The nations communications watchdog will soon block access to illegal gambling websites hosted offshore.

Australians spend up to $400m on the sites each year and often have difficulties recouping their winnings or deposits.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority will investigate suspect sites and, if unable to take enforcement action, order internet providers to block them.

The chair of Acma, Nerida OLoughlin, said the new laws were a valuable additional weapon against illegal online gambling.

There is little to no recourse for consumers engaging with these unscrupulous operators, OLoughlin said on Monday.

She said 65 illegal companies had left Australia since Acma began enforcing new rules against offshore sites in 2017.

The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said the sites accounted for about $100m in lost tax revenue each year.

Too often these offshore operators are defrauding Australians and their websites typically provide very few, if any, harm-minimisation controls, Fletcher said.

Acmas new powers fulfil one of three legislative recommendations that came out of a 2015 review of interactive gambling.

The review, overseen by former NSW premier Barry OFarrell, made 19 recommendations to the government.

It raised a number of problems with the sites, including a lack of Australian consumer protections, as well as links with organised crime.

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Australia to block illegal offshore gambling websites - The Guardian