Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fielding for a very good question. Can I inform him on what is happening around us, because we campaigned long and hard—as did you, Senator Fielding—for this Do Not Call Register. We were pleased to ultimately support a piece of legislation that was not perfect but at least was a beginning. So can I inform him that the ACMA is conducting an awareness campaign early next year to remind people currently on the Do Not Call Register that they will need to renew their registration on the Do Not Call Register every three years, as is the case with the existing legislation. In order to renew their registration, all people need to do is to log on to donotcall.gov.au and re-register or call the free call number 1300792958. People can do this at any stage and do not need to wait until their registration period has expired. The period of registration is an issue being examined as part of the current statutory review of the register, because I take the point that you are making: that this was something that the previous government did because they were forced into doing it. They did not want to do it and they were shamed into doing it.

The government announced in the budget that it would expand the Do Not Call Register to help protect businesses, fax users and emergency service providers. The changes to the Do Not Call Register are about giving all Australian businesses the choice of opting out of unsolicited and unwanted telemarketing and fax marketing. It has been a particular concern of mine that unwanted and unsolicited calls and faxes are wasting valuable business resources and could potentially affect the operation of emergency service organisations. Public consultation undertaken by my department indicated that approximately 86 per cent of respondents supported the extension of the register to all telephone and fax numbers. (Time expired)