TAB Fined AU$2.7 Million by ACMA for Spam and Telemarketing Breaches

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has fined TAB, the wagering business owned by Tabcorp, AU$2.7 million (about US$1.9 million) after finding thousands of telemarketing and spam law breaches between February 2024 and June 2025. The regulator identified unlawful calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register, calls made outside permitted hours, calls placed without proper caller identification, and a mass email and text campaign sent to customers who had already unsubscribed.

Updated July 2026.

• AU$2.7 million penalty issued by ACMA, covering breaches from February 2024 to June 2025.
• Over 217,000 marketing emails and texts sent in a single 16 day period in 2025 to customers who had unsubscribed from those channels.
• Nearly 4,000 telemarketing calls made without proper caller identification or disclosure of purpose, on top of 351 calls to Do Not Call Register numbers and 82 calls outside permitted hours.

What exactly did ACMA find TAB did wrong

ACMA's investigation covered a 16 month window from February 2024 to June 2025 and identified four distinct categories of breach. TAB made 351 telemarketing calls to numbers registered on the Do Not Call Register without the required consent, made 82 calls outside the hours permitted for telemarketing, and made nearly 4,000 calls without properly identifying itself or the purpose of the call as required under telemarketing rules. Separately, ACMA found TAB sent more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS messages during a 16 day period in 2025 to customers who had specifically unsubscribed from those marketing channels.

How much was the fine and what law did TAB breach

The AU$2.7 million penalty relates to breaches of Australia's Do Not Call Register Act and telemarketing industry standards, alongside the Spam Act's requirements that businesses honor unsubscribe requests. ACMA member Samantha Yorke said the scale of the failures pointed to deeper problems inside the company: "The scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB's compliance systems."

Why does the Do Not Call Register matter here

The Do Not Call Register lets Australian residents formally opt out of unsolicited telemarketing calls, and businesses that call listed numbers without consent are in breach of the Do Not Call Register Act, which ACMA enforces. Yorke framed the case around consumer choice directly: "When people join the Do Not Call Register or unsubscribe from marketing messages, they are making a clear choice. Those choices must be respected."

"The scale and range of these breaches point to serious weaknesses in TAB's compliance systems." - Samantha Yorke, ACMA member

How did Tabcorp respond to the fine

Tabcorp acknowledged the findings rather than disputing them, saying: "We're committed to being a compliant company and commenced a whole of business transformation under new leadership at the end of 2024." The company's framing points to a leadership change at the end of 2024 as the moment it began addressing the underlying compliance failures ACMA identified, though the breach period examined by the regulator runs through June 2025, well into that stated transformation window.

Has TAB or Tabcorp been fined before

Yes, and repeatedly. ACMA issued Tabcorp a penalty of more than AU$4 million in 2024 over non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to VIP customers, a court enforceable undertaking that also ran for three years. Tabcorp has also picked up additional 2026 penalties exceeding AU$250,000 combined over illegal betting offers and breaches of self-exclusion rules, separate from the telemarketing case. Taken together, the pattern shows a company facing recurring compliance enforcement across multiple different rule sets rather than a single isolated incident.

TAB and Tabcorp ACMA penalties, 2024 to 2026

Year	Penalty	Issue
2024	More than AU$4 million	Non-compliant SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers
2026	AU$2.7 million	Do Not Call Register breaches, telemarketing rule breaches, unsubscribed marketing emails and texts
2026	More than AU$250,000 combined	Illegal betting offers and self-exclusion rule breaches

What compliance changes has ACMA ordered

Beyond the financial penalty, ACMA has imposed a court enforceable undertaking that requires TAB to commission an independent review of its telemarketing systems, implement improvements identified by that review, and provide ACMA with regular compliance reports. That structure mirrors the approach ACMA took with Tabcorp's 2024 penalty, suggesting the regulator sees ongoing monitoring, not just a one-time fine, as necessary given the company's repeat enforcement history.

How does this fit into wider Australian gambling marketing scrutiny

ACMA has increasingly focused on how Australian wagering operators handle customer contact and self-exclusion obligations, an enforcement priority that runs alongside separate scrutiny of gambling advertising volume and content in Australia. The regulator's own reporting has flagged multiple wagering providers over breaches of gambling self-exclusion rules in 2026, indicating TAB's telemarketing case sits within a broader compliance crackdown on the sector rather than a one-off action against a single operator.

How does this compare with fines in other regulated markets

Regulators outside Australia have handed down comparable enforcement actions against gambling operators this year. In the UK, a similar UK penalty against Evolution saw the UK Gambling Commission fine the supplier £4.75 million over unlicensed operator supply, illustrating that regulators across major regulated markets are treating operator and supplier compliance failures, whether marketing related or licensing related, as warranting significant financial penalties rather than warnings alone.

What does this mean for TAB customers going forward

For TAB customers, the enforceable undertaking means the company is now under a formal, monitored obligation to fix the systems that allowed unsolicited calls and messages to reach people who had opted out, with ACMA tracking compliance through regular reporting rather than relying on TAB's own assurances alone. Customers who continue to receive unwanted marketing contact from TAB can still lodge complaints with ACMA, which retains authority to pursue further enforcement if the pattern of breaches recurs.

What happens if TAB breaches these rules again

Given Tabcorp's now repeated enforcement history, a further breach during the court enforceable undertaking period would likely expose the company to escalated penalties, since ACMA has shown a pattern of issuing progressively documented undertakings rather than one-off fines when the same type of non-compliance recurs.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns TAB in Australia?

TAB is the wagering and totalisator business owned by Tabcorp, one of Australia's largest gambling operators, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

What time period did ACMA's investigation cover?

ACMA's investigation covered breaches occurring between February 2024 and June 2025, a period of roughly 16 months.

Did TAB dispute ACMA's findings?

No. Tabcorp's public response acknowledged the findings and pointed to a business transformation launched under new leadership at the end of 2024 as its response to compliance concerns.

Is this the largest fine ACMA has issued to a gambling operator?

No. It is smaller than the more than AU$4 million penalty ACMA issued to Tabcorp in 2024 for separate SMS and WhatsApp marketing breaches, though it adds to a growing total of enforcement action against the company.