{"id":"C2026A00073","name":"Interactive Gambling (Cost Recovery Levy) Act 2026","slug":"interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"73 of 2026","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":584335,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2026A00073-1788437178424","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-09-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"Part 1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"Part 1—Preliminary","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the Interactive Gambling (Cost Recovery Levy) Act 2026.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n\n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this Act The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. 27 August 2026\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act to bind Crown","content":"3  Act to bind Crown\n\n  This Act binds the Crown in right of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory. However, it does not bind the Crown in right of the Commonwealth.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Extension to external Territories","content":"4  Extension to external Territories\n\n  This Act extends to every external Territory.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Extra‑territorial application","content":"5  Extra‑territorial application\n\n  This Act extends to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Australia.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"6  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nACMA means the Australian Communications and Media Authority.\n\napplicable percentage, in relation to a designated levy period, has the meaning given by section 11.\n\ncommencement day means the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.\n\ncost, in relation to the ACMA, means an amount that, in accordance with accrual‑based accounting principles, is treated as a cost of the ACMA.\n\ndesignated levy period has the meaning given by section 11.\n\nlevy means levy imposed by this Act.\n\nlevy period means:\n\n (a) the period:\n\n (i) beginning on the commencement day; and\n\n (ii) ending on the first 30 June after the commencement day; or\n\n (b) any later financial year.\n\nlicensed interactive wagering service has the meaning given by section 61GB of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.\n\nOpt‑out Register arrangement means an arrangement under subsection 62ZZD(1) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.\n\nOpt‑out Register operator has the same meaning as in Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.\n\nOpt‑out Register provision means:\n\n (a) a provision of Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001; or\n\n (b) another provision of that Act, to the extent that it relates to that Part; or\n\n (c) a provision of a legislative instrument made under or for the purposes of a provision covered by paragraph (a) or (b), to the extent that it relates to that Part.\n\nOpt‑out Register rules has the same meaning as in Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.\n\nPart 7D provision means:\n\n (a) a provision of Part 7D (restrictions on inducements etc.) of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001; or\n\n (b) another provision of that Act, to the extent that it relates to that Part; or\n\n (c) a provision of a legislative instrument made under or for the purposes of a provision covered by paragraph (a) or (b), to the extent that it relates to that Part.\n\nthe ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs has the meaning given by subsection 10(3).\n\nWagering Advertising Opt‑out Register means the Wagering Advertising Opt‑out Register kept under Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"Part 2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Imposition of levy","content":"Part 2—Imposition of levy","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of levy","content":"7  Imposition of levy\n\n  Levy is imposed on a person for a levy period if the person provided licensed interactive wagering services during the whole or a part of the levy period.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"By whom is levy payable","content":"8  By whom is levy payable\n\n  Levy imposed on a person for a levy period is payable by the person.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Amount of levy","content":"9  Amount of levy\n\n (1) The amount of levy imposed on a person for a levy period is the amount worked out in accordance with a method determined by the ACMA by legislative instrument.\n\n (2) Before making a determination under subsection (1), the ACMA must consult the Minister.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Limit on total amount of levies","content":"10  Limit on total amount of levies\n\n (1) The total amount of the levies imposed on persons for a levy period must not exceed the sum of:\n\n (a) the cost of the Opt‑out Register, during the levy period, set out in subsection (2), other than the ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs; and\n\n (b) the costs incurred, during the levy period, by the ACMA in relation to the performance of its functions, or the exercise of its powers, under a Part 7D provision; and\n\n (c) if the levy period is a designated levy period—the applicable percentage of the ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs (see subsection (3)).\n\n (2) The cost of the Opt‑out Register, during a period, is the total of the following costs incurred during that period:\n\n (a) the amounts paid by the ACMA (on behalf of the Commonwealth) to the Opt‑out Register operator under an Opt‑out Register arrangement;\n\n (b) the costs incurred by the ACMA in managing an Opt‑out Register arrangement;\n\n (c) the costs incurred by the ACMA in relation to:\n\n (i) monitoring or promoting compliance with an Opt‑out Register provision; or\n\n (ii) investigating whether persons have contravened an Opt‑out Register provision; or\n\n (iii) taking action under the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014, so far as that Act relates to an Opt‑out Register provision;\n\n (d) the costs incurred by the ACMA in relation to the performance of its functions, or the exercise of its powers, under:\n\n (i) an Opt‑out Register provision; or\n\n (ii) this Act;\n\n (e) the costs incurred by the ACMA in relation to a procurement process that resulted in, or was intended to result in, the ACMA entering into an Opt‑out Register arrangement;\n\n (f) any other costs incurred by the ACMA in relation to:\n\n (i) preparing to establish, or the development of, the Wagering Advertising Opt‑out Register; or\n\n (ii) the operation of the Wagering Advertising Opt‑out Register;\n\n  including any such costs incurred by the ACMA if there is no Opt‑out Register arrangement.\n\n (3) The ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs are the costs set out in subsection (2), except paragraph (2)(c), that are incurred during the period:\n\n (a) beginning on the commencement day; and\n\n (b) ending on the day before the Opt‑out Register proclaimed start day (within the meaning of Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001).","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"11","sectionType":"section","heading":"Designated levy periods and applicable percentages","content":"11  Designated levy periods and applicable percentages\n\n (1) The ACMA may, by legislative instrument, determine that, for the purposes of this Act:\n\n (a) each of 2 or more consecutive levy periods specified in the determination are designated levy periods; and\n\n (b) the applicable percentage for a particular designated levy period is the percentage specified in the determination.\n\nNote: The applicable percentage of the ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs are included in the total levies imposed for levy periods that are designated levy periods (see paragraph 10(1)(c)).\n\n (2) Different percentages may be specified for different designated levy periods.\n\n (3) The total of the applicable percentages must not exceed 100%.\n\n (4) Before making a determination under subsection (1), the ACMA must consult the Minister.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 17 August 2026\n\nSenate on 19 August 2026]\n\n\n\n(113/26)","sortOrder":12}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"On its face, this Act stays within a narrow cost‑recovery purpose: it imposes a levy on persons who \"provided licensed interactive wagering services\" during a levy period (see s7) to recover specified ACMA costs. The total levies are limited by s10(1), which says the total \"must not exceed the sum of\" (a) the Opt‑out Register cost components set out in s10(2), (b) ACMA costs in relation to Part 7D functions, and (c) an \"applicable percentage\" of the ACMA’s upfront Opt‑out Register costs for designated levy periods (s10(1)–(3) and s11). The ACMA’s power to set the levy method and to designate levy periods by legislative instrument (s9, s11) implements a mechanism to allocate and, if needed, spread upfront costs — a scope-consistent implementation detail rather than an expansion of purpose. The Act’s extra‑territorial reach (s5) and the rule that it binds State and Territory Crowns but not the Commonwealth (s3) broaden who and where it applies, but these are consistent with the cost‑recovery goal reflected throughout the Act. \n\nNote: This is general legal information, not legal advice. I can make mistakes. Before you rely on this, act on it, or use any draft based on it, get a qualified Australian lawyer to check it."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple defined terms referencing external legislation (Part 7D and Part 7E of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001) increasing interpretive reliance on that Act.","ACMA discretion to set the levy calculation method by legislative instrument (s9) and to designate levy periods and percentages by instrument (s11).","Caps on total levies with a nested cost definition in s10(1)–(3) (including detailed list in s10(2) and a separate upfront-costs carve‑out in s10(3)).","Cross-references to other statutes and instruments (Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014; Opt‑out Register arrangements and rules).","Accrual‑based accounting definition for 'cost' (s6) introduces technical accounting interpretation.","Extra‑territorial application (s5) and Crown‑binding nuance (s3) add jurisdictional scope considerations.","Mandatory consultation requirements with the Minister before key instruments (s9 and s11) add procedural steps."],"plain_english_summary":"**What it does:** The Act requires providers of licensed interactive wagering services to pay a levy that funds the ACMA’s work on the Wagering Advertising Opt‑out Register and enforcement of inducement restrictions. The ACMA determines how each provider’s levy is calculated by legislative instrument (see s7, s9).  \n\n**Who it affects and why it matters:** Licensed interactive wagering operators—including activity outside Australia—are the payers; total levies are capped by specified ACMA costs and any apportioned upfront register costs (see s10, s11)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026","history":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/interactive-gambling-cost-recovery-levy-act-2026/documents"}}