The short version
Marketing email in New Zealand is governed by the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (often shortened to the UEM Act), enforced by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). It covers commercial electronic messages, including email and text messages, with a New Zealand link: sent from New Zealand, or sent to an address accessed in New Zealand. Like Australia's Spam Act, it comes down to three things:
- Consent: only send commercial messages to people who have agreed to receive them.
- Identify: make it clear who sent the message and how to contact them.
- Unsubscribe: include a working way to opt out, and act on it promptly.
Consent: express, inferred or deemed
New Zealand is opt-in. The Act recognises three kinds of consent:
- Express consent is a clear yes: someone ticks a box, fills in a sign-up form or asks to hear from you. Don't pre-tick boxes, and say what they're signing up for.
- Inferred consent comes from the conduct and the business or other relationships of the person, for example an existing customer who would reasonably expect emails about products related to what they bought. It's narrower than many assume.
- Deemed consent applies only in a narrow case: someone has conspicuously published their work email address (on a website, say) without saying they don't want marketing, and your message is relevant to their role. It doesn't cover personal addresses or bought lists.
Bought or rented lists don't come with consent. If you're challenged, it's up to you to show you had it, so keep a record of how and when each person agreed.
What every email must include
Every commercial message must clearly and accurately identify the person or business that authorised it, and include accurate information about how to contact them. If you're an agency sending for a client, it's usually the client who must be identified.
Unsubscribes: 5 working days
Every commercial email needs a functional unsubscribe facility that:
- is free and easy to use,
- keeps working for at least 30 days after the message was sent,
- and is actioned within 5 working days of the request.
Don't make people log in or go through several steps to opt out.
Some messages aren't commercial
Purely factual messages, such as receipts, delivery updates and account notices, aren't commercial electronic messages, although they should still say who they're from. Adding a promotional section to an otherwise factual email can make it commercial, so keep the two apart if you rely on that.
Enforcement and penalties
The DIA investigates complaints and can issue formal warnings, infringement notices and enforceable undertakings, and take cases to court. Court penalties can reach NZ$200,000 for an individual and NZ$500,000 for an organisation. Missing consent and broken unsubscribes are the most common problems.
A practical UEM Act checklist
- Only email people who have given express consent, or where consent can genuinely be inferred.
- Treat deemed consent as the narrow exception it is.
- 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 commercial email, and keep it working for 30 days.
- Action unsubscribes within 5 working 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 New Zealand?
Yes. The UEM Act is opt-in. You need express consent, consent that can reasonably be inferred, or, in narrow cases, deemed consent.
How quickly must I process an unsubscribe in New Zealand?
Within 5 working days, and the unsubscribe facility must keep working for at least 30 days after the email was sent.
Who enforces it?
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which handles complaints and can issue warnings, infringement notices and enforceable undertakings, and bring court proceedings.
How is it different from Australia's Spam Act?
They're close cousins: both are opt-in, both need you to identify yourself, and both give 5 working days to action an unsubscribe. New Zealand also recognises deemed consent for conspicuously published work addresses. See the Australian Spam Act guide.
Compliance and craft go together. Work through the pre-send checklist, or run the whole email through the Mailfois pre-send checker.
