The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Industry Codes of Practice: to complement the Spam Act 2003, ACMA has worked with the ISP and e-marketing industries to develop draft codes of practice to reduce the amount of spam entering and propagating across the Internet, and to curtail the illegal activities of Australian spammers.

The ISP Code of Practice is under development by the Internet Industry Association (IIA), in conjunction with its sister organisations in Western Australia and South Australia (WAIA and SAIA).  The ISP Code of Practice will cover internet and email service providers and is expected to be presented to ACMA for registration in the near future.

The eMarketing Code of Practice was registered by the ACA on 16 March 2005.  The eMarketing Code of Practice sets out the practices that must be followed by e-marketers when sending promotional messages by email or non-voice mobile channels, to distinguish legitimate e-marketers from illegitimate spammers.

The eMarketing Code of Practice was developed by a committee of industry, consumer and Government bodies and organisations representing the eMarketing industry; the group was chaired by the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).

Click here to read more about the eMarketing Code of Practice.

The Australian Government’s anti-spam strategy: as a government body, ACMA is directly enforcing the Spam Act, monitoring spamming activities, promoting public education, developing technological solutions and working internationally to combat spam. To read more about ACMA’s five-way strategy for combating spam, see Spam – General Information.

Unfortunately, much of the spam that affects Australians comes from overseas. Efforts to combat spam on a national level are necessary, but significant long term gains will only come about through cooperative arrangements with other countries and relevant international bodies; the Australian government is at the forefront of establishing and strengthening these international arrangements.

• Spam: MoU between Australia and Korea
• Spam: MoU between Australia, the UK and the USA
• Australia – Thailand Joint Statement on Telecommunications and IT
• Media Release: 30 January. Australia joins international anti-spam campaign

The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Electronic messages from certain sources are exempted from the legislation. These include messages from:

To be exempted, the message must relate to goods or services and the sender must be the supplier of those goods or services. Purely factual messages with no commercial content are also exempted, but the sender must still include accurate identifying information.

Information for Government

The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) has published guides that specifically address what the Spam Act 2003 means for government bodies, including nformation on the types of messages that are exempt from the Act, and those which must comply:

• Spam Act 2003: An overview for government
• Spam Act 2003: A practical guide for government

The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

To comply with Australia’s spam laws, any commercial electronic message you send must meet the following conditions. Any message sent by an Australian business that doesn’t meet all three of these conditions is defined as spam:

A spam message is not necessarily sent out in ‘bulk’ to numerous addresses – under Australian law, a single electronic message can also be considered spam.

The Act also prohibits the supply or use of address-harvesting software for the purpose of sending spam, and provides for orders for forfeiture of profits derived from spam, and payment of compensation to spam victims.

Don’t become an ‘accidental spammer’

If your business doesn’t have effective security measures in place, spammers can infect your computer with a virus and use it to send spam to other people without your knowledge. To avoid becoming an accidental spammer, learn about and adopt these good security practices:

You can learn more about security by browsing in a computer bookshop or by typing ‘good security practices’ into your favourite search engine. Anti-virus and personal firewall software is available from your ISP or computer shops, and more information about acquiring and using this software can be found on the Internet Industry Association web site: http://www.iia.net.au/.

The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Under the Spam Act 2003 it is illegal to send, or cause to be sent, ‘unsolicited commercial electronic messages’ that have an Australian link. A message has an ‘Australian link’ if it either originates or was commissioned in Australia, or originates overseas but has been sent to an address accessed in Australia.

The Spam Act covers electronic messages – emails, mobile phone text messages (SMS), multimedia messaging (MMS) and instant messaging (iM) – of a commercial nature. However, the Act does not cover voice or fax telemarketing. The legislation sets out penalties of up to $1.1 million a day for repeat corporate offenders.

• theSpam Act 2003
• the Spam (Consequential Amendments) Act 2003
• Spam Regulations 2004

The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Spammers flood the Internet with billions of unwanted email messages. This spam causes significant inconvenience to both individuals and businesses: it disrupts email delivery, clogs up computer systems, reduces productivity, wastes time, irritates users and raises the cost of Internet access fees. Many spam messages also contain material that is offensive or fraudulent, and spam is sometimes used to spread computer viruses.

The following information has been compiled thanks to the help of The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Spam is a generic term used to describe electronic ‘junk mail’ – unwanted messages sent to people’s email accounts or mobile phones. These messages vary, but are essentially commercial in nature, and from the recipient’s point of view are often annoying in their sheer volume. They may invite the person to buy a product or service, or visit a website where they can make purchases; other spam messages attempt to trick people into divulging their bank account or credit card details.

In Australia, spam is defined as ‘unsolicited commercial electronic messages’. Australian legislation relating to spam – the Spam Act 2003 – came into effect on 10 April 2004. This guide for businesses outlines the key aspects of the law. For more detailed information on the requirements the Spam Act 2003 places on businesses that send commercial electronic messages, see:

• Spam Act 2003: A practical guide for business (PDF 243 kb)
• Spam Act 2003: An overview for business (PDF 183 kb)

If you would like paper copies of these information flyers, please complete the order form and return it to ACMA.

For practical advice about how you can reduce the amount of spam your business receives, and suggestions on what to do when you receive spam, see the Spam – Consumer Information page, or download’s Business Guide – Protecting Your Business from Spam [PDF 60 kb] and [RTF (650 kb].