Australian telco SpinTel Pty Ltd (SpinTel) has paid a $653,400 penalty after sending more than 32,000 commercial emails without consent.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found that between July and September 2025, SpinTel sent marketing emails to former customers encouraging them to return to the telco and promoted its products, including its NBN and mobile service plans.
SpinTel claimed it could reasonably infer consent because the recipients previously had a business relationship with the company. However, the marketing messages were sent to former customers, some of whom had left SpinTel up to 13 years earlier.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said a previous business relationship did not automatically provide consent to send marketing messages.
"In this case, the consumers had left SpinTel and it was clear the relationship had ended. Some people who received the messages had not been SpinTel customers for well over a decade.
"Whether consent can be inferred depends on the circumstances, including the nature of the business relationship, the relevance of the messages to the relationship and the recipient's reasonable expectations.
"The ACMA generally encourages businesses to use express consent to conduct marketing, with clear terms and conditions agreed in advance by the consumer, including how long the consent will be valid," Ms Yorke said.
The investigation also found that SpinTel sent five messages more than five business days after the recipients had unsubscribed from its marketing.
In addition to the financial penalty, the ACMA has accepted a 3-year court enforceable undertaking that commits SpinTel to appoint an independent consultant to review its compliance with spam laws and to undertake regular audits and reporting to the ACMA.
The ACMA has published information on its website to help businesses comply with the spam rules.
Businesses have paid over $11 million in spam penalties over the last 18 months.
