BSBMKG501B/502B
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An approved code of practice (COP) provides
practical guidance to meeting legislative
obligations
Legislation
Industry
members
Industry
regulators
Consultative
experts
Codes
of
Practice
Special interest
groups
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Codes of practice are developed to:
 Assist organisations to meet their legal
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obligations
Establish an industry standard for the way
organisations operate and behave
Create benchmarks of best practice for
organisations to implement into procedures
Provide guidelines for organisations for areas
between legislative requirements
Protect customers
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Direct Marketing Code of Practice - ADMA
DMA’s Guidelines for Ethical Business
Practice
Australian eMarketing Code of Practice
The Australian Guidelines for Electronic
Commerce
Commercial Television Industry Code of
Practice
Australian Direct Marketing Association
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The Code sets out specific standards of conduct for
participants in the direct marketing industry in
relation to individuals and consumers and serves as a
benchmark in settling disputes.
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The requirements of the Code are based on
commonsense and are matters of fairness and
honesty.
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The Code not only promotes fair-trading but also is
intended to serve as a point of reference for Members
to ensure they comply with all applicable state and
commonwealth laws
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Direct marketing is expanding rapidly.
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More consumers are choosing to purchase
goods and services through direct response
channels and more businesses are using
these media to meet this increasing demand.
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Because they operate at a distance rather
than face-to-face with consumers, direct
marketing organisations place a greater
emphasis on building consumer confidence
and trust.
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This is especially true in respect of their
handling of personal information such as
name, address and other identifying
information
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The future expansion of direct marketing
depends on the players conducting their
business in a fair, honest and ethical manner,
both in dealings with other businesses and
consumers.
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Only by doing so can the reputation of the
industry be enhanced so that consumer
demand will continue to grow.
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Key features of the current Code include
 Privacy protection
 Compulsory Do Not Mail / Do Not Call service made
 Mandatory "Cooling Off" period
 Compliance requirement extension to suppliers and
non-members
 Telemarketing Standards of Practice
 E-Commerce Standards
 Code Authority
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An integral part of the Code is the National
Privacy Principles (NPP’s).
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The NPP's give consumers some control over
their personal information by limiting the
amount of information that companies can
collect about individuals.
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Marketers are required to inform consumers
who is collecting the information, how the
company can be contacted and the intended
usage of the personal information, including
whether it will be disclosed to third parties.
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Consumers must be given the opportunity optout of future direct marketing approaches and
block transfer of their contact details to any
other marketer.
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Under the Code, use of the ADMA Do Not Mail
and Do Not Call Consumer Preference Services
are mandatory for all ADMA members.
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This requires members to purge from marketing
campaigns the names and contact details of
consumers who have registered for the service.
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This ensures that individuals that have indicated
they do not wish to be approached are not
contacted.
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When supplying goods or services at a
distance, ADMA members must provide a
seven day "cooling off" period during which a
customer is entitled to cancel the contract
with the direct marketer.
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ADMA members must ensure the customer's
right to cancel the contract is specified in any
contractual documents.
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Members are responsible for the conduct of
their agents, subcontractors and suppliers.
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This broadens the scope of the Code beyond
the membership of ADMA, thus raising
standards throughout the direct marketing
industry.
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Direct marketers who use the telephone must
ensure they identify themselves to the person
they are calling and state the purpose of the
call.
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They must also ensure their name address
and telephone number is listed in an
accessible directory.
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They must also:
 on request, provide the name of a person
responsible for handling customer inquiries,
 offer to call the person back if it appears that a
customer has been interrupted at an inconvenient
time,
 provide the customer with a clear opportunity to
accept or decline the offer,
 ensure that all telephone calls to a customer are
made at times that comply with specific
legislation and in all other instances are made
between the hours of 9am and 8pm and are not
made on the following public holidays: Christmas
Day; Good Friday; and Easter Sunday,
 release the customer's telephone line within five
seconds of their hanging up or otherwise
indicating they require the line to be released.
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In addition, they must not represent that they
are undertaking market research where the
purpose of the call is to sell goods or services,
or contact a customer more than once in any
30 day period for the same or similar
campaign without that customer's prior
consent.
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ADMA has adopted OECD Guidelines for Ecommerce in its Code of Practice.
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OECD = Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
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These international best practices cover
issues such as providing clear and
unambiguous information about the identity
of the businesses and the goods or services
they offer, verifiable contracts, effective
consumer complaint handling and
security/authentication measures.
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A key feature of ADMA's Code of Practice is the
establishment of an independent complaints
body.
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Made up of an independent Chair and equal
number of consumer and industry
representatives.
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The Code Authority investigates unresolved
consumer complaints about members and nonmember companies.
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The Code Authority can apply a range of
sanctions and recommend expulsion of an
offending member.
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The commercial penalty of being expelled
from ADMA is severe since the accompanying
negative publicity is likely to restrict the
ability of an organisation to operate in the
market.
Direct marketing Association
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The Direct Marketing Association's Guidelines
for Ethical Business Practice are intended to
provide individuals and organizations
involved in direct marketing in all media with
generally accepted principles of conduct
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These guidelines reflect DMA's long-standing
policy of high levels of ethics and the
responsibility of the Association, its
members, and all marketers to maintain
consumer and community relationships that
are based on fair and ethical principles.
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The Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice
are used by DMA's Committee on Ethical
Business Practice, an industry peer review
committee, as the standard to which direct
marketing promotions that are the subject of
complaint to DMA are compared.
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A DMA member
 Is committed to its customers' satisfaction
 Clearly, honestly, and accurately represents its
products, services, terms and conditions
 Delivers its products and services as represented
 Communicates in a respectful and courteous
manner
 Responds to inquiries and complaints in a
constructive, timely way
 Maintains appropriate security policies and
practices to safeguard information
 Provides information on its policies about the
transfer of personally identifiable information for
marketing purposes
 Honours requests not to have personally
identifiable information transferred for marketing
purposes
 Honours requests not to receive future
solicitations from its organization
 Follows the spirit and letter of the law as well as
DMA's Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice
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The eMarketing Code of Practice has been
developed to establish comprehensive
industry rules and guidelines for the sending
of commercial electronic messages with an
Australian link in compliance with the Spam
Act 2003.
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The Code has been developed under Section
112(1A) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
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To establish appropriate industry behaviour in
relation to the sending of commercial electronic
messages and the gaining of consent;
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To reduce the incidence of unsolicited
commercial messages sent by members of the
Australian eMarketing industry;
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To create benchmarks relating to commercial
electronic messages and procedures for
organisations to follow;
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To provide clear and comprehensive
identification of the senders and/or authorisers
of commercial electronic messages;
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To ensure that there is a clear and transparent
means of unsubscribing to and withdrawing
consent to receive future messages;
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To establish efficient and fair method of having
complaints handled by the eMarketing industry.
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The Code automatically applies to all persons,
including individuals and organisations,
undertaking an eMarketing activity.
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The Code automatically applies to activities
(whether an eMarketing industry member is a
signatory or not)
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Activities undertaken by individuals or
organisations to market, promote or
advertise their own goods and services where
sending or causing to send commercial
electronic communications is their sole or
principal means of marketing, promoting or
advertising their own goods or services.
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Activities undertaken by individuals or
organisations who by contract or other
arrangement with a person market, advertise
or promote the goods or services (including
land and interests in land and business and
investment opportunities) of that person by
sending commercial electronic
communications or causing them to be sent.
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Activities undertaken by individuals or
organisations who by contract or other
arrangement with a person market, advertise
or promote that person as a supplier,
prospective supplier, provider or prospective
provider of goods or services (including land
and interests in land and business and
investment opportunities) by sending
commercial electronic communications or
causing them to be sent.
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The Guidelines seek to enhance consumer
confidence in B2C electronic commerce by
providing guidance to businesses on:
 fair business practices;
 accessibility and disability access;
 advertising and marketing;
 engaging with minors;
 disclosure of a business’s identity and location;
 disclosure of a contract’s terms and conditions;
 the implementation of mechanisms for
concluding contracts;
 adopting privacy principles;
 using and disclosing information about payment,
security and authentication mechanisms;
 the establishment of fair and effective procedures
for handling complaints and resolving disputes;
 the law and forum for the resolution of
contractual disputes
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The Guidelines have been developed for
traders located in Australia dealing with both
Australian and overseas consumers.
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Traders located outside Australia who are
dealing with Australian consumers are also
encouraged to follow the Guidelines. Ideally,
industry groups will encourage their
members to follow the Guidelines.
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The Code is intended to:
 regulate the content of commercial television in
accordance with current community standards;
 ensure that viewers are assisted in making
informed choices about their own and their
children’s television viewing;
 provide uniform, speedy and effective procedures
for the handling of viewer complaints about
matters covered by the Code;
 be subject to periodic public review of its
relevance and effectiveness.
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Television advertisers are expected to ensure that
their commercials comply with the Advertiser Code of
Ethics and the Code for Advertising and Marketing
Communications to Children
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The Code sets out restrictions on the amount of
advertising and other non-program matter that
stations may carry at different times of the day
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The Code sets out placement restrictions on certain
types of television advertising which are recognised as
being sensitive