The Australian Communications and Media Authority is aware that members of the public may receive political emails, text messages and calls from time to time, such as:
- during local, state and territory or federal election campaigns
- during periods of political debate, such as in the lead up to a referendum or plebiscite.
These messages and calls are exempt from most spam and telemarketing rules.
Spam rules
Spam rules apply to commercial electronic messages, including email and SMS. Commercial messages are those that offer, advertise or promote goods or services. An electronic message which is seeking to influence your vote or opinion is unlikely to be commercial. If a message is not commercial, the sender does not need your permission to send it and does not need to include an unsubscribe option in the message.
View more information about the regulation of bulk messages under electoral laws on the Australian Electoral Commission website.
You can find more information about the spam rules on our website.
Telemarketing rules
Telemarketing rules apply to telemarketing and research calls. If a call is not commercial, it may be made to anyone, even to a number on the Do Not Call Register. Most political calls are unlikely to be telemarketing calls.
All telemarketing and research calls, which could include political opinion polling, are subject to additional minimum standards about when they can be made and the information that must be provided. You can find out more about these rules on the Do Not Call Register website.
If the call is not telemarketing and is not a research call, then it is not covered by these rules.
More information about telemarketing rules can be found at donotcall.gov.au