We went looking for online casinos in Australia and pretty quickly figured out the situation here is different from other places around the world.
Real-money online casinos can’t legally offer their services to Australians, but there’s a separate category of sweepstakes and social casino sites that use virtual currencies and prize redemptions instead of cash gambling. We tested a few of them and went through how the model works, who can use these sites, and what to look for when comparing them for yourself.
Most people land on one of these sites thinking it’s a new online casino in Australia and then get confused by the virtual currency system, so you need to fully understand how they work before you create an account.
Sweepstakes casinos don’t take a cash deposit and let you play with it, instead they run on virtual currencies and most use at least two types. Gold Coins (GC) are the entertainment virtual currency and have no value, you’re just playing for fun with those. Sweepstakes Coins (SC) are the promotional virtual currency used in sweepstakes play and can be redeemed for prizes after meeting the relevant redemption requirements. Different sweepstakes casinos call them different things but the dual-virtual currency setup is pretty much standard across every site we’ve come across.
You can get free SC through a bunch of different channels like free welcome offers, daily login bonuses, social media competitions, mail-in requests and promotional giveaways. You can also buy GC bundles if you want to and those often come with bonus SC included, but the purchase is always optional and you’re never required to spend money to play.
A lot of Australians mix these two up and it causes problems down the line, so we want to make it clear.
A regular online casino is straightforward, you deposit real money, you place bets on slots or table games with that money and then you withdraw whatever’s left including any winnings. The entire model works on direct cash wagering and the site operates under a gambling licence. However, these casinos cannot legally offer their services to players in Australia, as explained in our guide to legal online casinos in Australia.
Sweepstakes casinos take cash wagering out of the picture completely. You play with GC for entertainment, SC for sweepstakes play, and you can redeem eligible SC winnings for prizes after meeting the relevant redemption requirements.
| Feature | Sweepstakes casino | Traditional online casino |
|---|---|---|
| Main balance | Virtual currencies (GC and SC) | Cash balance |
| Direct cash wagering | No | Yes |
| Free ways to play? | Always available | No |
| Prize redemption | Yes, after meeting requirements | Withdrawal from cash balance |
We’ve gone through a handful of these sites and they’re more different than you’d think given they all run on the same basic model. Here’s what to look for in the best ones.
The game count is the first thing most players look at but it’s a bit misleading on its own. A site can advertise 2,000 games and still feel limited if they’re all from one or two developers you’ve never heard of. We pay more attention to who’s behind the games, because recognisable studios tend to mean better variety across slots, jackpots and table games.
We also like being able to browse the game lobby before creating an account, we know that sounds minor but it saves you the hassle of signing up somewhere only to find out the selection isn’t for you.
The welcome offer gets all the attention but the daily and weekly rewards are what you’ll rely on after the first day, so look for login bonuses, reward wheels, tournaments, social media giveaways and loyalty tiers. And don’t just go by the biggest GC number either, because playthrough requirements and other SC redemption eligibility all affect how much that welcome offer is really worth once you’re using the site.
You will really have a tough time looking for online casinos that pays out fastest in Australia. That’s because, once again, online casinos aren’t legal here. But here’s an alternative we found. This is where we spent the most time and it’s where the biggest differences of the sweepstakes casinos tend to show up.
Check the minimum SC redemption amount, the identity verification process, eligible payment methods, any playthrough multipliers on SC, processing timeframes and maximum redemption limits. We know nobody wants to read through all of that but it’s the difference between redeeming your SC and finding out three weeks later that you missed a requirement.
We tested every sweepstakes online casino on mobile because that’s realistically how most players are going to use them, and the gaps between sites are obvious once you start tapping around. Some lobbies load games in a couple of seconds and others leave you waiting long enough to wonder if something broke.
On the support side we look for a named operating company and visible support hours, because if a site won’t tell you who runs it or when you can reach someone that tells you a lot about how they’ll handle a redemption issue.
Getting set up is pretty similar across most sites but there are a couple of things people get wrong if they rush through it.
We’ve spent enough time on RooVegas to feel comfortable recommending it for Australians who meet the eligibility requirements. The site has more than 1,000 games across slots and other casino-style categories, and the Roowards loyalty structure gives regular players progression incentives that build over time. The current free welcome offer is 500,000 Roo Coins (RC) + 10 Spin Coins (SC) just for signing up with no purchase required, and daily rewards alongside tournaments give you more ways to collect virtual currency after joining. The browser-based lobby works well on mobile and keeps game search, balances and support easily accessible without needing a separate app.
If you’ve been searching for a way to play casino-style games in Australia, sweepstakes casinos are the only model available right now. The virtual currency setup takes a few minutes to get your head around, but once you understand the difference between GC and SC the rest falls into place pretty quickly. RooVegas is where we’d point most Australian players given the game library, the Roowards structure and the generous free 500,000 GC + 10 SC welcome offer.
If you want to try a sweeps casino out today, click one of the banners on this page to get started.
No, conventional online casinos can’t legally supply casino games to Australians under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, including online slots and table games.
Yes, some sites allow eligible SC winnings to be redeemed for cash prizes or gift cards after meeting the relevant redemption requirements.
No, availability can differ between states and territories and operators may change their restrictions at any time, so always check the current eligibility terms before you sign up.
