Tim Howell’s Weblog

Following up on an earlier post, the Sydney Morning Herald reports:

“Australians will soon have the power to permanently hang-up on telemarketers under new laws being debated in the Senate.

The new laws will allow people to put their phone numbers on a Do Not Call Register that telemarketers must respect or face fines.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan told the Senate that Australians would embrace the register as they generally found telemarketing intrusive.

“We will give peace and mind to those who don’t like, and indeed resent, the intrusion and disruption caused by unsolicited telemarketing calls,” she told the Senate.

“The government has consulted widely … to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between the rights of an individual to privacy, and the need for business to promote their products and services.”

Registration will be available for fixed line and mobile phone numbers and will be free. The call ban will apply to Australian telemarketers and overseas callers working for Australian companies.”

An interesting development; will be interesting to see if anything similar is proposed for New Zealand.

A tip we’re using to great effect: if the phone rings before 7.30pm, our three year-old answers it. Guaranteed to confuse most telemarketers.