Published 10/08/2021 by Josh Tucker
Have you ever considered running a competition or giveaway to boost your email list and sales, or even to offer something extra to your existing audience?Competitions are a great way to boost your business, build your mailing list, or increase social media followers, but Australia has some of the strictest legal requirements in the world and you need to follow them if you want to run a successful campaign.
Trade promotions, as they’re officially called in Australia are handled by individual state governments and may be required by some states, but not by others based on the prize pool available and who can enter the competition.
Just a reminder that we are not in a position to offer legal advice and the information provided should be considered general advice only. You should always seek professional advice when required.
To start you will need to know whether you are running a game of chance or a game of skill, the total prize pool (total value of all prizes) and which Australian residents (by state) can participate in your competition.
Interactive trade promotion license requirement finder
Hopefully that was easier then attempting to interpret all different state governments’ websites by yourself? If you found that your competition will need a permit or licence, there is usually a small fee to apply (cost differ per state and by prize pool but usually a few hundred dollars at most) and below are some helpful links to the relevant government websites.
Quick links to relevant authorities
State | Permit Required? | Regulatory Body |
New South Wales (NSW) | A permit is needed where the value of the prize is more than $10,000. | |
Victoria (VIC) | No permit is needed. | |
South Australia (SA) | A permit is needed where the value of the prize is more than $5,000. | |
Northern Territory (NT) | A permit is needed where the value of the prize is more than $5,000. | |
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) | A permit is needed where the value of the prize is more than $3,000. | |
Western Australia (WA) | No permit is needed. | |
Queensland (QLD) | No permit is needed. | |
Tasmania (TAS) | No permit is needed. |
Conclusion
Running a competition is a great way to boost the visibility of your business. Competition or trade promotion permits may be necessary to ensure that your competition is fair and reasonable and should go hand in hand with well written competition terms and conditions.
If you have any questions regarding running an online digital competition within Australia, as either a game of chance or game of skill you can contact us for an obligation free discussion or check out our free online competition platform.
