To stop betting promotions, unsubscribe from every marketing email and text, switch marketing off in each bookmaker account's settings, and tell each bookmaker in writing that you withdraw consent to direct marketing. The national framework lets a bookmaker market to you only with your express consent, and says nothing more may be sent once your unsubscribe request is received.
Unsubscribing quiets one bookmaker at a time. Closing an account ends that bookmaker's marketing, and BetStop silences all online and phone providers licensed in Australia in one step. Part 7D of the Interactive Gambling Act, added by the 2026 reforms, commences on 1 January 2027, and from a later day the Minister sets it narrows who may be sent inducements at all.
Switching the marketing off, step by step
- Email: use the unsubscribe link in the next marketing email from each bookmaker. ACMA says a sender cannot make you log in, or give personal details beyond the address being unsubscribed, unless you agreed to that in advance.
- Text: reply STOP, or follow the unsubscribe instruction in the message.
- Account settings: open the marketing or contact preferences in each betting account and untick every channel.
- App notifications: turn off promotional notifications in the bookmaker's app, and that app's notifications in your phone's settings.
- Phone calls: tell the caller you want no marketing calls, then email the bookmaker withdrawing consent to all direct marketing, calls included.
- Old accounts: repeat for every bookmaker that holds your details, including accounts you no longer use.
- Records: note the date of each request and keep screenshots of anything that arrives afterwards.
Tip: ACMA suggests blocking a sender that keeps messaging you, with your email filters or phone settings, and asking your telco about spam filtering.
The rules behind betting marketing
Several sets of rules govern gambling marketing, and they apply side by side. They cover direct marketing: messages sent to you, as opposed to ads everyone sees.
| Rule | What it says | Who it binds |
|---|---|---|
| National Consumer Protection Framework, measure 4, since 26 May 2019 (NSW 26 November 2019) | Express consent first; a functional, easily found unsubscribe; nothing further once an unsubscribe is received | Online wagering providers licensed in Australia, through state and territory laws |
| The same framework, measure 5 | No direct promotion or marketing after an account is closed | The same providers |
| Spam Act 2003, enforced by ACMA | Consent, the sender identified, and an easy unsubscribe at low or no cost to you (a reply SMS is allowed), acted on within 5 business days | Every business sending marketing by email, text or instant message |
| Victoria's Ministerial Direction of 6 July 2022 | Express consent; since 30 June 2023, an account can be opened without consenting; none after 5 business days from an unsubscribe; no reward for consenting or staying subscribed | Victorian-licensed providers, plus providers elsewhere that take online or phone bets from Victorian residents |
| NSW Betting and Racing Act 1998, s 33JA | No inducement to consent to gambling advertising, or to keep that consent | Licensed betting service providers and any other person, under NSW law |
| BetStop, Part 7B of the Interactive Gambling Act | No marketing by email, text, phone or post to a registered person | Every online and phone provider licensed in Australia |
| Part 7D of the Interactive Gambling Act, from a day the Minister sets after 1 January 2027 | No inducements by email, text or phone call to designated customers | Licensed online wagering providers |
Note: Checked against the rules on 7 October 2026. General information only, not legal advice, and other states and territories layer on rules of their own, which betting inducement rules in Australia sets out.
How long a bookmaker has to stop
The national framework's principle is that marketing stops from the time your unsubscribe request is received. The Spam Act and Victoria's direction each allow 5 business days, but they start counting on different days.
With illustrative dates in a week with no public holiday, say you unsubscribe from Bookmaker A's emails on Friday 9 October 2026, and it receives the request that day:
| Rule | What it means for that request |
|---|---|
| National framework principle | No further marketing once the request arrives on Friday 9 October |
| Spam Act | The 5 business days begin on the day you send it: Friday 9, Monday 12, Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October. Your consent is withdrawn at the end of Thursday 15 October, so a marketing email on Friday 16 October is late |
| Victoria's direction | The 5 business days run from the day the provider receives it, Friday 9 October: Monday 12 to Friday 16 October, so no marketing may follow after Friday 16 October |
| Every rule above | A marketing email on Monday 19 October is late |
Screenshot a late message with its date showing: a complaint rests on that record.
Offers inside the app, and how to end them
Unsubscribing stops messages, not necessarily the offers on screens you open yourself. Victoria's direction defines direct marketing to leave out the parts of an app or website that only an existing account holder can reach, so promotions inside your logged-in account sit apart from the messages you opted out of.
| Step | Stops marketing messages | Stops offers in the account | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsubscribe and settings | Yes, within the windows above | No | One bookmaker |
| Take a break | The bookmaker's terms decide | The bookmaker's terms decide | One account |
| Self-exclusion with one bookmaker | The bookmaker's terms decide | The bookmaker's terms decide | One provider |
| Close the account | Yes: the framework bars marketing after closure | Yes, there is no account left | One bookmaker |
| BetStop | Yes, by law | Yes, accounts are closed | Every online and phone provider licensed in Australia |
Take a break or self-exclude compares the pause options, and how to close a betting account covers closing one and withdrawing the balance.
What BetStop does to marketing
BetStop, the free Australian Government self-exclusion register, goes further than any unsubscribe. Under sections 61LA to 61LD of the Interactive Gambling Act, a provider licensed in Australia must not send a registered person marketing by email, text, phone call or post. Nor may it pass their name, address, phone number or email address to anyone for marketing. Under sections 61MB and 61MC, every covered provider must also close the person's accounts and pay out any credit balance.
A single registration reaches all of the approximately 150 licensed wagering providers in Australia, by the count on ACMA's BetStop page (last updated 17 July 2026), for anything from 3 months to life. Nobody can register on your behalf: you sign up yourself at betstop.gov.au. BetStop explained covers joining, support people and leaving, which works differently from 1 January 2027.
From the day the Minister sets for Part 7D, leaving does not switch every offer straight back on. Anyone who left BetStop in the past 90 days is then a designated customer, and so is anyone who left earlier without expressly consenting to inducement messages since.
Inducement marketing under the 2026 reforms
The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 adds Part 7D to the Interactive Gambling Act from 1 January 2027, but its inducement bans apply from a later day the Minister fixes by notifiable instrument.
From that day, an online wagering provider licensed in Australia may not offer a designated customer an inducement by email, text message or phone call. It also may not hand customers' contact details to a social media platform so that designated customers are shown inducement ads. Inducement is defined broadly enough to catch credits, tokens, rewards and vouchers, so a bonus bet offer counts. Designated customers are:
- a customer whose account is 14 days old or younger
- someone who left BetStop in the past 90 days, or earlier without expressly consenting since
- a customer the provider has identified as someone who may be at risk of gambling-related harm.
For customers outside those groups, the consent and unsubscribe rules above still decide what is sent. From a day the Minister sets, Part 7D also obliges providers to watch customers for signs of harm, such as climbing spending or limits being loosened. The 2026 gambling reforms guide covers the rest of the Act.
Ads not addressed to you follow separate rules. From 1 January 2027, most online services may show wagering ads only to logged-in account holders aged 18 or over who have not opted out, and must make opting out simple. Sites and apps dedicated to racing or wagering, a bookmaker's own included, are exempt. A national Wagering Advertising Opt-out Register starts on a date to be set by Proclamation.
What still arrives after you opt out
- Monthly activity statements. For each month with a transaction on the account, the national framework requires a statement, and it must contain no promotional or direct marketing content. Betting activity statements explains how to read one.
- Account messages. ACMA says messages with no advertising, payment reminders and notices about a service you use are generally not spam, so security alerts and withdrawal confirmations can keep coming.
- General advertising. Television, radio, sport broadcasts and social media feeds run on advertising rules, not on your consent. Gambling Help Online notes that some gambling-blocking apps also limit online gambling ads, and the guide to blocking gambling transactions covers that software.
If an account message carries an offer, it is marketing, and a statement may carry none at all.
When the marketing keeps coming
| Problem | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Marketing after you unsubscribed, or without your consent | The bookmaker first, then the licensing authority ACMA's register lists for it |
| Marketing email or text with no consent or no working unsubscribe | ACMA, under the Spam Act |
| Any marketing while you are registered with BetStop | ACMA |
| An inducement message to a designated customer, once Part 7D applies | ACMA |
ACMA's dealing with spam page explains how to complain or forward spam, and its register of licensed wagering providers shows the authority that licenses each bookmaker.
Mistakes that keep the offers coming
| Mistake | What happens | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Unsubscribing from emails only | Texts, calls and notifications carry on | Switch off every channel |
| Opting out only where you bet most | Dormant accounts keep marketing | Opt out at every bookmaker holding your details |
| Deleting messages instead of unsubscribing | Your consent stands, so they keep arriving | Withdraw consent |
| Agreeing to marketing again for one offer | The flow starts again | Leave consent off |
| Expecting an unsubscribe to clear in-app offers | They stay on screen | A break, self-exclusion, closure or BetStop |
The responsible gambling tools hub covers the controls beyond marketing, from deposit limits to bank blocks.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Promotions are built to bring you back to betting, or to make you bet more often, and a bonus bet that loses pays nothing. If offers keep pulling you in, the responsible gambling page lists limits and free support, and the National Gambling Helpline answers on 1800 858 858.