TAB Pays $2.7m Penalty for Telemarketing and Spam Breaches
Tabcorp has paid more than $2.7 million in penalties after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that its TAB wagering business repeatedly broke telemarketing and spam laws. The ACMA announced the outcome on 22 July 2026. It is the second time the regulator has penalised TAB under the spam rules.
The telemarketing breaches
The ACMA examined TAB’s calls to VIP customers between February 2024 and June 2025 and found:
- 351 telemarketing calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register without the consent the law requires;
- 82 calls made outside the hours when telemarketing calls are permitted;
- nearly 4,000 calls in which the caller did not properly identify Tabcorp as the business calling or state the purpose of the call.
Under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 and the telemarketing standard, a business must have consent before calling a registered number, must call only within set hours and must identify itself at the start of the call.
The spam breach
Separately, TAB self-reported in 2025 that it had sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages over 16 days to customers who had unsubscribed from those channels. The Spam Act 2003 requires consent before commercial messages are sent and a working unsubscribe option in each message.
In setting the penalty, the ACMA took into account that TAB reported the problem itself, that it lasted 16 days, and that the recipients had withdrawn consent for a particular channel rather than opting out of all TAB marketing.
The undertaking
TAB has also given a court-enforceable undertaking. It must commission an independent review of its telemarketing systems, carry out the improvements the review identifies and report regularly to the ACMA on its compliance. If it does not comply, the ACMA can apply to the Federal Court.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke called the conduct unacceptable, pointing to the risks of gambling marketing and Tabcorp’s previous compliance record. She said people who join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from messages have made a clear choice that businesses must respect, particularly when gambling marketing can lead to financial loss and psychological harm.
Tabcorp’s compliance record
This is the second spam action against TAB. The earlier penalty, of more than $4 million, concerned SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to VIP customers in 2024 without an unsubscribe option or adequate sender details. In January 2026 Tabcorp also paid $112,680 and gave an undertaking after the ACMA found BetStop self-exclusion breaches during 2024. Across all industries, the ACMA says businesses have paid more than $12 million in spam and telemarketing penalties over the past 18 months.
The New Daily noted that the federal government’s proposed gambling reforms, then before Parliament, do not include changes to telemarketing or spam rules for wagering companies. Those reforms focus on advertising on TV, radio and online, and on inducements.
What you can do
If you no longer want calls or messages from a bookmaker, you can unsubscribe from each channel, list your number on the Do Not Call Register and, if you want to stop betting altogether, register with BetStop, which requires licensed providers to stop all marketing to you. Complaints about unwanted calls or messages can be made to the ACMA. Our guides to BetStop, filing a gambling complaint, blocking software and bank blocks and gambling help services explain the options.
Tabcorp paid more than $2.7 million in penalties and gave the ACMA a court-enforceable undertaking covering its telemarketing systems.
Between February 2024 and June 2025 it made 351 calls to Do Not Call Register numbers without consent, 82 calls outside permitted hours and nearly 4,000 calls without proper identification. It also sent more than 217,000 messages to customers who had unsubscribed.
No. It is the second spam action against TAB, after a penalty of more than $4 million over messages sent to VIP customers in 2024.
Sources
- ACMA: TAB pays $2.7m for telemarketing and spam breaches (22 July 2026)
- iGaming Business: Tabcorp fined $2.7 million for telemarketing and spam law breaches (22 July 2026)
- World Casino Directory: Tabcorp pays $2.7m after spam and telemarketing breaches (22 July 2026)
- The New Daily: TAB fined over telemarketing and spam breaches (22 July 2026)
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