BetStop Self-Exclusion: Register, Periods and Early Exit

Self-exclusion means asking, yourself, to be kept out of gambling for a set time. BetStop does that for online and phone betting across the whole country in one step. Since it opened on 21 August 2023 it has taken 65,430 registrations, and on 30 June 2026 there were 40,160 people actively excluded; the other 25,270 registrations had run their course or been ended early. The ACMA's latest quarterly figures also show who uses it: people in every state and territory, mostly younger punters, and a large share who choose the longest option available.

Who signs up, state by state

Signing up takes about five minutes

1. Go to betstop.gov.au. Registration is free and BetStop says it takes around 5 minutes. You need a mobile number and an email address.
2. Verify your identity. Use a Medicare card, an Australian passport or a state driver licence. If you do not have one of these, BetStop's phone line, 1800 238 786, can help with other ID.
3. Choose your period. Anything from a minimum of 3 months up to lifetime.
4. Add support people if you want. Up to 5 people you trust can be kept informed.

Only you can register yourself; nobody can sign up a partner, child or friend on their behalf. You cannot pick and choose providers either: the registration applies to all of them at once, which is the point. If a family member's betting worries you, the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 can talk through how to raise it with them.

Lifetime is the most common choice

Given the choice, more people pick lifetime than any other period. Of the 65,430 registrations, 25,155 chose lifetime, which is 38.4% by our calculation (25,155 divided by 65,430). A close second is the band from 3 months to 2 years, with 24,800 (37.9%). Only 11,784 (18.0%) picked the 3-month minimum, and the two longer fixed bands together make up under 6%.

Two rules make the choice less daunting than it looks. You can extend your exclusion at any time if you find you need longer. What you cannot do is shorten it: the period you pick is the minimum you will serve unless you go through the early-exit process described below.

The ACMA figures also show how many exclusions are still running. Of all 65,430 registrations, 40,160 (61.4%) were active on 30 June 2026 and 25,270 (38.6%) had either reached the end of their period or been cancelled early. The ACMA does not split those two groups in its quarterly summary, so we cannot say how many people left early.

Nearly half of registrants are 30 or under

BetStop skews young. People aged 30 and under account for 30,081 registrations, or 46.0% of the total by our calculation. Add the 31 to 40 group (20,719) and more than three in four registrants are 40 or younger. After that the numbers fall away steadily: 8,752 aged 41 to 50, 3,824 aged 51 to 60 and 2,054 over 60.

What wagering companies must do once you are registered

• Close any account you hold with them and refund the credit in it.
• Not open a new account for you, or take a bet from you.
• Not send you marketing of any kind.
• Not reactivate closed accounts when your exclusion ends; they stay closed.

These obligations apply to the roughly 150 providers licensed in Australia to offer online and phone wagering. BetStop is operated by Dataworks Group Limited on behalf of the ACMA, under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and the Register Rules; the law was changed in 2019 to make a national register possible.

Where BetStop stops

BetStop is a strong lock, but only on one door. According to BetStop itself, it does not apply to online casino games or other illegally provided services. Online pokies, blackjack and roulette cannot be licensed in Australia, so BetStop has no reach over them. If casino-style games are part of the problem, blocking software on your devices and a call to 1800 858 858 are worth adding.

Pubs, clubs and casinos are not covered either. Each state and territory runs its own venue self-exclusion, and you register with each separately; nothing transfers from BetStop. Two examples we checked:

• Self-exclusion in Queensland: ask a venue's Customer Liaison Officer, or Gambling Help can arrange it remotely for one or more venues. You fill in a notice (Form 3A) with a recent photo, receive an order (Form 3B), and the exclusion starts straight away. You can apply to cancel only after at least 12 months.
• Self-exclusion in Victoria: you choose the venues and sign an agreement for a minimum period. Hotels are covered through the Australian Hotels Association, clubs through Community Clubs Victoria and the casino through the Crown PlaySafe Centre. Gambler's Help on 1800 858 858 can help.

We did not check the New South Wales venue scheme for this update; the helpline can point you to the right contact in any state.

Ending it early: the rules and the 7-day wait

Leaving BetStop before your period is up is possible, but it is deliberately slow:

1. You cannot apply at all in the first 3 months.
2. After that, you need a Commonwealth statutory declaration confirming you have received counselling or advice from a counsellor, psychologist or doctor.
3. Removal happens 7 days after a valid application, and you can withdraw the application during those 7 days.
4. Your support people are told about the application.

The waiting period and the counselling step are there to separate a considered decision from a bad night. One more thing to know before you decide: from 2027, the reform law limits inducements to people who have come off BetStop in the previous 3 months.

The role of support people

You can nominate up to 5 support people, such as a partner, a friend or a counsellor. They are notified of your exclusion period, of any attempt to cancel early, of extensions and of the end of your exclusion. Being told at those points lets them check in at the moments that matter, and telling even one person can make the decision feel more real.

Three years of registrations

After the launch surge, sign-ups settled at roughly 4,500 to 5,600 a quarter, and the last quarter of 2025-26 was the busiest of that year. The 2025-26 total is our sum of the four quarters the ACMA publishes.

Back to the state table at the top of this page: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland together hold 78.6% of all registrations (51,396 of 65,430), which broadly follows where most Australians live. We have not adjusted these counts for population, so they say nothing about which state has more gambling harm. The shares are our calculation from the ACMA counts and are rounded, so they add to 99.9%. Every state and territory is represented, down to 520 registrations in the Northern Territory.

Who runs BetStop and what changes next

BetStop's phone line is 1800 238 786; the ACMA, which oversees it, has a customer line on 1300 850 115. State wagering regulators generally do not handle BetStop matters: the NT Wagering Commission's complaints page, for example, lists complaints about BetStop among the things it cannot deal with. The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, passed on 19 August 2026 with most of it commencing on 1 January 2027, includes a stronger BetStop alongside new limits on gambling ads and inducements.

Frequently asked questions

18+ only. General information, not legal, medical or financial advice. BetStop figures are ACMA data to 30 June 2026; check betstop.gov.au for current rules, and call 1800 858 858 for free 24/7 support.