Australia’s wagering operator, Tabcorp Holdings Limited (TAB), has been fined more than A$2.7 million ($1.9 million) after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found breaches of spam and telemarketing laws linked to its VIP customer programme.
According to the ACMA, the breaches occurred between February 2024 and June 2025. During that period, TAB made 351 telemarketing calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent, 82 calls outside permitted hours, and nearly 4,000 calls that did not properly identify the caller or the purpose of the call.
In comments to NewsWire, a Tabcorp spokesperson said the company accepted ACMA’s findings and pointed to reforms introduced under its current leadership. “We’re committed to being a compliant company and commenced a whole business transformation under new leadership at the end of 2024,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that Tabcorp had cooperated with the regulator throughout the investigation and would continue working closely with regulators as the transformation programme progresses.
ACMA also investigated TAB after the company self-reported that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages over a 16-day period in 2025 to customers who had unsubscribed from specific marketing channels.
ACMA Authority Member Samantha Yorke said consumers’ marketing preferences must be respected, particularly in the gambling sector. “When people 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.”
Yorke said the breaches indicated shortcomings in the company’s compliance processes. “The scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB’s compliance systems.”
Latest action follows previous TAB penalties
ACMA’s latest enforcement action follows another penalty issued to TAB in June 2025. At the time, the regulator fined Tabcorp A$4 million ($2.8 million) after finding it had sent more than 5,700 non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers. The investigation found thousands of messages lacked unsubscribe options or clear sender identification.
Earlier this year, the ACMA also fined TAB A$158,000 ($111,000) after discovering the operator had accepted 426 prohibited online in-play bets on tennis matches between February 2024 and June 2025. The regulator found the issue continued for more than a year before it was identified and corrected. However, in February, ACMA ruled that TAB’s Tap in-play betting product complied with an exemption under Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
Regulatory pressure continues
In May, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) launched an investigation into Tabcorp’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls after identifying what it described as “serious concerns” about its risk management framework.
Following the announcement, Tabcorp shares fell more than 28 per cent in a single trading session, wiping more than A$700 million ($490 million) from the company’s market value. Tabcorp operates betting services through around 4,000 pubs, clubs and TAB venues across Australia.
Independent review required
Alongside the financial penalties, the ACMA has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking requiring TAB to conduct an independent review of its telemarketing systems and compliance controls. The company must implement any required improvements and provide regular compliance reports to the regulator.
The undertaking is in addition to a separate enforceable commitment already in place following the company’s previous spam-law breaches. According to the ACMA, businesses have paid more than A$12 million ($8.4 million) in penalties for spam and telemarketing breaches over the past 18 months.
Under Australian law, businesses must not contact numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent, can only make telemarketing calls during permitted hours, must clearly identify themselves, and cannot send marketing messages to people who have unsubscribed.
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