Today we continue on our deep dive in the the world of telemarketing where we will explore the legal side of a telemarketing campaign.
TELEMARKETING LAWS – Once you decide you want to run a telemarketing campaign you must first consider all laws around running a telemarketing campaign within your industry and even within the state that your business is operating from as well as the state you are calling and the state you are calling from. You may also need to consider the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and if that applies to your business. There are very hefty penalties for calling anyone for a commercial purpose outside of certain hours including anytime on a Sunday or any time on a public holiday. A telemarketer also must terminate a call immediately upon the requet of the person recieving the call. However these laws only apply to transactions over $100 in value.
Every call must begin by identifying who the person is that is calling, who they work for and the nature of the call.
The “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” was amended and enforced on 1st July 2016. This Act covers laws governing telemarketing calls and states that they must not be made to a number on the “Do Not Call Register”. It also outlines the main remedies for a breach the Act which could be civil penalties even injunctions. Telemarketers and companies using telemarketing must also abide by the Telecommunications Act of 1997. The “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” defines a telemarketing call as a voice call to an Australian phone number with regard to the content of the call, the presentational aspect of the call, content that can be obtained by using a phone number, URL or any other contact information mentioned within a call. The “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” can be enforced if the person recieving the call can reasonably conclude that the purpose of the call is to supply goods or services, offer or promote goos or services including but not limited to land, business opportunities, investment opportunities or solicit a donation regardless of whether the thing being offered physically exists or not, even if the goods or services are obtained illegally. Calls can not be made to a number on the “Do Not Call Register”. The only time this does not apply is when the person recieving the call has given censent for the call to proceed. In the event that a call is made to a number on the “Do Not Call Register” then the call must be terminated immediately upon discovering this and the person who made the call as well as the person who supplied the number to the caller must prove that all reasonable attempts where taken to avoid the call occuring in the first place, including having the list washed against the “Do Not Call Register” if it is a B2C call. Under the “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” it is ACMA’s (Australian Communication and Media Authorities) responsibility to keep and maintain an accurate register of Australian numbers in electronic form.
The sole reason why Hassle Free Marketing Solutions only conduct B2B calls and advise our clients to do the same is because any one can list a number on the “Do Not Call Register” as long as it meets one of the following four criteria:
- It is used or maintained primarily for private or domestic use (ie: Not for business).
- It is used or maintained exclusively for the sole purpose of transmitting or recieving faxes. (Do fax machines even still exist?)
- It is used or maintained exclusively for use by a government body
- It is an emergency services number.
If a business and/or individual is found to be in breach of the “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” then an infringement notice can be issued and back dated for a maximum of 12 months. In other words if an offence is commited under the “Do Not Call Register Act 2006” then you may not hear about it from ACMA for 12 months which is why it is good practice to keep good records of all calls made (ie: recordings, scripts, notes of all calls, contact details and any other detail you can) so that you have evidence if and when you recieve a breech notice. We will look at how best to do this our next blog when we look at CRM’s and systems. If for whatever reason you are served with an infringement notice, that notice must include the following to be enforcable under the Act in a court of law:
- The full name of the person to whom the notice is given
- The full name of the authorised officer who has given the notice
- Brief details of the alleged breech of the Act.
- Contain the following statement:
“matter or matters will not be dealt with by the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit Court if the penalty specified in the notice is paid to the ACMA, on behalf of the Commonwealth, within:
(i) 28 days after the notice is given; or
(ii) if the ACMA allows a longer period—that longer period; and
(e) give an explanation of how payment of the penalty is to be made; and
(f) set out such other matters (if any) as are specified by the regulations.
Before considering to run a telemarketing campaign you need to also make yourself familiar with the “Telecommunication (telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017” which is a document issued by the Australian Federal Government on 20th March 2017. The standards outline what is in the Act such as: calling times, what must be said on every call, what information must be provided to the person receiving the call and when that information must be given.
If you want to read the legislation for yourself go to:
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00323
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021C00356
in the next blog we will look at CRM’s and systems in our next blog.
