Tabcorp Holdings Limited, a major player in Australia’s wagering and media landscape, has been fined over AU$2.7 million by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for breaching telemarketing and spam regulations. The penalty, announced on Wednesday, stems from violations occurring between February 2024 and June 2025. These breaches highlight ongoing regulatory challenges within the gambling sector, where compliance with communication laws is crucial for maintaining consumer trust.
The ACMA’s investigation uncovered that Tabcorp made 351 illegal telemarketing calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register without obtaining necessary consent. Additionally, the company conducted 82 calls outside legally permissible hours and failed to properly identify itself or clarify the call’s purpose in nearly 4,000 instances. The situation worsened following Tabcorp’s admission in 2025 of sending over 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages over 16 days to recipients who had opted out of such communications. This volume of messages violated Australia’s Spam Act 2003, which mandates that businesses secure consent before sending marketing communications and include a functional unsubscribe mechanism.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke criticized Tabcorp’s actions as “unacceptable,” particularly due to the associated risks of gambling advertising and the company’s past compliance issues. Yorke underscored the necessity of honoring consumer preferences, emphasizing, “When individuals join the Do Not Call register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice. Those choices must be respected, especially given the heightened risks of financial loss and psychological harm from gambling marketing.”
This penalty follows a previous enforcement action by ACMA against Tabcorp in 2025, where the company was fined over AU$4 million for similar breaches involving non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers. The prior investigation revealed that Tabcorp sent 2,598 messages without an unsubscribe option and another 3,148 messages lacking adequate sender information. Moreover, 11 SMS messages were dispatched without consent within a designated period.
In determining the latest penalty, ACMA considered Tabcorp’s voluntary self-reporting and acknowledged that the unsolicited messages were limited to customers who had specifically opted out of certain marketing channels rather than all marketing. Alongside the financial penalty, Tabcorp has committed to a court-enforceable undertaking to commission an independent review of its telemarketing practices and rectify compliance shortcomings.
The broader industry context reveals that businesses have collectively paid over AU$12 million in penalties for spam and telemarketing violations over the last 18 months, highlighting a significant regulatory focus on consumer protection in communications. Earlier this year, ACMA penalized Tabcorp with an AU$112,680 fine for breaching self-exclusion rules, further emphasizing the regulatory scrutiny faced by the gambling sector.
The next steps involve Tabcorp implementing corrective measures as per the ACMA’s requirements and ensuring future adherence to communication laws to mitigate further regulatory risks. This case serves as a reminder to operators about the importance of compliance in safeguarding consumer rights and maintaining market integrity in Australia’s regulated gambling environment.
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