BetStop is a government-backed initiative designed to provide Australians with a streamlined and secure method of restricting their access to licensed wagering services.
Operators are legally required to block betting activity and halt marketing communications to any customer ed with the platform.
Unibet’s breaches involved more than 100,000 contraventions of the Interactive Gambling Act, according to the ACMA’s announcement, with evidence that 45 customer s remained open for more than 190 days following registration with BetStop.
Many of these s were not closed even when customers had self-excluded on the NSER’s launch day, 21 August 2023.
While no bets were placed by customers during their period of exclusion, the s were not properly deactivated in accordance with legal obligations.
The ACMA uncovered further violations where Unibet allowed 45 customers to access wagering services after their self-exclusion periods had ended, but through s that should have been closed.
These individuals were able to place thousands of bets, including one customer who placed over 1,200 bets using a previously active that had not been properly terminated.
Carolyn Lidgerwood, an ACMA member and gambling portfolio lead, labeled the infractions as a “significant lapse” in Unibet’s operational compliance.
Lidgerwood emphasised that the prolonged delay in closing s — in some cases up to 190 days — undermined the integrity of the self-exclusion system, which is designed to help individuals control their gambling behaviour.Unibet’s compliance mechanisms unsatisfactory
The ACMA also noted that although no bets were placed and no marketing messages were sent to these customers during the exclusion period, the failure to close the s exposed systemic weaknesses in Unibet’s compliance mechanisms.
Australia’s self-exclusion framework requires not only that s be deactivated promptly when a self-excludes, but also that a person must make a deliberate and clear decision to recommence gambling, which is not guaranteed if old s remain accessible.
In addition to the monetary penalty, Unibet has entered into a two-year court-enforceable undertaking with the ACMA.
As part of the agreement, the company will undergo an independent review of its internal compliance systems.
Unibet has committed to implementing all recommended improvements that emerge from this review and will voluntarily refund affected customers.
This enforcement action comes on the heels of another regulatory intervention involving PointsBet, which was recently fined A$500,800 for similar breaches.
The PointsBet case involved sending more than 800 direct marketing messages that violated both Australia’s spam laws and the rules surrounding the National Self-Exclusion .
These messages included promotional material with links to betting platforms and lacked the required unsubscribe functionality.
PointsBet also failed to promptly deactivate the s of customers who had ed for self-exclusion through the , and in some cases, marketing communications were sent to individuals who had formally opted out of gambling activities.
