An investigation found that the wagering and gaming products and services provider sent 2,598 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers between 1 February and 1 May 2024 without providing an option to unsubscribe from the messages.
ACMA added that it also found 3,148 SMS and WhatsApp messages that did not contain adequate sender information across the same period, and 11 SMS messages that were sent without consent between 15 February and 29 April 2024.
“This is the first time the ACMA has investigated
and found spam breaches in a gambling VIP program. These programs often involve personalised messages offering incentives such as bonus bets, deposit matching, rebates and offers of tickets to sporting and other events,” says ACMA member Samantha Yorke.
“The gambling industry hungary telemarketing database needs to understand that spam laws apply to all direct marketing – whether it’s generic campaigns or personalised messages.
“It is utterly unacceptable that TAB did not have adequate spam compliance systems in place.”
Australia’s spam laws
Under the Spam Act 2003, enforced by ACMA, businesses must adhere to several guidelines when sending commercial electronic messages including emails, SMS and instant messages.
These include ensuring current and verifiable consent to receive messages; clear identification of the sender with accurate contact information; a functional and easy-to-use unsubscribe option; a prohibition on the use of address-harvesting software; and making sure that they do not contain misleading content including deceptive subject lines.
“When people make choices to unsubscribe from a service they must be able to do so easily and their decisions must be respected by companies,” Yorke noted in reference to the thousands of SMS and WhatsApp messages Tabcorp sent which did not include an unsubscribe option.
As part of the remedial measures, Tabcorp has also entered into a three-year court-enforceable undertaking. It includes an independent review of its direct marketing systems, making improvements, running quarterly audits of its VIP direct marketing, training staff and reporting to the ACMA regularly.
ACMA said that its current compliance priorities
are centred around gambling safeguards and spam rules. Over the last 18 months, businesses have been penalised over $16.9 million for spam breaches.
In May last year, Pizza Hut Australia was fined just over $2.5 million by ACMA for sending more than 10 million marketing messages in breach of Australian spam laws across a four-month period.
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The national, not-for-profit industry association, Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), has announced its inaugural Sound-Byte conference.
The Sydney event will be held at ARN’s North Sydney office on Thursday 26 June and feature a lineup of prominent voices in Australia’s radio and podcasting industries. A Melbourne version of the event is also expected to be announced shortly.
Sound-Byte is being positioned as an expert-led deep dive framed around the question: ‘Are your media plans in tune with Australia’s growing affection for audio?’.
Significant figures from the audio industry will attend, including ARN, Southern Cross Austereo, Nova Entertainment, Nine, Mamamia, News Australia and audio measurement company GfK.
An opportunity for growth
Along with sessions featuring a number of experts in the audio industry, Sound-Byte will host a keynote presentation from award-winning radio voices and KIIS Breakfast hosts, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.
IMAA CEO Sam Buchanan says Sound-Byte will bring together the leaders and innovators of Australia’s audio industry to share their expertise, insights and experience within the growing national audio landscape.
“The audio sector is experiencing strong growth, particularly from digital radio and podcasting, with the latest Guideline SMI data for April showing ad revenue growth of almost 13 percent, its second biggest increase since the COVID pandemic,” Buchanan says.