The Spam Act for Small Businesses: Emails and Texts Without the Fines
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If you send marketing emails or texts in Australia, the Spam Act's three rules apply: get consent, identify your business, and include a working unsubscribe that's actioned within 5 working days. Replies to a customer's own enquiry are fine, but newsletters, offers and promotions need all three. The ACMA enforces the rules, and your business is responsible even if someone else sends the messages for you.
Rule 1: consent
The ACMA says you need consent from each person you send commercial messages to, and you must be able to show evidence of it if asked (ACMA). Consent can be express, such as ticking an unticked sign-up box, or in some cases inferred from an existing relationship.
- Use a separate, unticked opt-in box on forms. See contact form best practices
- Record when and how each person signed up
- Don't buy lists or add business cards from an expo without asking
Rule 2: identify yourself
Each message must accurately identify your business name and include correct contact details, which must stay correct for at least 30 days after sending (ACMA). If an agency or contractor sends messages for you, they must still identify your business as the one that authorised them.
Rule 3: unsubscribe
The ACMA says every commercial message must include an unsubscribe option with clear instructions, that's actioned within 5 working days, and that doesn't cost a fee (ACMA). For texts, "Reply STOP to opt out" is a common approach.
What counts as a commercial message?
| Message | Usually commercial? |
|---|---|
| Monthly newsletter with offers | Yes |
| "10% off this weekend" text | Yes |
| Reply to a customer's quote request | No, it's part of their enquiry |
| Appointment reminder with no promotion | Usually not, but adding offers can change that |
| Follow-up asking for a review | Treat with care; keep it about their job and add no promotion |
The ACMA has taken action where businesses treated promotional messages as "factual" or "service" messages. If in doubt, follow all three rules. This table is our general reading, not ACMA wording.
A simple compliance setup
- Use an email platform that adds unsubscribe links automatically
- Collect sign-ups only with an unticked opt-in box
- Keep a record of consent
- Put your business name, ABN and contact details in every email footer
- Check that unsubscribes sync to every tool you use
Express or inferred consent: which should you rely on?
| Express consent | Inferred consent | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The person clearly agrees, such as ticking an unticked box or signing up to your list | Consent you work out from an existing relationship, under strict rules |
| How safe it is | The clearest to prove | Easy to get wrong |
| Example | "Yes, send me seasonal offers and tips" tick box on your quote form | A current customer who would reasonably expect to hear from you |
The ACMA warns that you can't infer consent just because a phone number or email is published online or somewhere else, and that strict rules apply to inferring consent (ACMA). For a small business, express consent is the simplest path: ask clearly, record the answer, and you won't need to argue about it later.
Can you market to past customers?
It's tempting to text every old customer when business is quiet. Be careful. In a 2026 investigation report, the ACMA didn't accept a telco's argument that it had inferred consent to send marketing messages to former customers, and noted it had kept sending messages after unsubscribe requests (ACMA).
- If past customers ticked a box agreeing to marketing, you can usually keep sending until they unsubscribe
- If they only ever gave you their number to book a job, don't assume they agreed to offers
- Consider a one-off message that's purely about their job, such as a service reminder with no promotion, and invite them to opt in to future offers
- Never keep messaging someone who's unsubscribed, whatever your terms and conditions say
What extra care do text messages need?
SMS is personal, so complaints come quickly when it's misused. The same three rules apply, plus some practical care:
- Use a sender name people recognise, such as your business name, and include your business name in the message too (ACMA)
- Include a simple opt-out, such as "Reply STOP to opt out", and make sure replies are actually processed
- Keep messages short and send them at reasonable times
- Don't hide offers inside "reminder" messages; once there's promotion, it's commercial
- Check your SMS tool keeps a record of opt-ins and opt-outs you can export
Do these rules cover phone calls?
The Spam Act covers electronic messages like email and SMS. Marketing phone calls have their own rules. The Do Not Call Register lets people opt out of most telemarketing calls, and businesses can check, or "wash", their calling lists against the register (Do Not Call Register). The ACMA says that if a call is selling something, it's treated as telemarketing (ACMA).
Returning a customer's call about their enquiry isn't telemarketing. Ringing a list of old customers to sell a new service is, and you should wash the list first. If you use a call centre or agency, the rules still apply to calls made for your business.
What if an agency or software sends messages for you?
Using a marketing agency, a booking system or an email platform doesn't move the responsibility away from your business. Messages must still identify your business as the one that authorised them (ACMA). Before you let anyone send messages for you, check:
- Where the contact list came from, and whether everyone on it agreed to hear from you
- That every message includes your business name, contact details and an unsubscribe
- That unsubscribes are processed across every tool, not just the one the message came from
- That automated messages, such as booking follow-ups, don't drift into promotions
Ask to see a sample of each automated message before it goes live, and check them again whenever the agency or software changes its templates. A small wording change can turn a reminder into a promotion.
What happens if you get it wrong?
People can complain to the ACMA about spam, and the ACMA investigates and publishes compliance alerts and investigation reports (ACMA). For a small business, the bigger day-to-day cost is often reputation: annoyed customers, spam complaints that hurt your email delivery, and bad reviews.
If you realise something's wrong, stop the campaign, fix the list and the unsubscribe process, and keep notes of what you changed. This is general information, not legal advice; if you've received a letter from the ACMA, get legal advice.
Sign-up wording you can copy
Clear wording makes consent easy to prove. Adapt these to your business, and keep each box unticked by default:
| Where | Example wording |
|---|---|
| Quote or contact form | "Yes, send me occasional tips and offers from [Business] by email. I can unsubscribe at any time." |
| SMS opt-in at booking | "Text me seasonal reminders and offers. Reply STOP any time to opt out." |
| Newsletter sign-up box | "Get our monthly update: one email a month, unsubscribe in one click." |
| In person or on the phone | Ask the question, then note the date, the person's name and what they agreed to |
Say how often you'll send messages and what they'll contain. People who know what they've signed up for are less likely to complain.
An unsubscribe has to work every time, and quickly. The ACMA's rule is that it must be actioned within 5 working days (ACMA). In practice:
- Use a platform that removes people automatically when they click unsubscribe or reply STOP
- Keep a single "do not market" list and check it before any campaign, including ones sent from a different tool
- If someone asks by phone or email to stop, add them to the list the same day
- Never re-import an old list that includes people who've unsubscribed
- Don't ask people to log in or pay to unsubscribe
Morphic sets up compliant sign-up forms and connects them to email tools on the websites we build for Melbourne small businesses. We're not lawyers; check specifics with an adviser or the ACMA. Get a free quote, or book a 30-minute call.
Related service. web design.
Related reading: Quote follow-up templates and What must an Australian business website show.
Title 15 and Main Content 15: leave empty.
Related reading. when a small business needs a privacy policy.
Key Takeaways
The Spam Act has three rules: consent, identify, unsubscribe.
Unsubscribes must be actioned within 5 working days.
Replies to a customer's own enquiry aren't marketing; offers are.
Keep records of consent and use unticked opt-in boxes.
You're responsible even when someone else sends for you.
Emon Datta
Founder, Morphic Agency
Morphic Agency is a Melbourne-based UX design agency. We've shipped 50+ products across 15+ countries.
