ACMA Hits Tabcorp With $2.7m Fine for Breaching Telemarketing Rules
Tabcorp has been ordered to pay more than $2.7 million after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) uncovered widespread breaches of telemarketing and spam laws.
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The regulator found that between February 2024 and June 2025, the company targeted VIP customers with calls that broke multiple rules. Investigators reported 351 calls made to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register without consent, 82 calls placed outside permitted hours, and close to 4,000 calls where the caller or the purpose of the call was not properly identified.
The breaches extended beyond phone calls. In 2025, Tabcorp admitted that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages over a 16‑day period to customers who had already unsubscribed from certain marketing channels.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke described the conduct as unacceptable, stressing the risks tied to gambling advertising and the company’s recent compliance record.
“When people join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice,” she said. “Those choices must be respected, especially given the heightened risks of financial loss and psychological harm from gambling marketing.”
Tabcorp a repeat offender
This latest penalty is not the first time Tabcorp has faced action from the communications regulator. In 2024, the company was fined more than $4 million for sending non‑compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers.
The ACMA noted that history when deciding on the new $2.7 million penalty.
In assessing the case, the authority considered that the breaches were self‑reported, limited to a 16‑day period, and involved customers who had withdrawn consent for marketing through specific channels but had not opted out of all forms of communication.
Even with those factors, the regulator stressed that the conduct still represented a serious failure to respect customer choices.
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Alongside the financial penalty, Tabcorp has entered into a court‑enforceable undertaking. The company must carry out an independent review of its telemarketing systems, introduce improvements, and provide regular compliance reports.
This new obligation sits on top of a separate undertaking already in place from the earlier enforcement action.
“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,” Yorke added.
Another busy year for the ACMA
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has kept up a steady pace of enforcement throughout 2026, with gambling advertising and compliance breaches drawing repeated attention.
In February, the regulator ruled Tabcorp’s Tap In‑Play betting service legal, while also approving a new in‑play wagering system. Just days later, it escalated its crackdown by removing 41 gambling domains from Google search results.
The momentum continued into March, when ACMA blocked eight operators and issued a warning to Winners Bookmaking over serious failures linked to BetStop compliance. Last month, the regulator found that SBS had broken gambling ad limits during its Tour de France coverage, while MMA fighter Jamie Mullarkey was warned two weeks ago over illegal gambling posts.
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