Telstra Fined $626,000 for Sending Over 10 Million Unsolicited Texts

In the past 18 months, Australian businesses have collectively paid over $16 million in penalties for spam-related breaches.

A Telstra store on Melbourne's central business district in Melbourne, Australia on June 20, 2018. William West/AFP via Getty Images

Telstra has agreed to a $626,000 penalty for violating Australian spam laws after sending nearly 10.5 million unsolicited text messages, many of which required recipients to provide personal details to opt out.

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without consent, including 43,228 to Telstra’s “Belong” customers who had either not agreed to receive them or had withdrawn their consent.

Australian regulations prohibit businesses from asking consumers to log into accounts or provide personal details 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 criticised Telstra for failing to comply with long-standing spam consent rules.

“The spam consent rules have been in force for over 20 years and Telstra, as a mature and established company, has no excuse for this type of non-compliance,” Yorke said.

Telstra self-reported the violations to the ACMA and had implemented fixes before the investigation began.

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

The company further explained that since reporting these issues to the ACMA, Telstra has made improvements in its systems to make it easier for customers to opt out of receiving messages.

As part of a court-enforceable undertaking, Telstra has committed to an independent review of its systems and will provide regular progress reports to the ACMA.

Ongoing Scrutiny of Telecom Providers

This penalty follows a $3 million fine imposed on Telstra in December 2024 for failing to comply with emergency call rules during a network failure in March.

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

In addition, Optus was fined $12 million for similar issues during its network outage in November 2023, where more than 2,100 Optus customers were unable to make emergency calls, and millions of others lost phone and internet service.

In the past 18 months, Australian businesses have collectively paid over $16 million in penalties for spam-related breaches.