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Dabble Pays $1.07m Penalty Over BetStop Self-Exclusion Breaches

Ethan ClarkeBy , Regulation and Responsible Gambling Editor
Published

Dabble Sports Pty Ltd has paid $1,069,200 in penalties after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that the wagering company breached the rules of BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register. The ACMA announced the outcome in mid-September 2026. Dabble has also given a two-year court-enforceable undertaking.

What the ACMA found

The investigation began on 2 July 2025, after the ACMA received consumer complaints that Dabble had sent marketing to people registered with BetStop. The final findings covered three separate failures:

  • **Accounts left open:** Dabble did not close 157 wagering accounts after the account holders registered with BetStop. Under the rules, a provider must close a registrant’s account as soon as practicable.
  • **Marketing to self-excluded people:** the company sent 839 electronic messages, by SMS, email and app push notification, to 165 people registered with BetStop.
  • **Missing BetStop information:** it sent 45 customers more than 2,000 push notifications that did not include the BetStop information required in marketing messages.

iGaming Business, citing the ACMA’s findings, reported that some accounts remained non-compliant for up to 200 days.

During the investigation Dabble self-reported a configuration error in one marketing campaign, which it described to the regulator as a “one-off human error”. The ACMA’s findings went beyond that campaign to cover the account closures and the BetStop promotion failures.

The undertaking

Under the two-year undertaking, Dabble must commission an independent review of its compliance systems and processes and invest in the improvements the review recommends. If the company does not comply, the ACMA can seek orders from the Federal Court. ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood described the breaches as serious and said wagering providers need systems that protect people who choose to self-exclude.

How it compares

At just over $1 million, the Dabble penalty is in the same range as the $1,014,120 that Unibet paid in 2025 after failing to close the accounts of 954 BetStop registrants. Other recent BetStop matters include:

  • Entain’s Ladbrokes and Neds brands entered an 18-month undertaking in May 2026 after more than 500 breaches;
  • Tabcorp paid $112,680 in January 2026 for breaches during 2024.

BetStop numbers

BetStop launched in August 2023 and lets a person exclude themselves from every licensed Australian online and phone wagering provider with one registration. The ACMA reported 65,430 registrations by 30 June 2026, with 40,160 exclusions active. A month later the total passed 67,000; our article on BetStop’s third year has the figures.

From 1 January 2027, the reform package passed in August 2026 strengthens BetStop and substantially increases penalties for breaches of the self-exclusion rules.

What it means for registrants

The legal duty sits with the bookmaker, not with the person who registered. If a licensed provider keeps your account open, accepts a bet or sends you promotions after you join BetStop, you can report it to the ACMA. Our BetStop guide explains how registration works, and our complaints guide covers how to raise a problem with a licensed operator. Support services are listed on our help services page.

Dabble Sports paid $1,069,200 in penalties and gave the ACMA a two-year court-enforceable undertaking.

It failed to close 157 accounts held by BetStop registrants, sent 839 marketing messages to 165 self-excluded people and sent more than 2,000 push notifications without the required BetStop information.

The ACMA opened it on 2 July 2025 after consumer complaints that Dabble had sent marketing to people registered with BetStop.

Sources

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