The Australian Capital Territory has introduced a new set of rules governing totalisator wagering, with the Totalisator Rules 2026 (No 1) taking effect from 25 September.
The instrument was notified on 24 September and made under section 70 of the Totalisator Act 2014. It replaces the regulatory framework established through the Totalisator Rules 2024 (No 1), which had applied from August 2024.
Totalisator rules establish the conditions applying to transactions conducted through totalisator offices. The previous framework covered transactions through channels including cash outlets, self-service terminals, internet betting systems and betting account centres. It also defined a totalisator as a pari-mutuel system under which dividends are calculated through the betting operator's computer system.
The new rules arrive during a broader period of gambling regulatory change in the ACT. The territory's Government announced a package of harm reduction measures in September covering electronic gaming machines, gambling exclusions and access to cash at gaming venues.
Among those proposals are mandatory account-based cashless gaming for electronic gaming machines and a ban on EFTPOS and ATM withdrawals at venues with gaming machines. The Government also intends to reduce gaming machine authorisations to no more than 1,000 by 2045.
Separate changes to the territory's gambling code of practice were notified on 17 September and are scheduled to take effect from July 2027. The ACT Government has also introduced legislation intended to reform its gambling exclusion framework.
The totalisator instrument follows a series of regulatory developments affecting wagering operators elsewhere in Australia. In July, the Australian Communications and Media Authority imposed more than AU$2.7m (US$1.8m) in penalties on Tabcorp over breaches of telemarketing and spam laws. Earlier in 2026, Tabcorp paid AU$158,400 after the regulator found it had accepted 426 prohibited online in-play bets across 32 tennis matches.
In related regulatory news, Tabcorp was fined AU$350,000 by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission after failing to implement mandatory multi-factor authentication requirements. The regulator found that some customer accounts were accessed without authorisation during the period of non-compliance.
The Totalisator Act 2014 is administered by the ACT's Minister for Gaming Reform through the Justice and Community Safety Directorate
