Victorian gambling watchdog takes Tabcorp to task for code breaches

Wagering giant Tabcorp has been forced to pay a record $4.6 million fine in Victoria over repeated breaches of gambling harm prevention laws between 2020 and 2023.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission uncovered the ASX-listed wagering business had breached gambling harm minimisation laws on nine occasions over the three-year period.

The commission’s investigation into Tabcorp exposed how one account manager failed in their duties after making a welfare call to a customer who had been flagged by the company’s gambling harm monitor. The employee ended the call by communicating a deposit match promotion of $2000 would be transferred to the customer’s account.

Tabcorp has been forced to pay a record $4.6 million fine in Victoria over repeated breaches of gambling harm prevention laws between 2020 and 2023.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Tabcorp also sent promotional material to another customer who opted out of contact on six occasions over a four-month period. The group was also found to have failed to provide appropriate support to a customer experiencing observable signs of potential harm.

Victorian gambling regulator’s chair Fran Thorn says the Australian free-to-air TV sector can survive a complete ban on gambling ads.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

The penalty is poor timing for the $1.3 billion wagering company, which has been strident in its advocacy for a total ban on televised gambling advertising - except for live racing coverage.

The Victorian regulator’s boss, Fran Thorn, told ABC Radio on Friday that she also backed a total advertising ban and cast doubt on the idea that media and sports bodies cannot survive without it.

“Australia has saturation gambling ads compared to most other countries in the world. The review last year went into this very extensively and stepped out the size of this problem and came forward with this as one of the solutions,” Thorn said.

The federal government has come under fire from anti-gambling harm advocates for suggesting it may strengthen existing caps on live sport advertising instead of a total ban to avoid overly penalising media and sporting bodies.

“I don’t know enough about the finances of free-to-air television, but there have been other examples both in Australia and across the world where advertising has been removed and as far as I’m aware, the television stations didn’t fail,” she continued.

While the state regulator’s chief executive, Annette Kimmitt, said in January that she supported a total ban on ads, Friday’s comments are the first time Thorn has weighed in on the issue.

Thorn added that while Tabcorp had cooperated with the commission’s investigation and had introduced steps to address its failings, its breaches of the code warranted a record fine.

“Tabcorp’s breaches reflect systemic operational deficiencies and non-compliance with the conditions of its licence, the consequences of which have included significant harm to a customer.”

“The commission has given Tabcorp clear instructions on what it must do to improve its operations and prioritise gambling harm minimisation. The directed transformation program is intended to future-proof Tabcorp’s gambling operations to ensure it complies with the law,” she added.

The company’s shares fell over 3 per cent on the news, trading at 55¢.

A Tabcorp spokesperson admitted its harm minimisation settings did not meet the standards set by the regulators, community or current leaders at the time of the breaches.

“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 spokesperson said.

“We are also introducing new technology to detect changes in customer behaviour faster so we can intervene sooner to protect customers from gambling harm.”

Tabcorp demerged from The Lottery Corporation in 2022 and was helmed by then-chief executive Adam Rytenskild until March. He was suddenly dismissed following an investigation which found he’d spoken in a sexually inappropriate way about an executive at the commission.

Tabcorp then appointed ex-AFL boss Gillon McLachlan to succeed Rytenskild, who earlier this month launched proceedings against Tabcorp for unfair dismissal.

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