We hate spam too.
Anti-Spam Policy
The anti-spam legislation was passed on 12 December 2003, it was passed with the proviso that there would be a 120 day grace period so that all people could familiarize themselves with the details of the act. This means that all the provisions of the act are in effect as of April 10, 2004. Please, as a minimum make yourself familiar with the points below, not doing so could cost you as much as $220,000 for a single day's contraventions
Anti-Spam Act in Short
The Spam Act covers commercial electronic messages originating in Australia and sent to an address accessed in Australia. It states that unsolicited commercial electronic messages must not be sent and that messages should only be sent to an address when it is known that the person responsible for that address has consented to receive it.
Commercial electronic messages must contain
- Accurate information about the sender of the message;
- A functional way for the message's recipients to indicate that they do not wish to receive such messages in the future - that they wish to unsubscribe.
The Spam Act covers commercial electronic messages that are sent using:
- short message service (SMS)
- multimedia message service (MMS)
- instant messaging (iM)
The maximum penalties under the Spam Act are substantial:
A business that is found to be in breach of the Spam Act may be subject to a Court imposed penalty of up to $220,000 for a single day's contraventions. If, after that finding, the business contravenes the same provision, they may be subject to a penalty of up to $1.1 million
The Spam Act specifies a number of options that are available to enforce the legislation, depending on which is the most appropriate response to the contravention that has occurred. The range of possible activities includes formal warnings, infringement notices (similar to a speeding ticket), and court actions.
