Telstra Hit with $626,000 Penalty for Sending More Than 10 Million Unwanted Text Messages

Over the last year and a half, Australian businesses have paid a total of more than $16 million in penalties for violations related to spam.

Telstra has agreed to pay a penalty of $626,000 for breaking Australian spam laws by sending nearly 10.5 million unsolicited text messages. Many of these messages required recipients to provide personal information to opt out.

An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that between 2022 and 2024, Telstra sent 10,433,812 messages without consent, including 43,228 to “Belong” customers who had not agreed to receive them or had withdrawn their consent.

Australian regulations prohibit businesses from asking consumers to provide personal information or log into accounts to opt out of commercial messages unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to such terms.

Regulatory Response and Telstra’s Apology

ACMA member Samantha Yorke criticized Telstra for not following longstanding spam consent rules.

“The spam consent rules have been in place for over 20 years, and Telstra, as an established company, has no excuse for this non-compliance,” Yorke stated.

Telstra self-reported the violations to ACMA and made corrections before the investigation began.

“Customers deserve to have their choices respected, and we apologize for not meeting this obligation for some of our customers,” a Telstra spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

Moreover, Telstra has made improvements to its systems to make it easier for customers to opt out of receiving messages since reporting the issues to ACMA.

As part of a court-enforceable undertaking, Telstra will undergo an independent review of its systems and provide regular updates to ACMA.

Ongoing Scrutiny of Telecom Providers

This penalty comes after Telstra was fined $3 million in December 2024 for failing to adhere to emergency call regulations during a network outage in March.

ACMA discovered that Telstra’s Triple Zero service delayed 127 emergency calls for 90 minutes due to incorrect backup phone numbers.

Similarly, Optus received a $12 million fine for issues during its network outage in November 2023, where over 2,100 customers were unable to make emergency calls, and millions lost phone and internet service.

Over the past 18 months, Australian businesses have paid a total of more than $16 million in penalties for breaches related to spam.