This article provides a high-level summary of the following
under the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (Spam
Act):
- the general rule regarding unsolicited emails; and
- the main exception to the general rule.
The general rule under the Spam Act – 'commercial
electronic messages'
The general rule is that a business cannot send unsolicited
emails to market, sell, and promote their goods and services.
The Spam Act applies to 'commercial electronic
messages'. While the Spam Act sets out a particular definition
of that term in section 6, it is safe to say that that definition
is extremely broad and is intended to cover both direct and obvious
marketing and advertising, but also inferred or soft sell
messaging.
