The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a decision granting conditional authorisation* to the Australian Direct Marketing Association's 2006 Code of Practice, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"The ACCC originally authorised ADMA's Code of Practice in 1999. At that time, the ACCC saw a benefit in a self regulated code which assisted in protecting consumer rights to privacy and in protecting consumers from unreasonably intrusive forms of direct marketing.
"In July 2003 ADMA sought to authorise a revised version of its Code of Practice. ADMA subsequently revised its Code in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The ACCC has authorised ADMA's most recent version of its Code which was revised in June 2006.
"ADMA's 2006 Code of Practice is intended to protect consumers from undesirable direct marketing practices and to provide additional, non-legislative, avenues for consumers to seek redress if things go wrong".
The ACCC considers that the revised code is likely to provide some benefits to the public, for example by requiring direct marketers to have a comprehensive complaints handling process.
"However, the ACCC is concerned that the benefits to the public of the code may be eroded if ADMA does not conduct regular reviews to ensure that the code continues to reflect legislative requirements", Mr Samuel said. "If the code does not keep up to date, its users may be misled about their legislative rights and responsibilities.
"The ACCC has therefore imposed a number of conditions which require ADMA to review the code and to annually report the review findings to the ACCC".