Australian betting operator Dabble Sports Pty Ltd has agreed to pay A$1.0692 million in penalties after an Australian Communications and Media Authority investigation. The inquiry found several breaches of Australia’s online gambling self-exclusion rules.
The investigation examined how Dabble complied with BetStop, which is the National Self-Exclusion Register of Australia. The programme allows locals to exclude themselves from all licensed online casinos through a single registration process.
Besides the monetary fine, Dabble has entered into a two-year court-enforceable undertaking with the ACMA, which requires the private company to review its compliance systems and implement improvements independently.
ACMA said the violations demonstrate the importance of betting sites maintaining robust systems to ensure that people who self-exclude cannot play while the exclusion period continues.
Investigation Identified Multiple Breaches
After complaints that consumers received online promotions from the operator while enrolled with BetStop in the summer of 2025, ACMA kicked off an investigation. Then, as part of the inquiry, the regulator reviewed customer information, marketing records, system logs and Dabble’s submissions.
Ultimately, the investigation found various contraventions under Australia's Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
For instance, Dabble failed to close 156 betting accounts of registered users with no outstanding or pending bets as soon as practicable. This resulted in 19,750 separate contraventions, as failure to close an account can constitute a separate contravention for each day the obligation remains outstanding.
ACMA also identified an extra 367 contraventions with an account where outstanding or pending bets had to be resolved before closure. In addition, the regulator found one contravention where an account was subsequently used in connection with wagering after the customer ceased to be registered.
Overall, the investigation found that Dabble had failed to close 157 accounts in circumstances covered by the investigation.
ACMA concluded that Dabble’s processes for checking users against BetStop did not ensure that inactive customers were identified quickly enough. The regulator explained it considered regular checks of inactive customers to be reasonably practicable and, for the investigation, considered checks at least every seven days appropriate.
Marketing to Self-Excluded Customers
The investigation also found that Dabble sent digital messages to customers who had already enrolled with BetStop. ACMA identified 2,853 electronic messages sent to 249 customers. Of these, 2,754 were considered regulated messages to offer, advertise or promote the operator’s betting products.
The regulator discovered that 560 messages were sent to electronic addresses that Dabble knew belonged to BetStop-registered individuals. An additional 279 messages were sent in circumstances where the ACMA found Dabble had acted recklessly regarding the recipients’ self-exclusion status.
Most marketing violations relate to a birthday campaign. Dabble told ACMA that users were usually checked for BetStop through its API and that accounts were automatically closed when a match was identified. However, a staff error during the campaign resulted in self-excluded customers being included in the said initiative.
Push Notifications Breach BetStop Rules
Besides marketing breaches, the ACMA found that Dabble failed to include the required BetStop information in 2,032 regulated push notifications.
Of the 2,754 messages classified as regulated electronic communications, 2,074 were push notifications. ACMA determined that 2,032 of these did not contain the information about the National Self-Exclusion Register, which is mandatory under the Register Rules.
Dabble acknowledged this issue and told the regulator that it had incorporated the required BetStop wording into all push notifications. According to the operator, 1,596 of the affected notifications were system-generated alerts, including bet alerts, bet outcome notifications and deposit confirmations, while 436 were promotional notifications.
Still, the ACMA determined that the relevant notifications were subject to the regulatory requirements.
ACMA Warns Operators Over Compliance Systems
ACMA’s Carolyn Lidgerwood said the findings were concerning as people who register with BetStop have made a clear decision to exclude themselves from online betting activities.
“People who register with BetStop have made a clear decision to exclude themselves from online wagering. Providers must respect that decision by closing their accounts promptly and ensuring they are not targeted with gambling promotions.”
She added that wagering operators need robust systems that can protect self-excluded players, and warned that the regulator would not hesitate to take action if operators failed to meet the country’s betting standards.
The investigation report placed particular emphasis on the risks created by manual intervention and insufficient monitoring. Dabble had argued that it already had an NSER API integration, automatic account closures, marketing suppression processes, staff training and technical controls.
However, the ACMA noted those measures had not prevented the breaches. It noted that a manual intervention in the birthday campaign allowed the ordinary marketing suppression process to be overridden and concluded that stronger oversight and ongoing assurance were required.
The regulator had previously warned wagering providers about the risks associated with manual processes and stressed that compliance systems need to be regularly tested and monitored rather than simply established and left unchecked.
Dabble Faces Two-Year Compliance Undertaking
As part of the resolution, Dabble has given the ACMA a two-year court-enforceable undertaking. The agreement requires the operator to undertake an independent review of its compliance systems and make the investment necessary to implement the review's recommendations.
A court-enforceable undertaking provides the ACMA with the ability to take Dabble to court if the company breaches its terms.
The case also provides a significant regulatory reminder for Australia's licensed wagering sector as BetStop continues to form a central part of the country's consumer protection framework.
The ACMA’s final findings did not establish that Dabble provided wagering services to self-excluded customers in breach of the relevant prohibition. The investigation specifically found no contravention concerning the provision of licensed interactive wagering services to registered individuals.
However, the regulator identified extensive failures around account closures, electronic marketing and the promotion of BetStop information.
