Outdoor Supacentre has been fined over $302,500, after it was found to be sending tens of thousands of text messages to consumers who had never consented to its marketing.
This company is the latest to be fined by the ACMA (Australian Communications Media Authority), which over the last 18 months, has been cracking down on national spam.
During this period, over $12.5 million in penalties have been enforced on various Aussie and international businesses. Some other businesses fined include Kmart, DoorDash, Ticketek, Uber, and CBA.
The company had sent 83,000 messages breaching spam laws between December 2022 and May 2023.
Out of the 83,000, 98% of consumers had never consented to receiving the messages, and the remaining 2% had already unsubscribed.
Almost a year prior to the investigation starting, ACMA sent five warnings to Outdoor Supacentre after receiving consumer complaints.
ACMA member, Samantha Yorke said, “The alerts serve as a warning that businesses may have compliance issues with their e-marketing systems, so it’s disappointing that Outdoor Supacentre didn’t take the opportunity to adequately address the problems before we had to step in.”
Aussie businesses are required to gain consent before opting consumers into receiving e-marketing. All messaging MUST include an unsubscribe option, which must be actioned within five days.
Ms Yoke. said it was crucial businesses kept track of marketing departments and spam laws.
“Any business that conducts e-marketing needs to follow the rules and the way you do that is by regularly reviewing your processes to ensure they remain within the law.”
ACMA has accepted a three year court-enforceable undertaking from Outdoor Supercentre. The company has said it would appoint an independent consultant to review compliance.
“Outdoor Supacentre used a third-party provider for elements of its marketing processes, but companies can’t outsource their compliance obligations.”
