Draft Telecommunications (DNCR)Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010
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Draft Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010 Discussion paper
OCTOBER 2010 Canberra Melbourne Sydney Purple Building Level 44 Level 15 Tower 1 Benjamin Offices Melbourne Central Tower Darling Park Chan Street 360 Elizabeth Street 201 Sussex Street Belconnen ACT Melbourne VIC Sydney NSW
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© Commonwealth of Australia 2010 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Communications and Publishing, Australian Communications and Media Authority, PO Box 13112 Law Courts, Melbourne Vic 8010.
Published by the Australian Communications and Media Authority Contents
Purpose of this discussion paper 1
Submissions 2 Publication of submissions 2 When can the ACMA be required by law to release information? 2 Effective consultation 2
Legislative background 3
Responses to Developing an industry standard for the fax marketing industry discussion paper 5 Prohibited times for the sending of faxes 5 Provision of information within a fax 6 Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a number 6 Opt-out functionality 6 Other comments 7 Consultation 7
Volume and frequency restrictions and the draft standard 8 Legislative obligation 8 Providing the ACMA with feedback 8 Balancing consumer and industry expectations 8 Drafting the volume and frequency restriction 9 Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period 9 Other codes and standards 10
What has been included in the draft standard 11 Prohibited times for the sending of faxes 11
acma | iii Contents (Continued)
Provision of information within a fax 11 Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period 12 Opt-out functionality 12 Operation of state and territory laws 12
Invitation to comment 13
Next steps 14
Attachment A 15 List of organisations contacted by the ACMA 15
Attachment B 16 Summary of submissions 16
Attachment C 22 General comments from the submissions 22
Attachment D 24 Summary of other Australian codes and standards 24 Direct Marketing: A Model Code of Practice—Prepared by Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs 24 ADMA Direct Marketing Code of Practice—September 2006 25 Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007 26 eMarketing Code of Practice 27 Handling of Life Threatening and Unwelcome Communications Industry Code 28
Attachment E 29 Draft Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010 29
iv | acma Purpose of this discussion paper
This discussion paper seeks industry and community views on the draft Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010 (the draft standard) prepared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA).
Under the Do Not Call Register legislation, the ACMA is responsible for establishing and overseeing the operation of the Do Not Call Register (the register) and for developing national standards for telemarketers and fax marketers.
The development of a national fax marketing industry standard (the standard) is intended to provide the community with greater certainty regarding the minimum level of behaviour they can expect from fax marketers. It is also intended to encourage best practice in fax marketing.
In June 2010, the ACMA released a discussion paper inviting comment from the public on the four issues to be covered in the standard (as set out in section 125B of the Telecommunications Act 1997).1
Taking into account the submissions received, the ACMA has now developed a draft standard which sets out the proposed approach for each of the four areas that the draft standard is required to cover. This discussion paper provides a summary of the submissions received and background information to assist people in considering the draft standard.
This paper is not intended to limit comment on other issues individuals consider relevant to the development of the standard. The responses to this discussion paper will be considered by the ACMA in determining the final form of the standard.
1 Developing an Industry Standard for the Fax Marketing Industry www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_312190
acma | 1 Submissions
Submissions on this discussion paper may be made to the ACMA as follows: By email: [email protected] By mail: Manager, Do Not Call Register Section The Australian Communications and Media Authority PO Box 13112 Law Courts Melbourne Vic 8010
The ACMA would prefer submissions to be sent by email wherever possible.
The closing date for submissions is the close of business, Thursday 18 November 2010.
All submissions must clearly identify:
> the name of the party making the submission
> the organisation or interest group represented by the submission (where relevant)
> contact details—including telephone number, facsimile number, postal address and email address (if available).
Please direct enquiries about this discussion paper to the ACMA on (03) 9963 6765.
Publication of submissions In general, the ACMA publishes all submissions it receives.
The ACMA prefers to receive submissions which are not claimed to be confidential. However, the ACMA accepts that a submitter may sometimes wish to provide information in confidence. In these circumstances, submitters are asked to identify the material over which confidentiality is claimed and provide a written explanation for the confidentiality claims.
The ACMA will consider each claim for confidentiality on a case-by-case basis. If the ACMA accepts a confidentiality claim, it will not publish the confidential information unless required to do so by law.
When can the ACMA be required by law to release information? Unless exempt, submissions provided to the ACMA may be released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The ACMA may also be required to release submissions for other reasons including for the purpose of parliamentary processes or where otherwise required by law (for example a court subpoena). While the ACMA seeks to consult submitters of confidential information before that information is provided to another party, the ACMA cannot guarantee that confidential information will not be released through these or other legal means.
Effective consultation The ACMA is working to enhance the effectiveness of its stakeholder consultation processes, which are an important source of evidence for its regulatory development activities. To assist stakeholders in formulating submissions to its formal, written consultation processes, it has developed the following guide: Effective consultation: A guide to making a submission. This guide provides information about the ACMA’s
2 | acma formal, written, public consultation processes and practical guidance on how to make a submission.
acma | 3 Legislative background
The Do Not Call Register Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (DNCR Amendment Act), which took effect on 30 May 2010, expanded the Do Not Call Register scheme. This included:
> allowing fax numbers to be entered on the register
> prohibiting the sending of marketing faxes to numbers on the register, except in certain circumstances.
The DNCR Amendment Act also inserted a new section 125B into the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Telecommunications Act), which requires the ACMA to determine an industry standard setting out minimum standards for the fax marketing industry across four particular areas. The purpose of the standard will be to promote responsible practices in relation to the sending of marketing faxes.
The standard will apply to any marketing fax sent to an Australian number, regardless of whether the fax is exempt from the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the Act).
What is a marketing fax? The standard will apply to any fax that has a purpose to:
> market, advertise or promote goods or services, land or an interest in land, a business opportunity or investment opportunity, or a supplier or potential supplier of such goods or services
> solicit donations
> conduct opinion polling or
> carry out standard questionnaire-based research.
Who will the standard apply to? The standard will apply to all participants in the fax marketing industry2 including some individuals and organisations that are not covered by the general prohibition contained in the Act against sending marketing faxes to numbers on the register (such as charities, political parties and market and social researchers).
Broadly speaking a person is a participant in the fax marketing industry if they use marketing faxes to:
> market, advertise or promote goods or services, land or an interest in land, or a business or investment opportunity, or to promote a supplier or potential supplier of such goods or services (whether the person using the marketing fax for this purpose is the supplier of the goods or services or not)
> solicit donations
> conduct opinion polling or
> carry out standard questionnaire-based research.
For example, the standard will apply to a person or business that sends a marketing fax for the purpose of promoting its own goods or services. The standard will also apply to a person or business that sends a marketing fax on behalf of someone else. This would include, for example, a person or
2 See section 111AB and section 109C of the Telecommunications Act 1997
4 | acma business that designs a marketing fax on behalf of a fax advertiser and organises the sending of the marketing fax to a list of fax numbers. Often marketing faxes are sent in bulk on behalf of a business or entity by separate fax broadcasters. Generally, if a fax broadcaster is merely providing the mechanism by which the fax advertiser and the marketing fax aggregator can send marketing faxes in bulk, the fax broadcaster will not be a ‘participant’ in the fax marketing industry and the standard will not apply to them.
However, if the fax broadcaster is more involved in the process of creating or sending the marketing fax they may be subject to the standard. For example, if a fax broadcaster supplies fax numbers to which fax messages can be sent or holds itself out as providing a service that ensures that the fax messages it sends on the other entities behalf are compliant with the Act or the standard, the fax broadcaster is likely to be subject to the standard.
Application of the industry standard will be on case by case assessment. The standard will apply to the fax advertiser, the marketing fax aggregator and may apply to the fax broadcaster if it does something more than simply provide a technology platform.
acma | 5 Responses to Developing an industry standard for the fax marketing industry discussion paper
The ACMA released the discussion paper Developing an industry standard for the fax marketing industry (the first discussion paper) in June 2010 and invited comment from industry, the community and other interested parties on the minimum standards of conduct to be set out in a fax marketing industry standard.
The first discussion paper invited submissions on the four issues that the standard is required to cover:
> the hours and/or days during which marketing faxes should be permitted to be sent or attempted to be sent under the proposed standard
> the nature and extent of information that a marketing fax should contain about the fax marketer or about the person who caused the fax to be sent
> the number of marketing faxes that should be permitted to be sent, or attempted to be sent by a fax marketer during a particular period to a particular Australian number
> the type of information which should be provided to a consumer to allow them to opt out of receiving faxes from a fax marketer and the manner in which opt out messages must be actioned.
The closing date for submissions was Monday 9 August 2010. The ACMA received 17 written submissions. The majority of submissions (ten) addressed the four areas that were highlighted for comment in the first discussion paper, three addressed some of the areas and four submissions did not address any of the four areas but provided general comments on the proposed standard.
The comments received on each of the four areas that the standard is required to cover are summarised below.
Prohibited times for the sending of faxes Ten submissions addressed this issue. The majority of submissions supported providing clear and enforceable rules on restricting the hours during which fax marketers can contact consumers.
The submissions included the following comments:
> marketing faxes should be permitted to be sent Monday through to Friday, with suggested permitted times on weekdays ranging from 8.00 am to 9.00 pm
> marketing faxes should be permitted to be sent Saturdays, between 8.00 am and 9.00 pm—with five submissions supporting reduced hours on Saturday (e.g. between 8.00 am to 6.00 pm)
> no fax marketing to occur on Sundays and national public holidays (seven submissions). One submission supported allowing fax marketing between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm on such days
6 | acma > that the prohibited faxing times should be defined in the standard so that they relate to the time zone of the receiver
> there should be an exception to the prohibition where the receiver has provided consent to receive a marketing fax at a time which would otherwise be a prohibited time.
Provision of information within a fax The ten submissions received which addressed this issue supported a requirement upon fax marketers to provide contact information and suggested that:
> contact details should be required to easily identify the originator (the person who authorised the sending of the marketing fax, or the advertiser)
> the contact details required should include standard business details such as company name, phone number, email address and ABN (or similar)
> contact details should be set out on the first page of the marketing fax
> the minimum required font size should be stipulated in the standard.
Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a number Only one submission supported the introduction of volume and frequency restrictions on the number of marketing faxes that may be sent in a particular period. Several submitters suggested that regard should be had to the existing Handling of Life Threatening and Unwelcome Communications Industry Code, which currently provides some regulation in relation to ‘unwelcome’ communications.
Seven submitters indicated this type of limitation would be difficult to comply with for a variety of reasons. The submissions provided the following comments:
> if would be technically difficult, time consuming and expensive to implement a solution for compliance
> no other standard in the world currently includes these type of restrictions
> the inclusion of this type of restriction could be considered a ‘restraint of trade’
> the fax marketer has little or no control over the actual number of times a number has been ‘attempted’ (for example, when the first attempt is not successful) as the telecommunications provider is the ‘actual’ dialler
> large organisations often have only one fax number as a point of entry, which distributes faxes automatically to recipients throughout the organisation via other channels (for example, email). This would mean the fax marketer’s fax communication frequency with a particular organisation (as opposed to an individual) would be limited.
Opt-out functionality All fourteen submissions which addressed this area supported the inclusion of a requirement to provide opt-out functionality in marketing faxes and many noted that this is already a standard industry practice.
Many submissions favoured a requirement to provide a web based option as an easy and cost effective opt-out mechanism for fax recipients. However, other submissions proposed that a variety of contact options should be required to ensure consumers are not prevented from opting out due to lack of access to particular forms of technology.
acma | 7 In addition many of the submissions suggested the information should be available on the first page of the fax and the minimum font size be prescribed in the standard.
Other comments Some submissions included comments that do not relate to the four areas.
These comments were mainly submitters expressing concerns or questions regarding the development of the standard and how it would function once it is made and operational.
A summary of all other comments and the ACMA responses is included in Attachment C.
Consultation When making the standard under Part 6 of the Telecommunications Act, the ACMA must consult with:
> any relevant industry body or association that the ACMA is satisfied represents the fax marketing industry or a section of the fax marketing industry
> the general public
> the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
> the Privacy Commissioner
> at least one consumer body or association that represents the interests of consumers
> the states and territories.
The ACMA sent letters and/or emails inviting comment to the ACCC, the Privacy Commissioner, the states and territories, CHOICE, industry bodies and the public. Attachment A provides a list of those government, industry and consumer organisations contacted.
Copies of submissions received are available on the ACMA website and Attachment B summarises comments received in the submissions.
8 | acma Volume and frequency restrictions and the draft standard
There are four areas which the standard is required to deal with (see paragraph 125B(1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act).
Feedback in the submissions on three of these areas (the time at which marketers can contact consumers, the provision of contact information and the provision of opt-out functionality) was generally supportive of the inclusion of this type of regulation through the standard. Many submissions commented that these areas are currently common practice for the majority of the industry. None of the submissions raised any significant impediments to implementing these areas as standard business practice or suggested these areas should not be included in the draft standard.
However, many submissions commented that the inclusion of a volume and frequency restriction on marketing faxes to a particular number would have operational implementation issues and that compliance with such a requirement would be difficult and costly to implement. There are no benchmarks or comparison models as, to date, it appears that no other country which regulates the fax marketing industry has put such restrictions in place as part of its regulatory regime.
Legislative obligation The ACMA is required to determine a standard that covers each of the matters listed in subsection 125B(1) of the Telecommunications Act. The standard must therefore include a restriction on the total number of marketing faxes that may be sent to a particular Australian number in a particular time period.
Providing the ACMA with feedback The ACMA has drafted a provision in the draft standard to regulate this area. Given that the previous submissions did not address what would be an appropriate restriction on the number and frequency of marketing fax messages, the ACMA seeks particular comments and submissions on this proposed section, including the proposed limit of 10 marketing faxes to a particular fax number in a 24 hour period (authorised by the same fax advertiser).
Balancing consumer and industry expectations Any new regulation in a previously unregulated industry may cause some inconvenience and expense to industry participants. However, one of the important objectives of the expansion of the register was to ensure that fax marketing recipients are not inundated with marketing faxes.
Multiple marketing faxes sent in relation to the one advertiser to the same fax number within a 24 hour period can seriously inconvenience the fax recipient as it may impede the recipient’s ability to receive solicited business faxes by tieing up the one fax number or depleting toner and paper supplies for that fax machine. Additionally, receiving repeated unsolicited fax calls to a number with no fax capability can be particularly frustrating.
However, it is also noted that the expanded register now provides additional consumer protection to fax recipients. Fax users can now list their numbers on the register to
acma | 9 avoid receiving unsolicited marketing faxes and will be able to “opt-out” of receiving marketing faxes from particular advertisers under the standard.
In preparing the draft provision which establishes volume and frequency restrictions, the ACMA has sought to strike a balance between consumer interests and commercial practicalities. The proposed requirement for a fax marketer to use ‘reasonable efforts’ to meet the specified restriction is aimed at articulating and promoting best practice whilst not imposing unrealistic requirements on industry which would outweigh the level of benefit.
Drafting the volume and frequency restriction In drafting the volume and frequency restriction, the ACMA considered the following:
> the fax marketing industry has expressed concerns in relation to this area, yet generally endorses the three other areas
> fax recipients may be particularly inconvenienced if repeated unsolicited marketing faxes are received within a short time period
> the content of other standards and codes, including international standards
> the requirement for a restriction of this nature to be included in the standard, and that it must make reference to a particular total number of faxes that may be sent in a particular time period
> the future opportunity to review the effectiveness of the clause after it has had time to operate.
Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period In developing this area, the ACMA considered a reasonable person would be of the view that a person who sends faxes must make reasonable efforts to ensure it does not send more than 10 faxes, which are authorised to be sent by the same fax advertiser, to a particular Australian number in any single 24 hour period. The restriction will apply to marketing faxes authorised by the same fax advertiser. See examples of how the standard would be applied in the box below.
Example one An advertiser authorised two fax marketing campaigns, one promoting the sale of vitamins and the other promoting the sale of gym memberships. Any faxes relating to either promotion would be considered to be authorised by the same fax advertiser. If a fax recipient received more than 10 faxes relating to one or both of these promotions within a 24 hour period sent by the same sender, the sender of the marketing faxes may be considered to have breached the standard. Example two If the two campaigns were sent by two different companies contracted by the one fax advertiser to manage the campaigns, each of these companies is obliged to ensure that it doesn’t send more than 10 faxes on behalf of the advertiser to the same number in a 24 period, but they are not obliged to ensure that no more than 10 faxes are sent in the period in total from the two senders. Example three A fax broadcaster has 30 fax advertisers as clients, each with a different promotion. The fax broadcaster provides only the technology platform to send the faxes.
10 | acma Fifteen fax advertisers send a marketing fax to the same fax number within 24 hours using the services of the fax broadcaster. This would not be considered a breach of the standard as the marketing faxes have been authorised to be sent by different fax advertisers and the fax broadcaster only provided the technology platform.
The limit of 10 marketing faxes within any single 24 hour period builds in a tolerance for mistakes such as dialling errors (the most common being two cycles of misdialled fax or modem calls).
Other codes and standards In developing the draft standard the ACMA also had regard to other codes and standards in Australia. These included:
> Direct Marketing: A Model Code of Practice
> ADMA Direct Marketing Code of Practice
> Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007
> eMarketing Code of Practice
> Handling of Life Threatening and Unwelcome Communications Industry Code.
A summary of these codes can be found at Attachment D.
acma | 11 What has been included in the draft standard
The specifics relating to the four areas required by the Telecommunications Act are discussed below. A copy of the draft standard, which includes all the above elements, can be found at Attachment E.
Prohibited times for the sending of faxes Under the draft standard, a sender must not send a fax, or cause a fax to be sent, on:
> a weekday before 9.00 am or
> a weekday after 8.00 pm or
> a Saturday before 9.00 am or
> a Saturday after 5.00 pm or
> a Sunday or
> a national public holiday.
A reference to time is the time at the place that is the usual address of the relevant account holder.
An exemption has been provided where the relevant account holder, or nominee of the relevant account holder, has consented in advance to receiving the fax at that time.
Provision of information within a fax Under the draft standard, a marketing fax must include the following information:
> the name of the person who authorised the sending of the fax
> the Australian Business Number (ABN) of the person who authorised the sending of the fax, or equivalent business number identification if the person who authorised the sending of the fax is a foreign company
> the contact details of the person who authorised the sending of the fax (telephone or fax number, street address, postal or business address and email address)
> the details of how the recipient can send an opt-out message including:
> a statement to the effect that the fax recipient may opt-out of receiving any future faxes from the person who authorised the sending of the fax by conveying an opt-out message to an opt-out address and
> an opt-out address to which fax recipients can communicate an opt-out message.
The information required must be:
> displayed in a clear and conspicuous manner
> included on the first page of the fax at a minimum
> displayed using a minimum size 10 font.
12 | acma Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period A person who sends faxes must make reasonable efforts to ensure it does not send more than 10 faxes, which are authorised to be sent by the same fax advertiser, to a particular Australian number in any single 24 hour period.
Opt-out functionality Under the draft standard a person who sends a fax must have in place processes to ensure that:
> the opt-out address provided in the fax is capable of receiving opt-out messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week
> as soon as possible, and no later than seven days, after the fax recipient has opted-out of receiving fax messages, the fax recipient’s number is removed from any list of Australian numbers used by the sender to arrange for the sending of faxes on behalf of the fax advertiser.
Operation of state and territory laws The draft standard is not intended to exclude the operation of a law of a state or territory to the extent that the law is capable of operating concurrently with the standard.
For example, if a law of a state or territory prohibits a fax marketer from sending a fax on a day or at a time, other than a day or time restricted in the standard, then the more stringent state or territory law would apply.
acma | 13 Invitation to comment
Comment is invited on: 1. The draft standard, and in particular the: a. four areas required to be addressed in the draft standard by the Telecommunications Act b. limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period
> should the number remain at 10 in a 24 hour period or should it be increased or decreased?
> should the period in which a number of faxes may be sent to a recipient remain at 24 hours or should it be increased or decreased? c. interpretation of words used in the draft standard. 2. Any other issues submitters consider relevant to the development of the standard.
Please provide reasons supporting any views expressed.
14 | acma Next steps
Any submissions relating to the draft standard will be considered and it is expected the standard will be determined by 1 January 2011. Please note that this timeframe for the determination of the standard is provided for indicative purposes only and may be subject to change depending on the issues raised in submissions.
As soon as practicable after being determined, the standard and an accompanying explanatory statement will be registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (www.frli.gov.au) and placed on the ACMA website.
Enquiries about the standard development process should be directed to the contact officer named in this paper under the heading ‘Submissions’.
acma | 15 Attachment A
List of organisations contacted by the ACMA List of organisations contacted by the ACMA and invited to comment on the development of a fax marketing industry standard.
> New South Wales Office of Fair Trading
> Consumer Affairs, Department of Justice, Northern Territory
> Office of Consumer and Business Affairs, Consumer Affairs Branch, South Australia
> Tasmanian Office of Consumer Affairs & Fair Trading
> Office of Regulatory Services Commissioner for Fair Trading, Australian Capital Territory
> Fair Trading, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Queensland
> Consumer Affairs Victoria
> Fundraising Institute Australia
> Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
> Consumer Protection, Department of Commerce, Western Australia
> CHOICE – Australian consumer association
> Australian Direct Marketing Association
> Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
> Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
> Competition and Consumer Policy Division of the Commonwealth, Department of the Treasury
> Australian Securities and Investments Commission
> Australian Privacy Commissioner
> Fair Trading Policy Branch, Office of Regulatory Policy, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
> Fair Trading Operations Advisory Committee, Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs
> All identified fax marketing subscribers to the Do Not Call Register washing service
> All individuals or organisations who subscribed with the ACMA for email alerts regarding the impact of changes in legislation for fax marketers.
16 | acma acma | 17 Attachment B
Summary of submissions Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number cBox.com.au (a) 8.30 am–6.00 pm There should be no frequency restrictions as:. Internal opt-out facility could be > Opt-out facility included in Monday to Friday either a phone number with a at least 12-point font. > Restraint of trade under Trade Practices Act— (catering for different push button, IVR solution, volume based industry. time zones in states). > Contact details of fax website or both for data (b) 10.30 am–3.00 pm marketer will already > Technically impossible for fax marketer (fax collection. Saturdays. appear on the fax as broadcaster maybe). Opt-out facility must be promoting their company operative 24/7 (favouring web (c) No faxing on Sundays. Difficulties in managing and policing ‘volume and and products. > option as easy access and (d) No faxing on public frequency’ matters. unlikely to have down times) so holidays (exception with recipients can unsubscribe at > US, UK and Canada do not have volume/frequency opt-in lists). any time. based restrictions because of policing/compliance (e) No faxing outside these complexities. Fax marketers maintain internal times (exception with blacklists. opt-in lists). > No other country has put this restriction in place.
> Will damage client results as based on volume. Prodocom (a) 7.30 am–8.00 pm on Should not try to restrict the number of faxes sent to a Preferred position is that this > Company name. Monday to Friday. particular number, as one fax machine can serve many facility is hosted on a web page (b) 9.00 am–5.00 pm > Phone number. people. If you can personalise faxes, and where some that requests that the recipient Saturdays. people have given inferred consent for faxes, this enters a code displayed on the > Contact. arrangement becomes unworkable. fax. (c) Not allowed on Sunday The only way that this could be done would be to Other options include a reply fax or public holidays. > Minimum font size of 10. include a ‘for the attention of’ guideline within the FMIS. number, SMS or email. (d) The times should be at recipient’s local time. Adding an addressee algorithm may be costly and time- consuming for industry to implement.
18 | acma Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number The Write Supports delivery during Supports proposition that Do not support. Supports providing web, email, Response normal business hours of faxes contain details of the phone and fax options for opting recipients. originator > ‘Restraint of trade’ out. Notes that is already Notes this is normal business > Recipient can opt-out of receiving faxes through Method of opting out should accepted industry practice. practice opt-out provisions of the register, or through the remain the choice of the fax individual advertiser. originator as this will allow them to manage the output register in > Companies with small marketing windows (eg a way that suits their business. Christmas decorations) would be heavily impacted. OzMedia Pty Ltd A window of 9:00 am to 6.00 Cleary display name of Do not support. Marketing faxes should clearly pm on business days only in company offering goods display a way of opting out from the time zone of the receiver. and/or services. > Not feasible to implement any given marketing database. Provide an email > Marketer has little or no control to determine the address/phone number/fax actual number of times a number has been number where they can be ‘attempted’ as this information lies with the contacted. telecommunications provider.
> Fax marketers use multiple telecommunication providers.
> Have not legal leverage to require a Telco to monitor it dialling attempts per fax number per fax broadcaster—Telcos also have ‘bugs’ in their systems resulting in multiple sends of same fax.
> ‘Partials’ or ‘incomplete’ faxes result in multiple transmissions.
> Impractical to implement and realistically impossible to police in any reasonable way. DQ Consulting Not addressed in Not addressed in submission. Not addressed in submission. Any request should be honoured submission. and excluded from further marketing faxes.
acma | 19 Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number Navion Considers that this would be very difficult to implement. Authorising person for the fax > Between 8.00 am and > Fax to include company Technologies should be responsible for list 8.00 pm. name and phone number maintenance, and should be the and / or fax number. Email person contactable from > Limiting sending times or postal address could information on the fax. may make things also be considered. unworkable for fax Disagree strongly with broadcasters who may > Specific opt-out clause not mandating a toll-free/1300 have to substantially required. number for the opt-out function increase faxing capacity as this would be too costly. to meet demand in a > Disagree strongly with smaller time window. mandating a toll-free/1300 number as this would be too costly. Australian Limited to that which identifies Sent number of faxes should not be identified in the > There are unlikely to be > Opt-out information should Association of the fax marketer FMIS. ‘standard’ times that be clearly noticeable on the National business/individual name, the would be uniformly first page of a fax. Advertisers sending fax number, and welcomed by the another contact detail (phone, industry. > States the process and website and/or email). timelines associated with > AANA suggests that the opting out. draft standard deal with this issue to provide > Includes a contact point maximum flexibility and (telephone, fax, email or web allow for specific timing address) for contact re: issues to be addressed opting out. elsewhere e.g. through industry codes. Jay Jack Monday to Saturday 8.00 am Not addressed in submission. Fax should state the frequency of faxes intended to be Recipients should have the (individual) to 8.00 pm. delivered from the company. option to be removed by calling or emailing.
20 | acma Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number Artelina Sewn Not addressed in submission Not addressed in submission. Not addressed in submission. Not addressed in submission. Flags No fax marketing is acceptable to this respondent, diverts time, paper etc. Has switched to a silent number to stop fax marketers. Bruce Arnold Monday to Friday 8.30 am to Spam legislation model should There is no need to set a ceiling on the number of faxes Spam legislation model should (individual) 5.00 pm. be followed. sent which a consumer has consented to – ‘welcome’ be followed: Marketers should No faxing should be Marketers should include faxes. include contact information permitted on the weekend. contact information which FMIS should be directed towards undesired/repeat fax which includes fax, email/web includes fax, email/web and messages. and voice contact channels for voice contact channels for ‘opting out’ and this facility Volume issues less significant than the timeliness with (along with an ABN) should ‘opting out’ and this facility which requests to desist are heeded. (along with an ABN) should appear on faxes. appear on faxes. Seven days from alert to cessation of further faxes is reasonable, although may require some fax marketers to rearrange their operations.
acma | 21 Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number Officer of the Notes that overseas regulators in this area do not Marketing faxes should provide: > Adoption of calling hours > Should be as consistent as Privacy regulate volume or frequency of fax marketing. should be consistent with possible with the Do Not 1. statement that consumer Commissioner community expectations. Call Register Does not consider that it is in a position to offer can opt-out of future Canberra (Telemarketing and informed comment about how such a restriction may be messages and campaigns > ADMA Code permits Research Calls) Industry determined. 2. the name and contact calling between 9.00 am Standard 2007. details of a representative and 8.00 pm Monday- including postal, email, Saturday, and prohibits > Should include: voice and fax numbers calls on Sundays and 1. ABN of the fax marketer which consumers could use public holidays. (useful for enforcement) to contact marketer to opt- > Model Code restricts 2. Contact details of the fax out. calls 8.00 am and 9.00 marketer Specify font size, and that the pm Monday to Saturday, contact information is on the first The name and contact prohibits calls on 3. page of the message. details of a person to Sundays and prescribed Contact options should be public holidays. whom inquiries or complaints may be ‘postage paid’ or ‘toll-free’ as appropriate to avoid transferring > In view of the OPC, the directed. costs to recipients. ADMA code reflects Given that contact details of current industry businesses are easily Include a variety of contact standard. discoverable, there is no need methods to ensure that for a fax marketer to disclose consumers are not prevented to a consumer where it from opting out due to lack of obtained that consumer’s fax access to appropriate number (as is required by the technology. Telemarketing Standard). Office of the Standard business hours. Support: Support. Support. Telecommuni- Weekend faxing only to > name of company cations those who provide consent. Ombudsman > contact details
> reference point at the company.
22 | acma Submission Times at which marketers Provision of contact Volume and frequency of marketing faxes to a Opting out of receiving faxes can contact consumers information number ACCC Not addressed in Not addressed in submission. Not addressed in submission. Opt-out processes must be submission. simple, transparent and cost- free. Clear, prominent and easy to understand and upfront, prominent and included on the first page of the fax. Consumers should not have to search for this information in lengthy terms and conditions or fine print disclaimer. Department of Reference should be made Reference should be made to Reference should be made to Victorian Fair Trading Act Reference should be made to Justice to Victorian Fair Trading Act Victorian Fair Trading Act 1999, the current scope of the Do Not call register Victorian Fair Trading Act 1999, Consumer 1999, the current scope of 1999, the current scope of the scheme and consumer expectations. the current scope of the Do Not Affairs Victoria the Do Not call register Do Not call register scheme call register scheme and scheme and consumer and consumer expectations. consumer expectations. expectations.
Commissioner Not addressed in submission Not addressed in submission Not addressed in submission. Not addressed in submission. for Fair Trading Agree with the proposed Agree with the proposed Agree with the proposed approach taken for the Agree with the proposed Office of approach taken for the approach taken for the development of the FMIS. approach taken for the Regulatory development of the FMIS. development of the FMIS. development of the FMIS. Services NSW Fair No comment. No comment No comment No comment. Trading Policy WA Department No comment. No comment. No comment. No comment. of Commerce Fully support standard. Fully support standard. Fully support standard. Fully support standard.
acma | 23 24 | acma Attachment C
General comments from the submissions
1. It was suggested that regard should be had to the Direct Marketing: A Model Code of Practice produced by the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs in September 2003, the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) Code, the Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007, and the Victorian Fair Trading Act 1999. In addition several submissions suggested that fax and call standards should be aligned.
The ACMA has considered the above mentioned codes, Act and standard and how the four areas the draft standard addresses have been treated in these documents.
2. The interaction of the standard and the other codes should be clearly described in the standard.
The standard will operate alongside other codes. Compliance with the standard will be required under the Telecommunications Act, and can be enforced by the ACMA under that Act.
The standard will interact with state and territory law in that is not intended to exclude the operation of a law of a State of Territory to the extent that the law is capable of operating concurrently with the draft standard.
Requirements under laws of state or territory will apply additionally to persons within those jurisdictions.
For example, if a State Law prohibits a fax marketer from sending a fax on a day or a time of day, other than a day or time of day in the standard, that law will continue to operate, and a fax marketer must not send the subject of a prohibition fax on that day or at that time.
3. Two submissions raised concerns over enforcing the standard against international companies.
The ACMA has developed considerable experience over the last three years in dealing with some of the challenges which arise in regulating telemarketing, particularly where a significant amount of telemarketing activity is based offshore.
Since the introduction of the Do Not Call Register in 2007, the ACMA has been effective in reducing calls made by some offshore entities through various formal and informal approaches with these entities as well through cooperation with international regulators. The ACMA has also developed a Compliance Guide which assists Australian entities engaging offshore telemarketers and has been effective in educating businesses which engage or rely on offshore services to ensure that they monitor these third party arrangements closely.
Fax marketing is a different industry and new to the ACMA’s regulatory focus, however the ACMA does not anticipate any significantly greater challenges in dealing with offshore entities.
In some situations it will be less difficult than dealing with telemarketing calls, particularly when it comes to identifying offshore businesses since fax marketing will invariably involve an actual piece of documentary evidence to assist the ACMA in identifying the business responsible.
acma | 25 The ACMA will also take steps to educate offshore entities about compliance with the legislation and if necessary, make approaches to international regulators. International entities sending faxes in contravention of the DNCR Act will be monitored by the ACMA in accordance with its policies and procedures consistent with its approach to Australian entities.
4. The ACMA should be wary of applying standards that are onerous on industry or which will have a detrimental effect on the fax marketing and fax broadcasting industry. The standard should not restrict local businesses or give international companies a competitive edge and should not jeopardise Australian jobs
The draft standard attempts to balance community and industry expectations in relation to the sending of marketing faxes.
5. Who will the standard apply to – advertiser, fax marketers, fax broadcasters?
The industry standard will apply to any person or business that sends a marketing fax, regardless of whether they are exempt from the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. Refer to pages 4–5 of the discussion paper for a more detailed overview.
6. The standard should clearly identify the owner of a fax list (advertiser/fax marketer) as the maintainer of the fax list.
The standard will apply to all fax marketers, including those that are exempt from the general prohibition from faxing Australian numbers on the Register (such as charities, registered political parties, and religious organisations).
7. How will the standard apply to dual purpose lines (a phone/fax line)?
A phone/fax line can only be registered if it is primarily for private or domestic purposes. A dedicated fax line can be registered regardless of its use. This means that in the majority of cases, a business phone/fax line will not be eligible for registration.
If a fax marketer believes an ineligible number has been registered (for instance, a dual purpose business line which has no private use), it can be reported to the ACMA who will investigate the matter and remove the number from the register if it is found to be ineligible.
8. Some additional suggestions for the draft standard included:
> companies should send a blanket ‘opt-in’ type fax prior to any marketing attempt, so that further marketing material is only received by those that ‘opt-in’
> faxes should be required to be relevant to industry i.e. don’t send a forklift fax to a solicitor
> the marketer should make the recipient aware of DNCR
> poor fax document design causes problems and should be addressed.
In determining the standard, the ACMA is limited to the four areas specified in section 125B of the Telecommunications Act.
Provision is made under the Telecommunications Act 1997 for other matters to be addressed by industry codes to apply to the fax marketing industry. Codes developed by industry can be presented to the ACMA for registration and where the ACMA is satisfied that the code meets stipulated criteria, it is will include the code on a register of industry codes. Once a code is registered, the ACMA can enforce compliance with the code.
26 | acma Attachment D
Summary of other Australian codes and standards
Direct Marketing: A Model Code of Practice—Prepared by Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs Times at which Between 8.00 am and 9.00 pm. marketers can No calls on Sundays or national public holidays. contact consumers Exception with consumer consent. Provision of A direct marketer shall: contact information > identify themselves > identify the direct marketing organisation they represent
> clearly state the purpose of the contact
> if contacting the consumer from outside of Australia, state the country in which they are located. The name, address and telephone number of the direct marketer and, where different the telemarketing organisation, must be in a telephone directory or, if a new listing, available through a directory assistance service. When direct marketers contact a consumer they shall, at the request of the consumer, provide the following information:
> direct marketer’s name, contact details, including at least its telephone number and street address, and the name of a person within the organisation who is responsible for handling consumer complaints
> details of the source from which the direct marketer obtained the consumer's personal information. Volume and A telemarketer, or its agents, shall not contact a consumer more than once frequency in any 30 day period for the same or similar campaign without that consumer's prior consent. Opting out A direct marketer must remove a consumer’s name from all internal marketing lists or lists for transfer to a third party within 30 days of a request being made by a consumer; or in the event that the consumer is deceased, within 30 days of a request being made by any other person.
acma | 27 ADMA Direct Marketing Code of Practice—September 2006 Times at which Between 9.00 am and 8.00 pm Monday to Saturday at consumer’s local time. marketers can No calls on Sundays or national public holidays. contact consumers Comply with permitted calling hours set out in Federal or State legislation. Provision of Members must provided to the consumer and repeat if the consumer at any contact time requests: information > the name of the person making the telephone call
> where a service bureau is making the call
> the name of the organisation on whose behalf the call is being made
> the purpose of the telephone call. Members that carry on telemarketing on behalf of other organisations must inform the people they call of the telephone number of the organisation on whose behalf they are calling to enable those people to contact the organisation. Members that make telemarketing calls on their own behalf or engage a bureau for that purpose, must ensure that its name, address and telephone number are listed in a telephone directory or, if a new listing, its telephone number is available through a directory assistance service. When making an outbound telemarketing call, Members must not block the transmission of the CLI to any calling number display or any calling name display of a consumer who receives the telephone call. Volume and Members making telemarketing calls must not contact a consumer more than frequency once in any 30-day period for the same or similar campaign without that consumer’s prior consent. Where a number has received an abandoned call, any further calls to that number within the next 72-hour period must be handled by a dedicated operator. For each individual campaign, Members must maintain an up-to-date archive of dialler statistics, which clearly demonstrate compliance with Sections D28 to D32 of the Code. This must include a daily summary of:
> the number of calls attempted
> the number of live calls
> the number of connected calls
> the number of calls passed to a live operator
> the number of live calls abandoned by the dialling equipment. Opting out Where an individual requests not to receive marketing communications, Members must, as soon as possible, suppress the recipient’s data from their marketing database. In all cases, the request must be complied with within 45 days of receipt of a request to cease using data for direct mail, telephone marketing or fax marketing.
28 | acma Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007 Background The ACMA made the Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007 which commenced on 31 May 2007. The standard establishes a minimum set of requirements for making telemarketing and research calls and attempts to balance community and industry expectations in relation to the making of telemarketing and research calls. Times at which General: telemarketers > Monday to Friday between 9.00 am and 8.00 pm can contact consumers > Saturday between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm
> no calls on Sundays or national public holidays. Research: > Monday to Friday between 9.00 am and 8.30 pm
> Saturday between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm
> no calls on Sundays or national public holidays. Provision of Section 6 of the Telemarketing Standard requires: contact (1) information to identify the caller (initiator of the call) information (2) the name of the caller or the employer of the call operator (3) the contact details of the caller (4) the name and contact details of a person to whom inquiries or complaints may be directed. Volume and Not addressed in standard. frequency Opting out Not addressed in standard.
acma | 29 eMarketing Code of Practice Background of Australia’s e-marketing and internet industries have developed separate, code complementary codes of practice to supplement the Spam Act. The principle objective of this code is to ensure that Australian electronic account holders do not receive unsolicited commercial communications from the following sources:
> instant messaging
> a mobile wireless technology. Times at which No communications between: consumers can be > 9.00 pm and 8.00 am Monday to Friday contacted > 9.00 pm to 9.00 am on weekends, unless the recipient or relevant electronic account authority has expressly invited delivery within these hours or been notified in advance that this will be the case. Provision of Ensure that any commercial communications they send contain the following: contact information > information identifying the message originator or message authoriser in such a way that they can be easily recognised and contacted by the recipient. The information must remain valid for 30 days after the commercial communication is sent
> details of an appropriate contact mechanism that allows the recipient or relevant electronic account authority to obtain all the following information relating to the message originator or message authoriser:
> full organisation name
> registered or legal address (PO Box address is not permitted, a virtual office is not permitted)
> ABN
> postal address
> email address or a method to send an electronic message (such as a web-based form)
> fixed line telephone number
> contact details to which enquires or complaints should be directed. Volume and Not addressed by code. frequency Opting out For each commercial communication, message originators and message service providers must provide an easy-to-use, functional unsubscribe facility If forwarded on, commercial communication includes information explaining how the end recipient can unsubscribe from receiving further commercial communications from the initial recipient. The functional unsubscribe facility provided in clause 10.1 must be provided at low cost and be easy-to-use by the recipient or relevant electronic account authority. Message originators must ensure that the functional unsubscribe facility remains functional for a period of 30 days after the message has been sent.
30 | acma Recipients who have unsubscribed are not sent further commercial communications after five days of their request being sent.
acma | 31 Handling of Life Threatening and Unwelcome Communications Industry Code Background ‘Unwelcome communication’ means use of a telecommunications service in a menacing, offensive or harassing manner, but which is not currently a life threatening call, and which may be intentional on the part of the caller or unintentional. For example, repeated calls from a fax machine/modem. Volume and Pattern of unwelcome communications means: frequency > ten or more unwelcome communications in a 24 hour period
> three or more unwelcome communications that are spread over a period of more than 24 hours and less than 120 hours or
> unwelcome communications made at consistent and/or regular intervals.
32 | acma Attachment E
Draft Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010
Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010 made under subsection 125B (1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997
The AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY makes this industry standard under subsection 125B(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997. Dated 2010
Member
Member / General Manager
Australian Communications and Media Authority
acma | 33 Contents
1 Name of industry standard 31 2 Commencement 31 3 Interpretation 31 4 Persons to which this industry standard applies 33 5 Prohibited times for the sending of faxes 33 6 Provision of information within a fax 34 7 Standard for providing opt-out facility to recipient within a fax 36 8 Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period 36 9 Operation of State and Territory laws 36
34 | acma 1 Name of industry standard
This industry standard is the Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Fax Marketing) Industry Standard 2010.
2 Commencement
This industry standard commences on the day after it is registered.
3 Interpretation
(1) In this industry standard:
ACMA means Australian Communications and Media Authority. Act means the Telecommunications Act 1997. Australian number has the same meaning as in Section 4 of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. consent has the same meaning as in Schedule 2 to the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. fax means a marketing fax. fax advertiser means a participant in a section of the fax marketing industry that authorises the sending of a marketing fax for at least one of the following purposes:
(a) marketing, advertising or promoting goods or services, where the person is the supplier or prospective supplier of the goods or services;
(b) advertising or promoting a supplier or prospective supplier of goods or services, where the person is the supplier or prospective supplier of the goods or services;
(c) marketing, advertising or promoting land or interests in land, where the person is the supplier or prospective supplier of the land or interests in land;
acma | 35 (d) advertising or promoting a supplier or prospective supplier of land or interests in land, where the person is the supplier or prospective supplier of the land or interests in land;
(e) marketing, advertising or promoting business opportunities or investment opportunities, where the person is the supplier of the business opportunities or investment opportunities;
(f ) advertising or promoting a provider, or prospective provider, of business opportunities or investment opportunities, where the person is the provider or prospective provider of the business opportunities or investment opportunities;
(g) soliciting donations;
(h) conducting opinion polling; or
(i) carrying out standard questionnaire-based research.
Note For example, if an entity seeks to promote a new product it has created and authorises another entity to send, or cause to be sent, marketing faxes promoting its new product, the first entity will be the fax advertiser. If an entity seeks to promote a new product it has created and sends a marketing fax promoting its own new product, the entity will be taken to be both the sender and the fax advertiser for the relevant marketing fax.
fax marketing industry has the same meaning as in Section 7 of the Act.
fax recipient means an individual or organisation who receives a fax from a sender, whether or not the fax recipient is a relevant account holder.
marketing fax has the meaning given by section 7 of the Act.
36 | acma marketing fax aggregator means a participant in a section of the fax marketing industry that sends, or facilitates the sending of, marketing faxes on behalf of another person.
nominee has the meaning given by section 39 of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006.
number means an Australian number.
relevant account holder has the meaning given by section 4 of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006.
send has the meaning given by section 4 of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. sender means a participant in a section of the fax marketing industry that sends, or proposes to send a marketing fax.
4 Persons to which this industry standard applies
For the purposes of section 125B of the Act, this industry standard applies to participants in each section of the fax marketing industry.
5 Prohibited times for the sending of faxes
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a sender must not send a fax on:
(a) a weekday before 9 am; or
(b) a weekday after 8 pm; or
(c) a Saturday before 9 am; or
(d) a Saturday after 5 pm; or
(e) a Sunday.
(2) Despite paragraphs (1) (a) to (e), a sender must not send a fax at any time on:
(a) a day that is any of the following national public holidays:
(i) New Year’s Day;
(ii) Australia Day;
(iii) Good Friday;
(iv) Easter Monday;
acma | 37 (v) Anzac Day;
(vi) Christmas Day;
(vii) Boxing Day; and
(b) a holiday on a weekday given in lieu of a public holiday mentioned in paragraph (a).
Example
If Christmas Day falls on a Saturday, the sending of faxes would be prohibited on the whole of Christmas Day. Faxes would also be prohibited on any other day that is a public holiday in lieu of Christmas Day. (3) For subsections (1) and (2) a reference to a time of day, or a day, is the time of day, or day, at the place that is the usual address of the relevant account holder.
Exception where consent has been given in advance
(4) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if: (a) either: (i) the relevant account holder; or
(ii) a nominee of the relevant account holder;
has consented in advance to receiving a fax on a day or at a time referred to in those subsections; and
(b) the sender only sends a fax on the day, or at the time to which the consent applies; and
(c) if required by the ACMA, the sender demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the ACMA, the existence of all the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b).
6 Provision of information within a fax
Information to be provided
(1) A sender must not send a fax which does not contain the following information:
(a) the name of the fax advertiser;
(b) the Australian Business Number (ABN) of the fax advertiser, or equivalent business number identification if the fax advertiser is a foreign company;
38 | acma (c) the contact details of the fax advertiser;
(d) the details of how the fax recipient can communicate an opt-out message, including:
(i) a statement to the effect that the fax recipient may opt-out of receiving any future faxes from the fax advertiser by conveying an opt-out message to an opt-out address; and
(ii) an opt-out address to which fax recipients can communicate an opt-out message.
(2) The information to be provided under subsection (1) must be:
(a) displayed in a clear and conspicuous manner;
(b) included on the first page of the fax at a minimum;
(c) be displayed using a minimum size 10 font.
Contact details
(3) For subsection (1), contact details includes a telephone or fax number suitable for receiving telephone calls or faxes during normal business hours at the location of the fax recipient, and at least one of the following:
(a) street address;
(b) postal or business address, other than a street address;
(c) email address.
acma | 39 7 Standard for providing fax recipient with facility to opt out from receiving further faxes (1) For the purpose of subsection (2), a fax recipient will be taken to have opted out of receiving fax messages if the person has conveyed an opt-out message to the opt-out address. (2) A person who sends a fax must have in place processes to ensure that: (a) the opt-out address provided in the fax is capable of receiving opt-out messages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; (b) as soon as possible, and no later than 7 days, after a fax recipient has opted-out of receiving fax messages, the fax recipient’s number is removed from any list of Australian numbers used by the sender to arrange for the sending of faxes on behalf of the fax advertiser.
8 Limit on number of faxes to be sent to a recipient in a period
A person who sends faxes must make reasonable efforts to ensure it does not send more than 10 faxes, which are authorised to be sent by the same fax advertiser, to a particular Australian number in any single 24 hour period.
9 Operation of State and Territory laws This industry standard is not intended to exclude the operation of a law of a State or Territory to the extent that the law is capable of operating concurrently with this industry standard.
40 | acma