Do not call

After years of talk, everyone now knows that a Do Not Call register is coming.

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, announced plans to establish the Register on 4 April 2006.

In the US, a national do not call register came into effect from 1 January 1995. Over there, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s top consumer protection agency, manages the Register. The US scheme allows a grace period of one month.  Once a consumer registers, telemarketers have up to one month to stop calling.

The US Registry was created to offer consumers a choice regarding telemarketing calls. The FTC’s decision to create the National Do Not Call Registry was the culmination of a comprehensive, three-year review of the telemarketing, as well as the Commission’s extensive experience enforcing earlier telemarketing rules over the previous seven years. The FTC held numerous workshops, meetings, and briefings to solicit feedback from interested parties and considered over 64,000 public comments, most of which favoured creating the registry.

From media reports, it seems that the Australian decision to run with a Do Not Call Register is motivated by a need to address the issue of consumer protection, and provide consumers with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving intrusive telemarketing calls at home.

The Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) was quick to say that it welcomes the announcement made by the Minister, saying that it broadly supports the Government proposal. ADMA sees the government initiative as an effort to ensure that standards adhered to by ADMA members, are extended to the broader telemarketing community.

ADMA claims that the Minister’s announcement in April appeared after two years of extensive lobbying by ADMA for the introduction of a government-backed national Do Not Call Register and harmonised industry standards.

ADMA CEO, Rob Edwards, said: “We have been asking the government to introduce a national register and industry standards for two years now, so we are pleased to see that ADMA’s recommendations have been followed. Of course, there is still a need for some fine tuning to make it workable for consumers and industry, but we are sure these issues can be resolved.”

He added: “We also welcome the Minister’s position on offering limited exemptions, particularly where an existing business relationship already exists with a consumer.

Unsurprisingly, it is in the area of costings that ADMA seems to have an issue with the Federal Government. It has raised concerns over the $33 million establishment costs and the notion that industry would foot half this bill.

It accepts that telemarketers should contribute to the costs of running the scheme through subscription fees, but says it is unrealistic to expect the industry to pay the remaining set up costs, and will call for further discussion with the Government in relation to this.

ADMA also claims that the 4 April announcement by the Minister was the first time that the Government had introduced the notion of the Register covering small businesses.

In her statement, the Minister said that the Government will introduce legislation as soon as possible to establish the Register and create minimum standards for the behaviour of telemarketers.

“The number of unsolicited calls in Australia has grown significantly in recent years, and has led to rising community concerns about the inconvenience and intrusiveness of telemarketing,” Senator Coonan said.

“Based on international experience, the Government expects that there will be one million registrations in the first week of operation and four million after the Register’s first year.”

According to the Minister’s statement, “the Register will apply to all telemarketers operating in Australia, as well as those overseas telemarketers who represent Australian companies. It will also include a range of enforcement options, including warnings, fines, formal directions and financial penalties.”