Spamming

Complaints about spam received from a third party are outside the TIO’s jurisdiction. The Spam Act 2003 states that, while a provider’s network may be utilised by a third party in order to send spam, the provider is deemed not to be responsible for that spam.

Consequently, the TIO is only able to investigate the following types of spam complaints:

Complainant claims to have been spammed by their own provider

In determining whether or not a complainant had in fact been spammed by their provider, the TIO would have regard to the Spam Act 2003. In particular, the TIO would consider the following issues:

• Did the provider obtain the customer’s consent (express or implied) prior to sending the message?
• Did the message in question provide clear and accurate information (including contact details) about the provider?
• Did the message include a functional unsubscribe button allowing the customer to ‘opt out’ of receiving any future messages?

In order to establish whether the message is considered spam, as defined by the Act, the TIO would also consider whether the message was of a commercial nature or whether it was purely factual.

Where the TIO’s investigation establishes that a provider may have sent spam to its customer, the TIO would notify the Australian Communications & Media Authority at the conclusion of the investigation.

Complainant alleges that their provider has offered inadequate assistance/advice in relation to preventing spam

The TIO expects providers to assist customers, as far as practicable, to deal with spam. This may involve providing advice on how to prevent spam or assisting a customer to deal with spam that is already being received. If a complainant claims that their provider has not offered adequate advice or assistance, the TIO may investigate.

Next: Access of land to inspect, install or maintain low impact facilities