In Short
- Email marketing must comply with the Spam Act 2003, including obtaining consent.
- Include a clear unsubscribe option in all marketing emails.
- Personal information must be handled according to the Privacy Act 1988.
Tips for Businesses
Get clear consent before sending marketing emails. Make sure to include an easy-to-find unsubscribe option and handle customer data according to privacy laws. Regularly review your processes to ensure compliance with the Spam Act and Privacy Act, reducing legal risks for your business.
Marketers and business owners often face the mounting pressure of meeting monthly revenue targets. What can you do when you’ve already exhausted all your lead generation ideas for the month? Do you attempt to send another batch of emails and hope for the best? Email marketing can be an excellent way to provide your customers with useful and engaging information. However, sometimes email marketing crosses the line and become spam. This article explains how to ensure that you are complying with email marketing laws and not sending illegal spam.
1. What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a commonly used lead generation strategy where a business will send a batch of emails to a targeted group of people. The targeted people can be from an existing database of clients or a list that the business has purchased. Although email marketing can have many purposes, the end goal is usually to increase brand awareness and promote the business’ products or services.
2. What Are the Email Marketing Laws in Australia?
The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (‘the Spam Act’) governs email marketing in Australia, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) enforces these email marketing laws.
Three main rules are imposed on email marketers. These rules concern:
- consent;
- identification; and
- unsubscribe options.
Consent
Recipients must first have consented to receive commercial electronic messages before a business can send them any email material. Consent can either be express or inferred.
Express consent is where the recipient has deliberately opted-in to receiving emails from the business.
To determine if the recipient has given inferred consent, the relationship between the sender and the recipient is examined. Here, there needs to be a reasonable expectation that the recipient will receive further emails.
Furthermore, it is always best practice when collecting personal details to provide a link to your privacy policy. A privacy policy will inform the user what you intend to do with their information.
Identity
The recipient needs to be able to contact the business or person sending the email. Therefore, you should never attempt to conceal your email or website address in your communication.
Unsubscribe Option
Marketers and businesses must provide the recipient of commercial electronic messages the option to unsubscribe from the emails. You must also present the unsubscribe instructions in a clear manner. If you receive a request to unsubscribe, you will have to honour that request within five business days.
You might consider adding an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email. Alternatively, you can get the recipient to reply back to the email saying that they wish to unsubscribe. Whatever the method, you need to allow the recipient the option to withdraw their consent if they do not want to receive any more communication from your business.
Continue reading this article below the form3. What Messages are Exempt from Email Marketing Laws?
There are two categories of emails that are partially exempt from the above email marketing laws. However, both these categories of emails must still comply with the identity rule.
Purely Factual Emails
Purely factual emails are partially exempt. These include emails which:
- provide a price or quote to a customer;
- provide a product description to a customer;
- advise the recipient and are not commercial; and
- are for the recipient’s genuine safety.
Just because you may have sent a factual email to a recipient, does not mean that you are allowed to send them further emails that are of a commercial nature.
Emails From Permitted Bodies
The Spam Act also permits emails from certain bodies, including:
- governments;
- political parties;
- charities; and
- educational institutions.
4. What are the Consequences of Breaching Email Marketing Laws?
The ACMA has certain powers to enforce email marketing laws. This power arises when the email is classified as spam and includes an Australian link. These powers include:
- issuing formal warnings;
- accepting undertakings from the sender;
- issuing fines;
- seeking injunctions from the Federal Court; and
- taking the matter to the Federal Court.
If you are a repeat offender and have sent two or more messages in a day without consent, fines can have a maximum amount of $1,800,000.
Key Takeaways
When you’re below those sales targets, squeezing out those last emails might be a good idea – provided you don’t engage in any ‘spammy’ behaviour. In email marketing, it’s never good practice to send more than one email per day. If you are, make sure you’re complying with all the necessary email marketing laws. If you have any questions on email marketing laws, contact LegalVision’s IT lawyers on 1300 544 755 or fill out the form on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, under the Spam Act, you must have express or inferred consent from recipients before sending marketing emails. Consent can be obtained through sign-up forms, purchase agreements, or other clear opt-ins.
An unsubscribe option must be clear, easy to find, and simple to use. It should enable recipients to opt out of future emails without difficulty.
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