Darwin, Australia – The Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission (NTWRC) has fined Sportsbet A$312,140 for breaching its license obligations after failing to provide required activity statements to thousands of customers over an 18‑month period.
Breach Details
Between July 2022 and May 2024, Sportsbet failed to issue more than 50,000 activity statements, contravening Condition 16 of its license and the 2019 Responsible Service of Online Gambling Code.
- The breach was self-reported in September 2024.
- NTWRC treated the failures across 18 separate months as 18 contraventions.
- The fine equated to 102 penalty units, reduced by 40% from the maximum penalty.
- A$115,668 applied to the seven months in FY2022/23
- A$197,472 applied to the 11 months in FY2023/24
Technical Failures Reported
Sportsbet attributed the issue to email delivery problems affecting 6,131 accounts:
- Activity statements sent to outdated email addresses
- Bounce-back emails quarantined by internal systems
As a result:
- 3,021 customers missed 13 or more statements
- 1,294 customers missed 7–12 statements
- 1,378 customers missed 2–6 statements
- 438 customers missed one statement
Investigation and Outcome
The NTWRC Director of Racing and Wagering completed an investigation in December 2024 before seeking Sportsbet’s response. While the failures could have been treated as 50,000+ individual contraventions, the Commission applied the principle of proportionality, ruling that each month of breaches constituted a single offense.
“The Commission, with the principle of proportionality in mind, has determined to treat each individual contravention of the 2019 Code that occurred in the same month as one contravention,” the ruling stated.
