The ''Spam Act 2003'' (Cth) is an Act passed by the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

in 2003 to regulate commercial

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

and other types of commercial electronic messages. The Act restricts

spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

, especially

e-mail spam Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, is unsolicited messages sent in bulk by email (spamming). The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoida ...

and some types of phone spam, as well as

e-mail address harvesting Email harvesting or scraping is the process of obtaining lists of email addresses using various methods. Typically these are then used for bulk email or spam. Methods The simplest method involves spammers purchasing or trading lists of email addr ...

. However, there are broad exemptions. The first portions of the Act came into effect on 12 December 2003, the day the act received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

, with the remaining sections of the Act coming into force on 10 April 2004. The Act was originally enforced by the Australian Communications Authority, which in 2005 merged into the

Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Austr ...

(ACMA).

Outline

The key points of the Act provide that: * Unsolicited commercial electronic messages must not be sent unless it is a designated commercial electronic message defined at Schedule 1 of the Act. * Commercial electronic messages must include information about the individual or organisation who authorised the sending of the message. * Commercial electronic messages must contain a functional unsubscribe facility. * Address‑harvesting software must not be supplied, acquired or used. * An electronic address list produced using address‑harvesting software must not be supplied, acquired or used. * The main remedies for breaches of the Act are civil penalties and injunctions.

Significant cases

Australian Communications Authority v Clarity1 (2006)

In ACA v Clarity1 (2006),Australian Communications and Media Authority v Clarity1 Pty Lt
[2006
FCA 410">006">[2006
FCA 410(13 April 2006) Justice Robert Nicholson (judge)">Robert Nicholson considered the respondent's key defence, being retrospective application of provisions under the Act relating to the acquisition and use of harvested address lists. He noted specifically that lists gathered or acquired prior to the Act coming into force are still subject to the legislation. He also struck out the respondent's defence that it had obtained consent to use the gathered addresses for the defined purpose, and also noted a lack of compliance with the provisions of the Act requiring the provision of a functional unsubscribe facility.
Case Information
at the Federal Court of Australia (File WAD155/2005)

References

{{Reflist

External links

DCITA spam home

ACMA spam home

Federal Register of Legislation
2003 in Australian law Acts of the Parliament of Australia Computing legislation Spamming