Tasmania legalised casino gambling before any other state - Wrest Point took its first bets in Hobart in 1973 - and fifty years later it is pushing machine restrictions harder than anywhere else. Neither fact reaches the pokies on your phone, which answer to a single federal law in every Australian postcode. Land-based rules first, then the online position. Background reading for adults, not legal advice.
The state that legalised the casino
A referendum before a casino
Tasmania asked its voters before it built anything. A state-wide referendum on 14 December 1968 returned 56 per cent in favour, parliament passed the Wrest Point Casino Licence and Development Act the same year, and on 10 February 1973 Wrest Point opened at Sandy Bay in Hobart as Australia's first legal casino.
Two casinos, one company
Launceston's Country Club Casino followed, and both properties belong to Federal Group, the private company at the centre of Tasmanian gaming for decades - which brings us to the deed.
Who regulates pokies in Tasmania
The commission and the Act
Land-based gaming runs under the Gaming Control Act 1993 (Tas), policed by the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission, an independent body supported by Treasury's Liquor and Gaming Branch. The Act covers the casinos, hotel and club machines, and keno.
Where machines are allowed, and how many
Pokies are legal in the casinos, hotels and clubs. Hotels and clubs shared a state-wide cap of 2,350 machines - at most 30 per hotel and 40 per club. A January 2026 reform resets that cap after 30 June 2026 to the licences actually taken up, then shrinks it by attrition.
Life after the Federal Group monopoly
What ended on 30 June 2023
A 2003 deed handed Federal Group the machine business in every Tasmanian hotel and club. It expired on 30 June 2023. Federal Group kept the casino side - two fresh 20-year licences, one each for Wrest Point and the Country Club.
Venues now run their own machines
Since 1 July 2023 each venue holds its own 20-year machine licence, buys or leases its machines, and runs them under government-owned authorities that cannot be traded.
The 2026 harm rules no other state has
The player card Tasmania shelved
The state spent years promising a mandatory pre-commitment card with binding loss limits - A$100 a day, A$5,000 a year - then deferred it indefinitely in November 2024.
What arrived instead in January 2026
The replacement package, announced by Treasurer Eric Abetz in January 2026, has no equal on the mainland. Gaming areas must close for seven hours in every 24, up from four. Machines move to ticket-in ticket-out, tickets capped at A$200 and machine load at A$100. Facial recognition tied to the Tasmanian Gambling Exclusion Scheme becomes mandatory, self-exclusion works on the spot via QR code, and venue ATMs get daily withdrawal limits. What the package does not do is cap losses - the job the abandoned card was built for. For the mainland versions of this fight, see NSW, Victoria or the club-based ACT.
Online pokies answer to one federal act
None of the rules above apply to online play. Real-money online pokies sit under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, a Commonwealth law that reads the same in Hobart as in Perth. It makes offering online pokies to people in Australia without a local licence an offence; no such licence exists, and the Tasmanian commission cannot issue one. The offence sits with the operator, not the player - nobody in Australia has been prosecuted for playing.
That is why every casino accepting Tasmanian players is licensed offshore. ACMA's blocking powers and the Act's full story live on our legal page.
Frequently asked questions
Playing is not an offence for you. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 points its penalties at operators offering real-money pokies to Australians without a local licence, and no Australian player has been prosecuted. Every site that accepts Tasmanians is licensed overseas as a result.
The Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission, an independent body working under the Gaming Control Act 1993, oversees the casinos, hotel and club machines and keno, with Treasury providing administrative support. Online pokies sit outside its remit; they answer to federal law and ACMA.
Hotels and clubs shared a state-wide cap of 2,350 machines, limited to 30 per hotel and 40 per club; casino floors are licensed separately. Under the January 2026 reforms, the cap resets after 30 June 2026 to the licences actually taken up, then shrinks by attrition.
The 2003 deed giving Federal Group control of every hotel and club machine expired on 30 June 2023. From 1 July 2023 venues hold their own 20-year machine licences, while Federal Group kept two 20-year casino licences for Wrest Point and the Country Club.
Responsible gambling
Tasmania's shutdown hours and ticket caps exist because machine losses do real damage - and no such brakes follow you onto an offshore site. Decide what a session can cost before you log in, and keep to it. More tools on our responsible gambling page. Gambling Help Online is free 24/7 on 1800 858 858. 18+.