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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has hit out at six licensed operators for falling foul of self-exclusion rules in the country.
Investigations from ACMA found Tabcorp, LightningBet, Betfocus, TempleBet, Picklebet and BetChamps all breached rules. These measures related to protecting people registered with BetStop, the national self-exclusion register in Australian.
ACMA said breaches included allowing self-excluded consumers to open accounts, to access betting services and to receive marketing materials. All contraventions were found to have occurred in 2024.
Operators failed to protect players in Australia
Summing up its findings, ACMA said failures were identified across the underlying systems and processes of each operator. It said these measures failed to “adequately identify and protect people” who had self-excluded.
As such, it used several different enforcement tools available under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to penalise the operators.
Tabcorp was one of the hardest hit and was handed a penalty of AU$112,680 (US$79,240). It must also enter a court-enforceable undertaking requiring it to commission a third-party review of its customer verification processes and train staff on obligations around BetStop.
Meanwhile, certain remedial directions were issued to Betfocus, LightningBet and TempleBet. The three operators must commission an independent audit of their systems and implement any recommendations given. Failure to comply would be deemed an offence and could result in civil penalties.
BetChamps was given a formal warning while ACMA is still in the process of finalising its enforcement action for Picklebet.
Incidentally, should any of the six operators fail to comply with self-exclusion rules in the future, ACMA could seek stronger enforcement action including Federal Court proceedings to issue civil penalties.
ACMA blasts licensees for breaking trust
ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood said the flagged breaches undermined the protections from gambling harm that self-exclusion offers.
“The national self-exclusion register is designed to help people who are trying to avoid gambling services and stop gambling, but self-exclusion only works if wagering providers follow the rules,” Lidgerwood said. “These rules have been in place for more than two years and wagering providers should be taking their responsibilities seriously.
“When people decide to self-exclude from online and telephone gambling, they trust the system to protect them from gambling harm. These investigations have found that these companies broke that trust and let people down.
“All licensed wagering providers need to be aware ACMA is investigating compliance and enforcing the rules. Gambling companies must have effective systems in place to ensure self-excluded people cannot gamble with them.”
Another penalty for Tabcorp
Tabcorp was the only one of the six operators to be handed a penalty. However, it was not the first time it had been penalised financially for breaching regulations.
In June last year, ACMA ordered Tabcorp to pay AU$4 million (US$2.8 million) for breaking spam laws by sending over 5,700 marketing messages to customers of its VIP programme. Tabcorp was also fined $262,920 in November 2024 for breaking rules on in-play betting.
Further back, was issued a record AU$4.6 million fine for a series of failures in the state of Victoria.
