Online bookie Sportsbet will pay $3.7m in fines and penalties after breaking spam laws by sending more than 150,000 text messages and emails promoting gambling to customers who had tried to unsubscribe.
The amount includes the biggest penalty to date for breaking Australian spam laws, of $2.5m, with the remainder made up by refunds Sportsbet has agreed to pay to customers who made bets after receiving the unwanted marketing messages.
It comes as financial counsellors and suicide prevention experts have called for a complete ban on gambling advertising.
About 37,000 consumers received the Sportsbet spam, which was sent between January 2020 and March 2021 and offered either incentives to gamble or alerts about upcoming races, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said.
Acma said the company, a subsidiary of Irish betting behemoth Flutter Entertainment, also sent 3,000 marketing texts that did not include a way to unsubscribe.
The company continued to send spam after Acma contacted it, authority chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“The Acma contacted Sportsbet on several occasions leading up to the investigation to let the gambling provider know it may have compliance problems and it failed to take adequate action.
“Sportsbet is a large and sophisticated company which should have robust systems in place to comply with spam laws and protect the interests of its customers.”
As part of a court-enforceable undertaking, Sportsbet has agreed to appoint an independent person to oversee refunds and monitor its compliance with anti-spam laws.
A spokesperson said: “Sportsbet accepts the Acma’s findings and apologises to customers who were affected by this issue.”
“The non-compliance resulted from technical and systems failures that regrettably meant not all customer unsubscribe requests were actioned in a timely manner.
“Sportsbet suspended all email marketing for several months and implemented extensive system upgrades to ensure that all unsubscribe requests are now correctly actioned.”
The company takes the issue seriously and “is committed to ensuring that past failings are not repeated”, the spokesperson said.
In a report released on Wednesday, Suicide Prevention Australia and Financial Counselling Australia said the lack of regulation of marketing to VIP customers and inducements to gamble posed “harmful risks to people who have trouble managing their gambling”, particularly when combined with companies’ ability to mine personal data to target individuals.
“Advertising is a major contributor to gambling harm,” Lauren Levin, director of policy and campaigns at Financial Counselling Australia, said.
“People trying to stop can’t get away from it. Children and young people are getting damaged from the normalisation of gambling. It has to stop. We did it with tobacco.”
The report, Gambling and Suicide Prevention: A road map for change, also found that gambling harm is being overlooked in police investigations and coronial processes in possible cases of suicide.
Banks should also act to reduce gambling harm, including banning debt-funded gambling (with credit cards, for instance), and gambling companies themselves should establish “proactive harm minimisation, staff training and operational protocols”, the report says.
“We need government to step up,” Levin said.
“The fix is not a bit of tinkering. The fix is a cohesive gambling harm prevention plan. The gambling suicide problem is not going away. It is growing. We are calling on our political leadership to commit to a comprehensive gambling plan before the election, and beyond. Lives literally depend on it.”
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858 and the National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007
