The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) has received a significant number of complaints from consumers who have received telemarketing calls from, or on behalf of, home insulation installers.
It has become clear that many insulation installers are unaware their marketing activity is subject to the provisions of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the DNCR Act) and the Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register)(Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007 (the industry standard), and that significant penalties apply to people that fail to comply with the requirements of the DNCR Act and the industry standard.
If you are calling consumers to:
- ask whether they have insulation and/or are aware of the Government rebate;
- inform them about the Government rebate and advise them of how your business can assist them in obtaining insulation under the rebate;
- offer appointments to them to inspect their property and/or provide quotes on insulation; or
- otherwise offer to supply, advertise or promote your goods and services in any way;
then you are engaging in ‘telemarketing’ and are required to comply with the DNCR Act.
If you purchase "leads" from a call centre or engage a call centre to set up appointments for you, you may also be responsible for any calls that the call centre makes to numbers on the Register.
In an effort to address the lack of awareness of the Register and to reduce the amount of complaints the ACMA is receiving in relation to home insulation, the ACMA has created this webpage specifically for the home insulation installation industry. The ACMA has also developed the following tools for the insulation industry:
- An information sheet developed specifically for the industry, providing essential information for installers as to their responsibilities under the DNCR Act and the industry standard and how to ensure compliance.
- Insulation Industry Agreement Checklist - HTM or PDF
A checklist developed specifically for the industry to help prepare agreements with third parties for the purchasing of "leads" and with call centres.
To set up an account to ‘wash’ your numbers against the register prior to calling, please visit www.donotcall.gov.au.
The ACMA will continue to monitor complaints against home insulation installers. Any complaints received about individual businesses may be subject to full investigation, and the imposition of significant penalties as appropriate.
If you have an enquiry about any telemarketing please direct them to DNCInvestigations@acma.gov.au.
