption is more prevalent in the daily lives of Australians, where discussing bets on horse racing/sports betting while drinking with friends is an interesting activity. The Australian social environment's tolerance for the gambling industry naturally creates favorable conditions for sensitive individuals.
It is common for Australians to rent or help others open online gambling accounts, with professional players earning a living and renters earning pocket money, benefiting both parties.
Conclusion
As part of the horse racing economic circle, Australia has a strong desire for gambling entertainment consumption. Australians generally have high incomes and good welfare, contributing to a large volume of gambling consumption. As an independent continental island, Australia has always pursued a strict domestic policy in the online gambling sector; domestically, it provides high freedom for gambling brands and consumers, creating an encouraging environment. However, this also gives rise to many issues, such as excessive gambling consumption and illegal money laundering.
In an environment where "everyone gambles," favorable conditions are provided for the survival of sensitive individuals. Operating the Australian gambling market is suitable for brands that already have horse racing operations.
