ELECTRONIC MARKETING CODE A PLUS FOR BUSINESS AND CONSUMERS

6 May 2004
58/04

I welcome today's announcement by the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) and the eMarketing Code Development Committee of plans to establish a code of practice for electronic marketing.

This code has the potential to be a valuable addition to Australia's fight against spam and will complement the Spam Act 2003, which came into force last month.

The Spam Act is an important part of our armoury against spam, with those who persist in sending unsolicited commercial electronic messages subject to penalties of up to $1.1 million per day.

But this legislation is only part of the Government's multi-layered approach to spam. Industry, regulators and consumer groups all play a vital role in dealing with this global menace.

I congratulate the ADMA and the wider marketing community for their active response to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) call for industry players to develop a code of practice.

To comply with the Spam Act 2003, a company must do three essential things: obtain consent, identify the sender, and allow a recipient to 'unsubscribe'. The code of practice will provide this key industry sector with clear and specific guidance on complying with the new legislation.

The e-marketing code will be binding on all organisations that use email or mobile telephones as their primary marketing tool, or third party organisations who market on behalf of their clients.

I understand the code development committee intends to release a draft version of the e-marketing code for public comment in June.

When complete, the code will be presented to the Government for formal registration by the ACA. Once the code is registered, the ACA will be able to issue warnings to e-marketing industry companies, and direct them to comply with the code.

Guides for business and consumers on dealing with spam are available on the ACA website:

http://www.aca.gov.au/consumer_info/spam/index.htmand on the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts website: http://www2.dcita.gov.au/ie/trust/improving/spam_home.

Media Contact: Carina Tan-Van Baren (02) 6277 7480 or 0439 425 373