Tabcorp Fined $2.7 Million by ACMA for Spam and Telemarketing Violations

Tabcorp Holdings has been ordered to pay more than $2.7 million in penalties after the Australian Communications and Media Authority uncovered widespread breaches of spam and telemarketing regulations.

Details of the Breaches

An ACMA investigation spanning February 2024 to June 2025 revealed that TAB’s telemarketing campaign targeted VIP customers with numerous illegal calls. Specifically, the regulator found 351 calls were made to numbers registered on the Do Not Call Register without obtaining prior consent, 82 calls were placed outside permitted hours, and nearly 4,000 calls failed to properly identify the caller or the marketing purpose of the communication.

In a separate self-reported incident in 2025, TAB disclosed that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages over a 16-day period to customers who had unsubscribed from specific promotional channels.

ACMA’s Stance and Company Response

ACMA member Samantha Yorke criticized the company’s conduct, stating: “When people join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice.” She added that given the heightened risks of financial loss and psychological harm from gambling marketing, “those choices must be respected.” Yorke also noted that “the scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB’s compliance systems” and that the ACMA expects TAB to rectify these issues.

This marks the ACMA’s second enforcement action against TAB in recent years. In 2024, the company received a penalty exceeding $4 million for sending non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers. In determining the latest fine, the ACMA considered that the conduct was self-reported, limited to a 16-day period, and involved customers who had withdrawn consent only from specific channels rather than all marketing.

In addition to the financial penalty, TAB has entered into a court-enforceable undertaking requiring an independent review of its telemarketing systems, implementation of improvements, and regular compliance reports. This undertaking operates alongside a separate spam-related undertaking already in force from the previous enforcement action.

Broader Enforcement Trends

Across the past 18 months, Australian businesses have collectively paid more than $12 million in penalties for spam and telemarketing breaches. Under Australian law, companies must not contact Do Not Register numbers without consent, restrict calls to permitted hours, clearly identify themselves, and refrain from sending marketing messages to individuals who have unsubscribed.