Ring, ring … be careful who you call
The Federal Government has introduced into Parliament the Do Not Call Register Bill and the Do Not Call Register (Consequential Amendments) Bill.
What does the proposed legislation prevent?
As a general rule, it will be a breach of the legislation to make a telemarketing call to an Australian telephone number that is listed on the Do Not Call Register.
However, listing a telephone number on the register will not prevent calls from all telemarketers. Charities, religious organisations, government bodies, registered political parties, independent Members of Parliament and candidates and educational institutions (where the call is made to a student or former student) are still permitted to call.
In her media release about the introduction of the bills to Parliament, Senator Helen Coonan said that it was important to “allow these organisations, who carry out activities in the public interest, to be able to continue to provide services to the community”.
In addition, telemarketing calls will not infringe the legislation if:
- The call is made with the express or inferred consent of the relevant telephone account holder or their nominee.
- The call is made to a number on a list that the telemarketer had checked against the register in the past 30 days and the number was not listed on the register at that time.
- The call was made by mistake.
- The caller had taken reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention.
Establishment of the Do Not Call Register
The legislation requires the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to establish the register. ACMA can either maintain the register itself or outsource its operation to a third party. The Federal Government has indicated that it expects ACMA will put the operation of the register out to tender once the legislation has been passed.
Once established, individuals will be able to request that their number be listed on the register. There will be no charge for this service. The number will then be included on the register for three years and can be re-registered when the three years expires or if it was removed for another reason.
The cost of the register will be shared by the Federal Government (which will contribute more than $17 million) and the telemarketing industry (which will contribute an estimated $15.9 million over four years). The telemarketing industry's contribution will be made by way of fees paid to ‘wash’ call lists against the telephone numbers listed in the register.
Small businesses will not be able to register
Contrary to information released earlier this year, the Government has decided not to permit small businesses to list their numbers on the Do Not Call Register. According to Senator Coonan, “businesses contact each other for a multitude of reasons in the course of day to day operations, and the Government was concerned not to potentially expose organisations to fines and penalties for ordinary business-to-business contact”.
Outsourced telemarketing services
Organisations that outsource their telemarketing calls must expressly require that the person to whom they outsource those calls (e.g. a call centre) must comply with the requirements of the legislation and also take reasonable steps to ensure that their employees and agents comply.
Consequences of non-compliance
ACMA will be responsible for investigating complaints about telemarketing calls and enforcing the legislation. A range of civil penalties will be available, depending on the nature of the breach.
Fines for breach of the legislation range from $1,100 to $1.1 million. ACMA will also be able to take other steps, such as issuing formal warnings or infringement notices and taking action in the Federal Court for injunctive relief.
Regulating legitimate telemarketing calls
ACMA is obliged under the legislation to develop a compulsory standard for all telemarketing calls (including those that fall within the exemptions outlined). The standards will regulate matters such as the times that telemarketing calls can be made, the information that must be given to call recipients and when calls must be terminated. The standard will also require that telemarketers must enable calling line identification.
Timeframe
Senator Coonan has requested speedy consideration of the bills by the House of Representatives and the Senate so that ACMA can start implementing the Do Not Call Register as early as possible in 2007.
The Federal Government has previously predicted that there would be one million registrations within a week of the register being established and four million registrations within the first year.
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