Complying with Australia’s Anti-Spam Legislation when using Yotpo SMS & Email

This information is not legal advice. While we do our best to provide useful information to use as a starting point, Yotpo SMS & Email advises all merchants to obtain professional legal advice to ensure that all marketing campaigns are sent in full compliance with all applicable laws.

If you are a merchant who wants to send text or email marketing campaigns to Australian shoppers, it’s essential to first get familiar with local regulations and learn how to comply with them. Those are the Spam Act (2003) and Spam Regulations (2021), designed to protect people from receiving spam or “unsolicited commercial electronic messages.” Keep in mind that violating these regulations might result in fines.

All Yotpo SMS & Email users can easily adhere to these regulations by following a couple of simple and intuitive steps.  

The following article will introduce you to the main takeaways of the Spam Act (2003) and Spam Regulations (2021) and how Yotpo SMS & Email helps you remain in compliance with them at all times.

How to stay compliant with Australia’s Anti-Spam Legislation

According to the Spam Act and Spam Regulations, if you plan on sending marketing messages in Australia, you must: 

• Obtain proper consent and keep records of it
• Identify yourself and include contact details
• Include a method to unsubscribe/opt-out of messaging

How to get consent

The Spam Act defines two types of consent:

• Express(recommended): when someone has explicitly agreed to receive promotional marketing emails or messages from you.
• Inferred: when someone has knowingly and directly given you their information, and it is reasonable to believe they would expect to receive marketing messages from your business.

With Yotpo SMS & Email, this can be done at your store’s checkout or via one of our various subscriber collection tools. All of which are built-in compliance with regulations and include the required legal verbiage.

Keeping a record of given consent is also imperative. We ensure that by keeping indefinite records of:

• The timestamp of consent acquisition.
• The consent acquisition medium (i.e., pop-up, keyword, etc.)
• The customer’s phone number or email address for which consent to receive messaging was granted.

How to send text and email marketing messages in full compliance

Obtaining consent is just the first part of the requirements. The Spam Act also requires you to include the following information in every message: 

Your sender identification

• The brand’s legal business name, or the brand’s name, plus its Australian Business Number (ABN).
• Contact information or a link to contact information.

All the above should remain valid for at least 30 days after the message is sent.

The brand’s name can be easily added to every text message via the Site name shortcode. The alphanumeric sender ID is automatically included when sending SMS campaigns to Australian shoppers.  In email, the email settings will add your brand name on all emails.

An opt-out mechanism that

• Is presented clearly.
• Honors the request to unsubscribe within five working days.
• Does not cost more than the usual amount for using the address (such as a standard text charge).
• Does not force recipients to provide extra personal information or create or log in to an account to unsubscribe.

All the above should remain valid for at least 30 days after the message is sent.

These are the general guidelines you must follow to comply with Australia’s Anti-Spam Legislation and how Yotpo SMS & Email ensures compliance at all times. You can learn more on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website. 

If you have any more questions about Australia’s Spam Act and Regulations, don’t hesitate to contact us.