The law behind the “click to call” button — and how offshore books sidestep it. A plain-English guide for Aussie punters.
If you’ve ever tried to place a live bet during a match on an Australian betting app and been met with a “click to call” button instead of an instant bet slip, you’ve run into one of the quirks of Australian gambling law. Online in-play betting is effectively banned for Australian-licensed bookies — and this guide explains why, what the workaround is, and how offshore books do things differently.
The short version: pre-match online betting is perfectly legal in Australia. In-play (live) betting online is not allowed for Australian-licensed bookmakers under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA). Live bets can only be placed by phone or in person. Offshore books, which aren’t bound by the IGA, offer online in-play freely — which is exactly why many Australian punters use them, and exactly why doing so is a legal grey area.
In-play betting (also called live betting) means placing a bet on a sporting event after it has already started, while it’s in progress. Unlike a pre-match bet, where the odds are fixed before kick-off, in-play odds move constantly in response to what’s happening — a goal, a wicket, a break of serve, a red card all shift the prices in seconds.
It’s hugely popular because it lets you react to the run of play: backing a side that’s started strongly, hedging a pre-match position, or jumping on a next-goal or next-point market. The appeal is immediacy — and that immediacy is precisely what Australian law restricts when it’s delivered online.
The ban comes from the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The Act prohibits Australian-licensed bookmakers from offering in-play betting through an online interface — an app or a website — on sporting events. The prohibition is specifically about the online channel for live bets; it does not touch pre-match online betting, which remains fully legal.
The reasoning is rooted in harm minimisation. The policy concern is that online in-play betting enables rapid, repeated, high-frequency wagering — bet after bet, market after market, in the span of a single match — which is considered higher-risk than placing a single considered bet before an event starts. Requiring a phone call or a trip to a venue introduces friction that, in theory, slows that cycle down.
Around 2015–2016 there was a well-publicised industry push to allow online in-play (some operators trialled “click to call” products that blurred the line), and a federal review considered the question. The outcome, reinforced by the 2017 amendments to the IGA, was to retain the online in-play prohibition for licensed bookmakers. That remains the position in 2026.
Here’s the crucial nuance: the IGA bans in-play betting online, but it permits live bets placed by telephone or in person. That exception is the entire reason the click-to-call button exists.
When you’re on a live market in a licensed Australian betting app and you tap to place a bet, the app doesn’t process it as an instant online wager. Instead it routes you to the bookmaker’s phone line — often an automated (IVR) system, sometimes a live operator — where you confirm the bet by voice or keypad. The bet is legally a phone bet, not an online bet, which keeps the licensed bookie inside the law.
In practice the experience is clunky compared with a true online bet slip: there’s a connection delay, the odds can move while you’re being connected, and complex bets are harder to place by voice. The friction is, in a sense, the point — but it’s also the main reason punters chasing seamless live betting drift towards offshore books. We cover the practical mechanics of using these phone systems in our app-focused in-play betting guide.
| Channel | Pre-match bet | In-play (live) bet |
|---|---|---|
| Online with AU-licensed bookie | Legal & instant | Not allowed online |
| Phone with AU-licensed bookie | Allowed | Allowed (the exception) |
| In person at a venue/retail outlet | Allowed | Allowed |
| Online with offshore book | Available (grey area) | Available (grey area) |
Offshore sportsbooks are licensed outside Australia — most commonly in Curaçao or Anjouan — and are not bound by the IGA’s in-play restriction. So they simply offer live online betting the way bookmakers do almost everywhere else in the world: a real-time bet slip, fast-refreshing odds, cash-out, and a full tree of live markets, all in the app or browser with no phone call required.
That’s the draw. For a punter who wants to bet next-goal during a World Cup match at 4am, or trade in and out of a live tennis market, the offshore experience is simply smoother than the licensed phone-bet workaround.
But be clear-eyed about the trade-off. From the operator’s side, providing these services to Australians is prohibited under the IGA, which is why ACMA periodically requests blocks on offshore gambling domains. From the player’s side, the IGA targets operators rather than individuals — no Australian punter has been prosecuted under the Act for placing a bet — so it isn’t a criminal act for you. What you give up is Australian regulation and consumer protection: if a withdrawal stalls or a market is voided unfairly, you’re relying on a foreign licensing body, not an Australian ombudsman or the local regulator. That’s the grey area in a sentence — not targeted at you, but unregulated from your side of the transaction.
If you’re weighing up live betting, keep these practical points in mind:
The questions Aussie punters ask us most about live betting, answered plainly. This is general information, not legal advice.
In-play (live) betting itself is legal in Australia, but the way you can place it is restricted. Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, Australian-licensed bookmakers cannot accept in-play bets online — they can only take live bets by telephone or in person. Pre-match online betting is unaffected and fully legal. Offshore books offer online in-play, but they are not AU-licensed.
The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 prohibits Australian-licensed bookmakers from offering online in-play betting on sporting events. The restriction was retained partly on harm-minimisation grounds — the concern that rapid, repeated live betting online is higher-risk than placing a single pre-match bet. So licensed bookies route live bets through a phone line or retail outlet instead of an instant online button.
The IGA allows live bets to be placed by telephone or in person, even though it bans them online. That's why Australian betting apps show a 'click to call' button on live markets: tapping it connects you to the bookmaker's phone line (often automated) to place the in-play bet by voice or keypad, which satisfies the law. The bet is technically a phone bet, not an online bet.
Offshore sportsbooks are licensed outside Australia (commonly Curaçao or Anjouan) and are not bound by the IGA's in-play restriction, so they simply offer live online betting through their normal app or website. Providing these services to Australians is prohibited for the operator under the IGA, but the law targets operators, not players, and enforcement against offshore sites is patchy — so it sits in a legal grey area.
The IGA's prohibitions fall on operators, not individual players, and no Australian punter has been prosecuted under the Act for placing a bet. So placing an in-play bet at an offshore book is not a criminal offence for you. However, you are betting outside Australian regulation and consumer protection, with limited recourse in a dispute — a personal-risk decision. This is general information, not legal advice.
Pre-match (or ante-post) betting is placed before an event starts, when odds are fixed in advance. In-play (live) betting is placed after the event has begun, with odds that shift constantly in response to what's happening. In Australia, pre-match online betting is fully legal with licensed bookies; in-play can only be placed online at offshore books, or by phone/in person with a licensed bookie.
There has been periodic industry lobbying to allow online in-play betting for licensed Australian bookmakers, on the basis that it would bring punters back from offshore sites into a regulated environment. As of mid-2026 the online in-play prohibition under the IGA remains in force. Any change would require amending federal legislation, so check the current law before assuming the position has shifted.
In-play betting’s fast pace makes self-control especially important. Punting should always be for entertainment, never a way to make money, and you must be 18+ to bet. If gambling is affecting you or someone you know, free, confidential support is available 24/7 from Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858 (gamblinghelponline.org.au). You can self-exclude from Australian-licensed operators through BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (betstop.gov.au), and reach Lifeline on 13 11 14. Set deposit and loss limits, take regular breaks, and never chase losses.