The Department receives complaints regarding alleged breaches of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. These complaints are generally with respect to commercial electronic messages that have been sent to email addresses or via SMS text to telephone accounts. The Department, upon receipt of a complaint, will initiate an investigation to determine if a breach of the Act has occurred. If a breach has taken place, the Department has a range of enforcement options from a formal warning up to High Court action to pursue pecuniary penalties and compensation and damages on behalf of victims.

In some cases, the Department has determined the sender of a commercial electronic message has purchased a database with the understanding that emails can be sent to those electronic addresses because there is 'deemed consent'. The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act provides that deemed consent exists if a) an electronic address has been conspicuously published by a person in a business or official capacity, and b) it is not accompanied by a statement requesting that no unsolicited messages be sent to that address, and c) the message is relevant to the recipient's business, role , function or duties in a business or official capacity.

The Department recognises that databases may contain useful information that can be used for marketing and promotional purposes. However, care should be taken to ensure that the recipient has consented to receive a commercial electronic message. In every case, the onus of proof is on the sender of the messages, not the seller of the database, to demonstrate evidence of compliance with the Act.

If messages are sent and the sender is unable to satisfy the Department that the consent of the recipient cannot be deemed to have been given, then a breach of the Act has occurred.