Three rules: consent, identify, unsubscribe
Marketing email in Australia is governed by the Spam Act 2003, enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). It applies to commercial electronic messages, including email and SMS, with an Australian link: sent from Australia, or sent to an address accessed in Australia. ACMA sums the law up in three rules, and every marketing email needs to meet all three:
- Consent: only send to people who have agreed to hear from you.
- Identify: make it clear who sent the message and how to contact them.
- Unsubscribe: give people an easy way to stop the messages, and act on it quickly.
Consent: express or inferred
Like Canada and unlike the US, Australia is opt-in.
- Express consent is a clear, active yes: someone ticks a box, fills in a sign-up form or tells you directly they want your emails. Don't pre-tick boxes, and make it clear what they're signing up to.
- Inferred consent can come from an existing business or other relationship where the person would reasonably expect to hear from you, for example a current customer receiving emails about products related to what they bought. It's narrower than people assume. When in doubt, ask for express consent.
Buying or renting a list doesn't give you consent. If you're challenged, it's up to you to show you had it, so keep records of how and when each person agreed.
What every email must include
Every commercial message must accurately identify the business that authorised it, and include contact details that stay accurate for at least 30 days after sending. If you're an agency sending for a client, the client is usually the one who must be identified.
Unsubscribes: 5 working days
This is where Australia is stricter than most. Every marketing email needs a functional unsubscribe facility that:
- has clear instructions,
- costs the person nothing,
- keeps working for at least 30 days after the message was sent,
- and is actioned within 5 working days.
Don't make people log in or jump through several steps. ACMA treats a slow or broken unsubscribe as a breach in its own right, even if you process the request later.
Some messages are exempt
Purely factual messages without marketing content, such as receipts and account notices, aren't commercial messages, although they still need to identify the sender. Some senders, including government bodies, registered charities, political parties and educational institutions writing to their own students, can send certain messages without consent, but they still have to identify themselves. Most businesses won't qualify for these exemptions.
Enforcement and penalties
ACMA actively investigates spam complaints and regularly issues infringement notices and court-imposed penalties, set in penalty units and capable of running into millions of dollars for serious or repeated breaches. Large, well-known Australian companies have paid significant amounts: Telstra, for example, paid an infringement notice of A$626,000 over text messages that didn't comply. Unsubscribe failures and missing consent are among the most common reasons for action.
A practical Spam Act checklist
- Only email people who have given express consent, or where consent can genuinely be inferred.
- Keep a record of how and when each person agreed.
- Identify your business and include accurate contact details in every email.
- Include a free, simple unsubscribe in every marketing email.
- Action unsubscribes within 5 working days and keep the link working for 30 days.
- Check any agency or platform sending on your behalf does the same.
Keeping a clean list helps with deliverability as much as compliance. The Mailfois list cleaner runs entirely in your browser, so your subscriber data never leaves your device, and the spam checker flags a missing unsubscribe as part of its review.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need consent to send marketing emails in Australia?
Yes. The Spam Act is opt-in. You need express consent, or consent that can reasonably be inferred from an existing relationship.
How quickly must I process an unsubscribe in Australia?
Within 5 working days. The unsubscribe facility must be free, easy to use and keep working for at least 30 days after the email was sent.
Who enforces the Spam Act?
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which can issue formal warnings, infringement notices and enforceable undertakings, and take companies to court.
Does the Spam Act apply to businesses outside Australia?
Yes, if the message has an Australian link, such as being sent to an address accessed in Australia.
Compliance and craft go together. Work through the pre-send checklist, or run the whole email through the Mailfois pre-send checker.
