BSBMKG501B/502B

 An approved code of practice (COP) provides practical guidance to meeting legislative obligations

Codes of Practice Consultative experts Industry regulators Legislation Industry members Special interest groups

 Codes of practice are developed to:  Assist organisations to meet their legal 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

 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

 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.  The requirements of the Code are based on commonsense and are matters of fairness and honesty.  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

 Direct marketing is expanding rapidly.  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.

 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.  This is especially true in respect of their handling of personal information such as name, address and other identifying information

 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.  Only by doing so can the reputation of the industry be enhanced so that consumer demand will continue to grow.

 Key features of the current Code include  Privacy protection Privacy protection  Compulsory Do Not Mail / Do Not Call service made Compulsory Do Not Mail / Do Not Call service made  Mandatory "Cooling Off" period Mandatory "Cooling Off" period  Compliance requirement extension to suppliers and non-members Compliance requirement extension to suppliers and non-members  Telemarketing Standards of Practice Telemarketing Standards of Practice  E-Commerce Standards E-Commerce Standards  Code Authority Code Authority

 An integral part of the Code is the National Privacy Principles (NPP’s).  The NPP's give consumers some control over their personal information by limiting the amount of information that companies can collect about individuals.

 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.  Consumers must be given the opportunity opt- out of future direct marketing approaches and block transfer of their contact details to any other marketer.

 Under the Code, use of the ADMA Do Not Mail and Do Not Call Consumer Preference Services are mandatory for all ADMA members.  This requires members to purge from marketing campaigns the names and contact details of consumers who have registered for the service.  This ensures that individuals that have indicated they do not wish to be approached are not contacted.

 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.  ADMA members must ensure the customer's right to cancel the contract is specified in any contractual documents.

 Members are responsible for the conduct of their agents, subcontractors and suppliers.  This broadens the scope of the Code beyond the membership of ADMA, thus raising standards throughout the direct marketing industry.

 Direct marketers who use the telephone must ensure they identify themselves to the person they are calling and state the purpose of the call.  They must also ensure their name address and telephone number is listed in an accessible directory.

 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.

 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.

 ADMA has adopted OECD Guidelines for E- commerce in its Code of Practice.  OECD = Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development

 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.

 A key feature of ADMA's Code of Practice is the establishment of an independent complaints body.  Made up of an independent Chair and equal number of consumer and industry representatives.  The Code Authority investigates unresolved consumer complaints about members and non- member companies.

 The Code Authority can apply a range of sanctions and recommend expulsion of an offending member.  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

 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

 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.

 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.

 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

 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  The Code has been developed under Section 112(1A) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.

 To establish appropriate industry behaviour in relation to the sending of commercial electronic messages and the gaining of consent;  To reduce the incidence of unsolicited commercial messages sent by members of the Australian eMarketing industry;  To create benchmarks relating to commercial electronic messages and procedures for organisations to follow;

 To provide clear and comprehensive identification of the senders and/or authorisers of commercial electronic messages;  To ensure that there is a clear and transparent means of unsubscribing to and withdrawing consent to receive future messages;  To establish efficient and fair method of having complaints handled by the eMarketing industry.

 The Code automatically applies to all persons, including individuals and organisations, undertaking an eMarketing activity.  The Code automatically applies to activities (whether an eMarketing industry member is a signatory or not)

 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.

 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.

 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.

 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

 The Guidelines have been developed for traders located in Australia dealing with both Australian and overseas consumers.  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.

 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.

 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  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  The Code sets out placement restrictions on certain types of television advertising which are recognised as being sensitive