If you've ever unsubscribed from betting emails only to keep getting them, this one will feel familiar. One of Australia's biggest bookmakers just got fined for exactly that kind of behaviour.
What Tabcorp did
Tabcorp has paid more than A$2.7m (€1.7m) in penalties after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) flagged multiple breaches of the country's spam and telemarketing laws, according to a report from Next.io.
The numbers are specific. Between February 2024 and June 2025, Tabcorp made 351 telemarketing calls to VIP customers listed on the Do Not Call Register without consent. It also made 82 calls outside permitted hours and almost 4,000 calls without identifying itself or the purpose of the call.
On top of that, TAB self-reported in 2025 that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS during a 16-day period to users who had already unsubscribed from specific marketing channels.
Why the rules exist
Under Australian law, businesses must not contact numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent. They also have to call only during permitted hours, identify themselves, and stop sending marketing to people who have opted out.
ACMA said it factored in some mitigating points: Tabcorp self-reported the failures, the breaches occurred during a set period, and the affected customers had only withdrawn consent from certain channels rather than all marketing. Even so, the regulator decided a financial penalty was warranted.
There's also a longer-term string attached. ACMA accepted a court-enforceable undertaking that requires TAB to run an independent review of its telemarketing systems, put improvements in place, and hand over regular compliance reports.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke didn't hold back. "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." She added that the scale of the breaches pointed to "serious weaknesses in TAB's compliance systems," and that the regulator would be "watching closely."
Not the first time
This is the second time in just over a year that Tabcorp has run into Australian marketing law. Last June, ACMA hit the operator with A$4m in penalties after it broke spam laws with marketing sent to VIP customers.
In that earlier case, TAB self-reported too, admitting it had sent 2,598 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP programme members with no unsubscribe option. Another 3,148 messages lacked proper sender identification, and 11 went out with no consent at all.
The wider picture: Australian businesses have paid more than A$12m in penalties for spam and telemarketing breaches over the past 18 months, so Tabcorp is far from alone in getting caught out.
What it means for bettors
There's no direct betting-market angle here, but for punters it's a reminder that the Do Not Call Register and unsubscribe buttons carry legal weight. If you tick out of marketing and the messages keep coming, the operator is on the wrong side of the rules, not you.
For Tabcorp specifically, a second regulatory hit in a year plus a court-enforceable undertaking means the company is under closer scrutiny than most on how it handles customer contact. Whether that translates into fewer unwanted texts for its users is something the compliance reports will have to prove.
Sources:
We'll fold any fallout from this into the Australian casino sites thread as it develops.
What Tabcorp did
Tabcorp has paid more than A$2.7m (€1.7m) in penalties after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) flagged multiple breaches of the country's spam and telemarketing laws, according to a report from Next.io.
The numbers are specific. Between February 2024 and June 2025, Tabcorp made 351 telemarketing calls to VIP customers listed on the Do Not Call Register without consent. It also made 82 calls outside permitted hours and almost 4,000 calls without identifying itself or the purpose of the call.
On top of that, TAB self-reported in 2025 that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS during a 16-day period to users who had already unsubscribed from specific marketing channels.
Why the rules exist
Under Australian law, businesses must not contact numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent. They also have to call only during permitted hours, identify themselves, and stop sending marketing to people who have opted out.
ACMA said it factored in some mitigating points: Tabcorp self-reported the failures, the breaches occurred during a set period, and the affected customers had only withdrawn consent from certain channels rather than all marketing. Even so, the regulator decided a financial penalty was warranted.
There's also a longer-term string attached. ACMA accepted a court-enforceable undertaking that requires TAB to run an independent review of its telemarketing systems, put improvements in place, and hand over regular compliance reports.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke didn't hold back. "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." She added that the scale of the breaches pointed to "serious weaknesses in TAB's compliance systems," and that the regulator would be "watching closely."
Not the first time
This is the second time in just over a year that Tabcorp has run into Australian marketing law. Last June, ACMA hit the operator with A$4m in penalties after it broke spam laws with marketing sent to VIP customers.
In that earlier case, TAB self-reported too, admitting it had sent 2,598 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP programme members with no unsubscribe option. Another 3,148 messages lacked proper sender identification, and 11 went out with no consent at all.
The wider picture: Australian businesses have paid more than A$12m in penalties for spam and telemarketing breaches over the past 18 months, so Tabcorp is far from alone in getting caught out.
What it means for bettors
There's no direct betting-market angle here, but for punters it's a reminder that the Do Not Call Register and unsubscribe buttons carry legal weight. If you tick out of marketing and the messages keep coming, the operator is on the wrong side of the rules, not you.
For Tabcorp specifically, a second regulatory hit in a year plus a court-enforceable undertaking means the company is under closer scrutiny than most on how it handles customer contact. Whether that translates into fewer unwanted texts for its users is something the compliance reports will have to prove.
Sources:
We'll fold any fallout from this into the Australian casino sites thread as it develops.