)
Gambling giant Tabcorp Holdings (ASX: TAH) has been slapped with more than $2.7 million in penalties by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for multiple breaches of spam and telemarketing laws, including sending more than 217,000 marketing messages to customers who had already unsubscribed.
The penalty covers a string of contraventions between February 2024 and June 2025, during which TAB made 351 calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register, placed 82 telemarketing calls outside permitted hours, made nearly 4,000 calls without proper caller identification, and sent the mass of unwanted emails and SMS messages over a 16-day period.
It marks the second time the ACMA has taken spam enforcement action against the wagering operator after it was fined $4 million in 2024 for sending non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke says the scale of the breaches point to deep-rooted compliance failures at the company.
“When people join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice,” says Yorke.
“Those choices must be respected, especially given the heightened risks of financial loss and psychological harm from gambling marketing.
“The scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB’s compliance systems. The ACMA expects TAB to fix these issues, and we will be watching closely to ensure it meets its obligations.”
The latest action adds to a growing tally of regulatory trouble for Tabcorp.
In February this year, the company paid a $158,400 penalty for accepting 426 illegal online in-play bets across 32 tennis matches, a contravention of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood said at the time that the in-play betting breach was Tabcorp's third since 2021.
The ACMA has ramped up enforcement activity across the telecommunications and digital marketing space more broadly.
Businesses have paid more than $12 million in spam and telemarketing penalties over the past 18 months, with recent actions including a $3.96 million penalty against Latitude Finance in April and a $702,900 penalty against athleisure retailer Lululemon in March.
In determining the latest spam penalty against Tabcorp, the ACMA took into account that the conduct was self-reported and involved customers who had withdrawn their consent to receiving marketing via a specific channel, but had not opted out of all marketing.
)
