Editorial Policy

1. Independence

MatesWin does not operate any casino and does not hold player funds. Our revenue comes from affiliate commissions paid by our three partnered platforms when readers register through our referral links. We disclose this openly on every page and in detail on our Affiliate Disclosure.

No partnered platform pays for a higher score, a removal of "Cons", preferential placement in a comparison, or faster publication of a positive review. Those things are not for sale — not to our current partners and not to any prospective partner. Reviews are written by the editorial team, not by the partnered platforms, and the partnered platforms do not see review copy before it is published.

2. Who Writes for MatesWin

All content on MatesWin is written or commissioned by the MatesWin editorial team, based in Australia. Contributors have practical experience as online casino players in the Australian market — pokies sessions with real money, withdrawals tested across multiple rails, and bonus terms read in full rather than skimmed.

When a page draws on specialist expertise outside our team — for example legal interpretation of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 — we link to the primary source (ACMA, Attorney-General's Department, or recognised legal commentary) rather than paraphrasing from second-hand material.

3. Sourcing Standards

Facts on MatesWin fall into four tiers:

• Primary observation. We tested this ourselves — a real deposit, a real withdrawal, a real livechat conversation, a game played through. Observation-based facts are explicit: "We measured this."
• Operator-published. The platform's own promotional page, terms and conditions, game info screen, or help-centre article. Cited by URL on the relevant review page.
• Regulator / government source. ACMA, AUSTRAC, state regulators, BetStop, Gambling Help Online. Quoted directly where the claim is legal or compliance-related.
• Independent industry source. Recognised game studios (Aristocrat, Pragmatic Play, Evolution), established review/news outlets, industry analytics providers. Used for context, not for a core claim about a partnered platform.

Claims that cannot be sourced to one of these four tiers do not appear on the site.

4. Australian-Player Focus

Everything on MatesWin is written for adult Australian players (18+). Where a rule, a game availability, or a payment method differs by jurisdiction, we describe the Australian picture. We do not generalise from US, UK or EU coverage where Australia is materially different — for example, we do not imply that a casino is "regulated in Australia" when it is not, and we do not copy wagering-requirement phrasing from UK sites where the rules differ.

5. Writing Style Rules

• Plain English. No jargon without definition. Wagering multiples are explained, RTP is explained, volatility is explained.
• No hype. We do not use phrases such as "the best casino in Australia" as a definitive claim. Claims of superiority are always scoped ("best-rated for withdrawal speed in our April 2026 test").
• No guarantees about money. We do not imply a player will win, will profit, or will recover losses. Gambling is entertainment, not income.
• Balanced reviews. Every brand review includes a "Cons" section. Every comparison includes dimensions where each brand does not lead.

6. Update Cadence

Content ages quickly in the online casino market — bonus terms rotate, payout rails change, livechat hours shift. We re-verify content on the following cadence:

• Platform review pages (Crikey7, Bonza7, Dinkum33): re-checked every 30 days or whenever the platform publishes a material change, whichever is sooner.
• Bonus and withdrawal guides: re-checked every 30–60 days.
• Pokies and game-mechanics guides: re-checked every 90 days.
• Legal / regulatory pages: re-checked whenever the relevant regulator announces a change, and otherwise every 180 days.

Every page carries a dateModified value in its page footer and in machine-readable schema. If you see a page without one, please tell us — it is a bug.

7. Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it and we say so. The workflow:

• A factual correction updates the affected passage and bumps dateModified.
• Where the correction materially changes a recommendation or a safety claim, we add a dated note at the top of the page.
• Corrections requests can be submitted via the livechat on our home page. We respond within one business day.

8. AI Use in the Editorial Process

We use AI tooling to assist with research summarisation, formatting, translation checks, and structural editing. We do not publish AI-generated text as final copy without human editing, fact-checking against primary sources and a pass against the style rules in section 5. The named editorial team is responsible for every sentence published.

9. Responsible Gambling Commitment

Every content decision passes a responsible-gambling check: does this page glamorise gambling? Does it imply gambling is a reliable income source? Does it minimise risk of harm? If the answer to any of those is yes, the page is rewritten. Our Responsible Gambling page links to Gambling Help Online (1800 858 858), BetStop national self-exclusion register, and Lifeline (13 11 14) on every page footer.

10. Feedback

If you believe something on MatesWin is inaccurate, outdated, misleading, or harmful, please tell us via the livechat on our home page. A real person reads every report, and we treat editorial feedback with the same priority as a technical bug.

See also: Methodology · About MatesWin · Affiliate Disclosure · Responsible Gambling