Do Not Call Register

How does the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) Work and why was it started?

In response to public concerns about an increasing number of unsolicited telemarketing calls to residential numbers the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) developed the Do Not Call Register scheme to regulate this area and reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls to private homes.

Legislation covering the setup of the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) was passed in June 2006 and the Federal Government approved funding of $33.1 million over four years to cover the development and implementation of the DNCR scheme.

ACMA manages the DNCR scheme but outsourced the operation of the actual register to a wholly owned subsidiary of Service Stream Limited. Service Stream has its head office in Melbourne and employs 3000 people across Australia.

Under the legislation it is illegal for telemarketers to call numbers listed on the DNCR. In order to comply telemarketers are required to wash their telemarketing lists against the DNCR on a regular basis

Certain types of organisations as well as certain types of calls are exempt, such as charities, educational institutions, religious organisations as well as government bodies and, of course, political parties. Market research calls are also exempt as well as calls where either express consent has been given by the individual or implied consent can be inferred from a business relationship (e.g. a bank calling a current account holder).

What phone numbers can be registered?

The legislation outlines that only Australian fixed line and mobile telephone numbers primarily used for private or domestic purposes can be listed on the DNCR. Business telephone numbers as well as home phone numbers primarily used for home-based businesses may not be listed on the DNCR.

However, B2B marketers should be aware that ACMA does not actively prevent businesses from putting their contact numbers on the DNCR. Telemarketers who find a business number listed on the DNCR can complain to ACMA. ACMA will then investigate the number. It is then up to the person who has registered the number to provide evidence that it is a private number. If this evidence is not provided within a certain time frame ACMA will remove the number from the DNCR.

What does this mean for telemarketers?

Generally speaking, there could be thousands of business numbers listed on the DNCR at any point of time. These numbers will continue to be registered on the DNCR until someone actually lodges a complaint with ACMA. Only upon completion of the investigation process is the number removed from the DNCR.

The IncNet approach

As IncNet is a database of medium to large businesses in Australia and New Zealand, we did not expect to have any DNCR listed phone number in it. However, to be 100% certain we washed our entire Australia file against the DNCR. We were surprised to find about 300 IncNet numbers were listed on the DNCR.

When we looked at the matches we saw some well-known company names amongst the DNCR registered numbers. These included the main H/O phone number of a company with $600 million revenue and more than 3000 employees, the branch contact number of a media company with more than $1.5 billion revenue and the main enquiry line of the US embassy in Canberra. These numbers were clearly not “primarily used for private or domestic purposes”.

We checked all DNCR matched numbers and subsequently lodged a complaint to ACMA, who then investigated them. Of the 300 DNCR listed IncNet numbers ACMA found 269 to be unlawfully listed on the DNCR. These 269 numbers were then removed from the DNCR.

Based on this experience we wash IncNet against the DNCR on a regular basis. We submit any matches to ACMA for investigation, so that illegally registered numbers can be identified and removed from the DNCR.

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