Betfair has paid a £424,000 fine in Australia for sending commercial messages to VIP customers without proper consent, according to a report by Gambling Industry News. The matter was investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) under the country's spam laws. The amount is reported in pounds in the source; it does not say what the figure is in Australian dollars.
What ACMA found
According to the report, ACMA found that Betfair sent 148 emails and text messages between March and December 2024 to customers who either had not subscribed or had actively opted out. A further six messages sent during that period did not include an option to unsubscribe.
The messages were directed at members of a Betfair VIP program. The report says the offers included deposits for accounts and free tickets to events. The source describes Betfair as an online casino, poker and sports betting operator. It does not specify which products the messages promoted. Online casino-style services are prohibited for Australian customers under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
ACMA deemed the conduct non-compliant and irresponsible.
The regulator's position
Announcing the outcome, ACMA Authority Member Samantha Yorke said VIP programs are generally designed to attract and retain customers with high betting activity. She said that does not mean those customers are well off or can afford losses.
"Sending promotional gambling messages to these customers without consent or with no option to opt-out is incredibly irresponsible in addition to being non-compliant." — ACMA Authority Member Samantha Yorke
Yorke also said the spam laws have been in place for more than twenty years and that it is "simply unacceptable" for businesses not to respect customers' rights. She described the case as the second recent ACMA enforcement action concerning VIP customers in the gambling sector and said providers are "on notice" that they need their compliance systems in order.
Undertaking and wider enforcement
Alongside the fine, Betfair has entered a two-year court-enforceable undertaking. The report says it requires the company to fund an independent review of its direct marketing operation, improve staff training and agree to quarterly audits. It must also report findings regularly to ACMA. The source does not say whether Betfair has publicly responded, and no company statement is included in the material provided.
The report places the case in a wider pattern. It says ACMA has confiscated just over £8 million in penalties for spam-law breaches over the past 18 months. In June, Tabcorp Holdings Limited (TAB) was fined around £2 million over promotional content for VIP gambling. According to the report, between February and May 2025 TAB sent 5,700 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP member accounts without consent, proper sender identification or unsubscribe links.
The report gives the following figures for the TAB investigation: 2,598 messages were sent without any opt-out facility, 3,148 lacked the required standard of sender identification, and 11 were sent without prior consent.
What the law requires
Under the Spam Act 2003, all marketing communications must be sent with the recipient's consent. They must also carry clear sender information and a fully functional, clearly marked unsubscribe option. The Betfair findings concern consent and unsubscribe failures, which fall within those requirements.
For consumers, the case is a reminder that people have the right to withdraw consent to marketing messages. Anyone who continues to receive gambling promotions after opting out can complain to the regulator. People who find gambling messages difficult to manage can also seek support from free services such as Gambling Help Online.
The source does not disclose whether any individual customers were harmed by the messages, nor how many VIP members were on Betfair's list.