Kmart Australia has paid a $1,303,500 infringement notice, following an investigation by the ACMA.
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), its investigation found the retailer sent more than 200,000 marketing emails that were in breach of Australian spam laws. The 212,471 messages were sent between July 2022 and May 2023 to customers who thought they had actually unsubscribed.
Kmart has paid the $1.3 million penance following the ACMA investigation that found that the breaches occurred due to a “combination of technology, system, and procedural failures”. This came after the ACMA alerted Kmart “on multiple occasions” that it may have issues with its consumer marketing.
“When a customer decides to opt out of a marketing mailing list, businesses are obliged to fulfil that request,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said. “The rules have been in place for nearly 20 years and there is simply no excuse.”
She also labelled the Kmart case as “particularly concerning” as it went on for such a significant period.
In addition to the million-dollar fine, the ACMA has also accepted a two-year court-enforceable undertaking from Kmart committing it to appoint an independent consultant to review its compliance with spam rules and to make improvements where needed. Kmart must also report regularly to the ACMA.
In a statement shared with Gizmodo Australia, Kmart apologised.
“We regret that any customers received emails from Kmart when they had opted out. These issues should not have occurred, and we are actively working to strengthen our systems,” a spokesperson said.
“Any business that conducts e-marketing should be actively and regularly reviewing its processes to ensure it is complying with the rules,” O’Loughlin added, putting other retailers on notice.
Australia’s spam rules require businesses to have consent from consumers to conduct e-marketing, and, when they receive an unsubscribe request, it must be actioned. Kmart is the latest in a string of spam act breaches publicised by the ACMA, with DoorDash, Ticketek, and Uber being the last few. The ACMA said that over the last 18 months, businesses have paid more than $12.5 million in spam and telemarketing penalties.
This article has been updated to include Kmart’s statement.
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