SYDNEY – Tabcorp Holdings Limited has paid more than $2.7 million in penalties after Australia’s communications regulator found the gambling company committed multiple breaches of federal spam and telemarketing laws.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said that between February 2024 and June 2025, Tabcorp made hundreds of unlawful telemarketing calls to VIP customers, including 351 calls to numbers listed on the national Do Not Call Register without consent, 82 calls outside permitted hours, and nearly 4,000 calls in which the company failed to properly identify itself or the purpose of the call.
The regulator also acted on Tabcorp’s 2025 self‑report that it sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and text messages over a 16‑day period to customers who had unsubscribed from specific marketing channels.
ACMA authority member Samantha Yorke said the conduct was particularly concerning given the risks associated with gambling advertising and Tabcorp’s recent compliance history.
“When people join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice,” Yorke said. “Those choices must be respected — especially given the heightened risks of financial loss and psychological harm from gambling marketing.”
Yorke said the scale of the violations showed “serious weaknesses” in Tabcorp’s compliance systems and warned the regulator would closely monitor the company’s efforts to meet its obligations.
This marks ACMA’s second enforcement action against Tabcorp in two years. The company was fined more than $4 million in 2024 for sending non‑compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers.
In determining the latest penalty, ACMA said it considered that Tabcorp self‑reported the conduct, that the breaches occurred over a limited period, and that the affected customers had withdrawn consent only for specific marketing channels rather than all communications.
Alongside the financial penalty, ACMA accepted a court‑enforceable undertaking requiring Tabcorp to undergo an independent review of its telemarketing systems, implement improvements, and provide regular compliance reports. A separate spam‑related undertaking from the previous enforcement action remains in effect.
Businesses have paid more than $12 million in penalties for spam and telemarketing violations over the past 18 months. Australian law prohibits contacting numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent, restricts calling hours, requires clear caller identification, and bans sending marketing messages to people who have unsubscribed.
