Tabcorp will be forced to pay out $4.6 million in fines after a Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission investigation exposed alleged repeated breaches of its betting licence and the responsible gambling code between August 2020 and February 2023.
Tabcorp has flagging systems in place to identify high-risk gamblers. In one instant during 2022, a call was made to a punter who had been flagged by the system after losing $135,000 within a month following a large volume of bets. The call, that was deemed as a “responsible gambling call” ended with the customer being offered a deposit-match promotion of $2000 on their account.
Commission chair Fran Thorn said that this particular incident is indicative of a culture within the betting giant that sees it not taking harm minimisation obligations seriously enough. “The recorded call provides evidence of a lack of commitment to responsible gambling policies and demonstrates a lack of concern for the customer’s wellbeing,” she said. “Instead of offering support or making suggestions to help the customer manage their gambling, the call was used as an opportunity to encourage them to continue gambling”.
In other instances, the betting agency sent direct marketing material to a customer six times in the span of five months between October 2022 and February 2023 after they had already opted out, failing to minimise the potential for gambling harm through inadequate employee training.
Tabcorp cooperated with the investigation, but Thorn said the breaches reflected systemic operational deficiencies and non-compliance with its licence conditions, which resulted in “significant harm” to a customer. “The hefty fine, the largest the commission has ever issued to Tabcorp, is proportionate to the seriousness of the licensee’s misconduct,” she said.
Thorn warned the betting company to clean up its act. “It sends a clear message to the gambling industry that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated”.
“The harm minimisation measures in place by Tabcorp at the time did not meet community or regulatory expectations, nor did it meet the expectations that current management expect of the company and its people,” Tabcorp said in a statement. “Tabcorp has since taken significant steps to improve customer safety, including restructuring the safer gambling team which has led to an increase in customer interventions”.
The news comes at a time when the revolt against gambling advertising is at an all-time high – particularly surrounding live sports. Tabcorp recently confirmed that it would support a proposed ban on advertising.
While the betting agency declined to comment officially, it pointed to its submission to the review into gambling advertising. In this submission, the company called for a reduction in the record level of gambling advertising, saying that it should be limited to places where people go to gamble, ” including pubs, clubs, or racetracks or on exclusive platforms dedicated to gambling events such as Sky Racing TV and radio”.
“Foreign bookies have been targeting customers of pubs, clubs, and the local Australian state-based licensee with aggressive advertising and inducements, especially when retail venues were forced to close during the pandemic,” Tabcorp said.
The wagering brand also slammed its competitor, SportsBet, for being one of the country’s largest contributor to the gambling industry. “In the first half of 2022, they spent almost double what other operators spent on advertising,” Tabcorp told the parliamentary inquiry.
Gambling ads during live sports are currently banned five minutes before and after play, between 5am and 8.30pm After 8.30pm, these ads can appear before and after play and during breaks in play.
The government is reportedly currently proposing a cap of two gambling ads per hour on each channel up until 10 p.m. and a ban on ads of this nature an hour before and after live sports coverage. Labor is also set to support a ban on betting ads on social media and other digital platforms.
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, more than a million gambling ads appeared on free-to-air television, radio, and online from April 2022 to April 2023, costing a reported $238 million.
A number of gambling firms, several sporting codes, and media companies have largely opposed the ban, with business models heavily reliant on betting ad revenue.
