Online bingo Australia: is it legal, and how do the odds work?

Key facts

Under the Interactive Gambling Act, a game of chance played online for money is a gambling service, prohibited unless it falls in an excluded category such as licensed wagering or a licensed lottery.
We could not find any Australian state or territory licence for real money online bingo. ACMA lists unlicensed betting and lottery services and casino-style games as illegal online.
In person, bingo is regulated by the states. In Queensland, community groups can run bingo without a licence up to set limits, and a bingo centre needs a licence.
National statistics count bingo as 'minor gaming' with raffles and lucky envelopes. Only WA reported figures for 2024-25: $126.1 million bet and $54.2 million lost, a return of about 57%.
In a fair game your chance of winning is roughly your tickets divided by all tickets in play. Six tickets in a 600 ticket game is about 1%.

Is online bingo legal in Australia?

Real money online bingo from a site that is not licensed in Australia is a prohibited service, on our reading of the law. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 defines a gambling service to include a game played for money or anything else of value, where the game is one of chance or of mixed chance and skill and the player pays to take part. Bingo is a game of chance. Provided online in the course of a business to people in Australia, that is a prohibited interactive gambling service, unless it falls into one of the Act's excluded categories, such as licensed wagering or a licensed lottery.

We looked for an Australian licence that covers real money online bingo and could not find one. ACMA lists "betting and lottery services that are not licensed in Australia" and casino-style games among the online services that are illegal here. This page explains the law in plain English and is not legal advice.

Bingo setting	Legal in Australia?
Bingo in a club or community hall, run under state rules	Yes
Licensed bingo centres	Yes, where the state licenses them
Free online or app bingo with no prizes	Yes; games with simulated gambling are rated R 18+
Real money bingo on an offshore website	No licence we could find; a prohibited service

Why bingo is not like keno online

Keno is the closest comparison, and it is legal online from licensed providers until a federal ban starts on 1 January 2027, so why not bingo? The Interactive Gambling Act treats keno as a lottery: its definitions say "a keno-type lottery is an example of a lottery", and licensed lottery services are excluded from the ban. The federal government's 2026 review names three licensed online keno providers. We found no equivalent licensed online bingo service. Our online keno australia guide covers the keno side in detail.

Best online bingo in Australia: our position

We do not publish a list of the best online bingo sites for Australians, because we could not find any that are licensed here. A site offering real money bingo to Australians from overseas has no Australian regulator. ACMA warns that if an illegal operator does not pay out or keeps taking money, Australian regulators cannot help, and its operators can close or move and take your money with them. The same applies to the bingo rooms inside offshore casinos. For the wider rules, read are online pokies legal in Australia.

Where bingo is legal: in person

Bingo in person is regulated by each state, mostly as community or charitable gaming. Queensland's rules, under the Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act 1999, show how it typically works:

Queensland category	Licence needed?	Limit
Category 1 game (includes bingo)	No	Total ticket sales of no more than $2,000
Category 2 game (includes bingo)	No, for eligible non-profit associations	Between $2,000 and $20,000 in ticket sales for all games in a bingo session
Bingo centre	Yes, a bingo centre licence	Two or more eligible associations running more than 25 bingo sessions a week between them

Victoria's regulator keeps a published list of bingo centre operators. Other states have their own community gaming rules, so ask the venue or check your state regulator if you are not sure a game is above board.

What bingo returns

Bingo is rarely measured on its own. The national gambling statistics fold it into "minor gaming", defined as "the collective name given to raffles, bingo, lucky envelopes and the like". For 2024-25, only Western Australia reported minor gaming figures: $126.1 million bet and $54.2 million lost. By our calculation that is a return of about 57% to players, close to the 60% paid back by scratch cards and much lower than the roughly 92% returned by club and hotel pokies. Our pokies in Australia statistics page shows the comparison with other forms of gambling, and our house edge table lists bingo beside every casino game.

How bingo odds work

In a fair bingo game every ticket has the same chance of winning each prize. Online, that fairness rests on the software that draws the numbers; our random number generator guide explains how casino RNGs work and are tested. So your chance is close to:

chance of winning a prize = your tickets / all tickets in play

Your tickets	Tickets in play	Chance of winning the prize
1	200	0.5% (1 in 200)
6	600	1% (1 in 100)
12	600	2% (1 in 50)
6	1,200	0.5% (1 in 200)

Buying more tickets raises your chance in proportion, and raises your cost in exactly the same proportion. It does not change the value of each ticket.

Why full houses come so late. Take 90-ball bingo, where a ticket has 15 numbers. For one ticket on its own, the chance that all 15 numbers have been called:

By call number	Chance one ticket has a full house
60	0.12%
70	1.6%
80	14.5%

On average a single ticket's last number comes out around call 85 of 90. Games finish sooner only because hundreds of tickets are in play and one of them gets lucky early.

Pundit tip: your favourite card or lucky numbers do not matter. With every number equally likely, any ticket has the same chance as any other.

Free bingo apps

Free bingo apps that pay no money or prizes are legal. Since 22 September 2024, computer games containing simulated gambling are classified R 18+ in Australia, and games with paid in-game items linked to chance, such as loot boxes, are rated M. If an app sells coins or boosts, the money you spend is gone for good: there is nothing to cash out.

If bingo, online or in person, is costing more than you can afford, free and confidential support is on our gambling help page.

Frequently asked questions

Is online bingo legal in Australia?

Not for real money from an unlicensed site. The Interactive Gambling Act treats an online game of chance played for money as a gambling service, and only excluded categories such as licensed wagering and lotteries can be offered. We found no Australian licence for real money online bingo. Free bingo games with no prizes are legal.

What is the best online bingo in Australia?

We do not rank real money online bingo sites, because we could not find any licensed in Australia. The legal options are bingo in person at clubs, community groups and licensed bingo centres, and free bingo apps that pay no prizes.

Where can I play bingo legally in Australia?

In person, under state rules. Queensland, for example, regulates bingo under the Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act 1999: eligible non-profit groups can run it without a licence up to set ticket sales, and a centre running more than 25 sessions a week needs a bingo centre licence.

What are the odds of winning bingo?

In a fair game every ticket has the same chance, so your chance is about the number of tickets you hold divided by the total in play. With 6 of 600 tickets, that is about 1 in 100 for each prize. The numbers on your card do not change that.

Is online keno the same as online bingo?

No. Keno is treated as a lottery under the Interactive Gambling Act, and licensed providers can offer it online until a federal ban on online keno starts on 1 January 2027. We found no equivalent licence for real money online bingo.