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Understand the Spam Act

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Summary

Learn how the Spam Act 2003 applies to electronic marketing and what you must do to ensure your email and SMS communications comply with Australian law.


If you send commercial electronic messages, you are bound by the Spam Act 2003 and should make yourself familiar with the rules.  A good introduction can be found on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website.

The Spam Act makes it an offence to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages. 'Unsolicited' refers to messages that are sent without the consent of the recipient.

The Spam Act also requires that senders of commercial electronic messages include accurate identifying information about the organisation or person that authorised the sending of the message and a functional unsubscribe facility. All unsubscribe requests must be actioned within 5 working days. 

It is important that you and your staff are fully aware of the requirements of the Spam Act when conducting eMarketing activities. 

Note: The penalties that can be imposed under the Spam Act are substantial - up to $220,000 per day for a first offence by a business entity.