Information about the Do Not Call Register, the services it offers and who uses them.
What is the Do Not Call Register?
The Do Not Call Register is a secure database where individuals and organisations can register, check or remove their Australian telephone, mobile and fax numbers to opt out of receiving most unsolicited telemarketing calls and faxes.
Registration is free and you only need to do it once.
Once registered, a number will stay on the register indefinitely unless the number owner or their representative removes the number.
Who is the Do Not Call Register for?
The register is for consumers, including:
- Members of the general public—who can register Australian numbers that are used for private or domestic purposes
- Authorised officers of government bodies and emergency services—who can register Australian numbers that are used exclusively by government bodies or are emergency service numbers
- Authorised officers of businesses—who can register Australian numbers used exclusively for transmitting and receiving faxes.
More information for consumers.
The register is for businesses undertaking telephone or fax marketing to Australian consumers, including:
- Telemarketers—making voice calls or causing telemarketing calls to be made with a particular commercial purpose
- Fax marketers—transmitting marketing faxes or causing marketing faxes to be made with a particular commercial purposes
- Other businesses—planning on making calls or faxes for marketing purposes.
More information for industry.
How does the Do Not Call Register work?
Telemarketers and fax marketers have 30 days to recognise the registration of a number and to stop contacting that number.
To identify registered numbers, organisations are able to check—or ‘wash’—their calling lists against the register.
Lists are submitted, checked and returned with all registered numbers identified. To protect the privacy of registrants, organisations are only given information on the numbers submitted.
Any organisation that either calls or faxes a number listed on the register, or arranges for this to occur, may be breaking the law and could face penalties.
Who is responsible for the Do Not Call Register?
The Australian Media and Communications Authority (the ACMA) manages the register, including responding to breaches of the legislation.
The legislative arrangements that underpin the register include the:
- Do Not Call Register Act 2006 —establishes the register, and outlines rules for making unsolicited telemarketing calls and sending unsolicited marketing faxes to numbers on the register.
- Do Not Call Register Regulations 2017 —specifies the types of calls that are not telemarketing calls and the people deemed to be nominees of a relevant account-holder
- Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017 —sets out the minimum requirements for those making telemarketing and research calls to Australian numbers, including when and how they can make certain calls
- Telecommunications (Fax Marketing) Industry Standard 2021—sets out minimum requirements for those sending marketing faxes to Australian numbers, including when and how fax marketers can send certain faxes.