Do AI Outbound Calls Have to Follow the Do Not Call Register in Australia?

Short answer: yes. Unsolicited telemarketing calls to a number on the Do Not Call Register are prohibited under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 whether a person or an AI voice makes them, unless the person has consented. Separately, the ACMA's telemarketing standard limits calling to weekdays 9am to 8pm and Saturdays 9am to 5pm, with no calls on Sundays or national public holidays, and sets rules on identifying yourself and ending a call. ThinnestAI does not check the Register or set a calling window for you; you set campaign hours yourself and you check your lists. This is general information, not legal advice. Read the official text (sources read 25 October 2026).

What does the Do Not Call Register actually prohibit?

It prohibits making unsolicited telemarketing calls, and sending marketing faxes, to numbers on the Register. The ACMA runs the Register. A telemarketer may call a registered number if the person has given consent, and may rely on its own list check: the Register site says the prohibition does not apply where the telemarketer washed its list in the last 30 days and the number was not on the Register. The Register's own FAQ says telemarketers have 30 days from the date a person registers to check their lists and stop contacting them.

Two limits matter for small businesses. First, numbers used primarily for business purposes are not eligible to be on the Register, so a business-to-business call to a business landline is a different question, though the calling-hours and conduct rules still apply to telemarketing calls. Second, some organisations, including registered charities, educational institutions, government bodies, registered political parties and researchers, are exempt from the Act's telemarketing limits but must still follow the industry standard.

When does consent make a call lawful?

The Register's guidance describes two kinds of consent.

• Express consent. The person, or their nominee, specifically agreed to receive calls. If no period was set, consent is taken to expire three months after it was given.
• Inferred consent. Consent can sometimes be reasonably inferred from conduct and an existing relationship. The Register gives the example of a credit card holder who may expect calls about the same bank's home loans, while a cold call from an unrelated company is less likely to be reasonable. The ACMA's Spam Act guidance says inference is narrow: it does not cover messages sent just after a one-off purchase or an email enquiry.

If a person says they do not want calls from your organisation, consent ends immediately and cannot be inferred again. Keep records of when and how you got consent; the burden of proving it is on you.

What are the calling hours?

The ACMA's Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017 sets them, as published on the Do Not Call Register site:

Calls outside these times are allowed only if the person has consented to being called then. The national public holidays include New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and any day given in lieu.

On our platform, calling hours are a campaign setting you choose, read on the called person's clock. Australia covers several time zones, and not every state observes daylight saving, so a national list needs hours set per state. Public holidays are your responsibility to exclude. Set the window inside the standard, not at its edge.

What must the caller do during the call?

• Leave caller line identification enabled when making the call.
• Keep a return contact number available for at least 30 days.
• Give the required information about who is calling and why, which for telemarketing includes who caused the call to be made.
• End the call immediately if the person asks, or otherwise indicates that they do not wish to continue.

Write these into the agent's opening line and instructions, and test that it hangs up when asked. The Register's FAQ notes that telemarketing calls sometimes use a recorded or synthetic voice and that the rules require a way, such as pressing a button, for the person to get information about the caller before the call ends. How that applies to a conversational AI voice is a question for your adviser.

What about texts and WhatsApp follow-ups?

Those fall under the Spam Act 2003, not the Register. The ACMA's three rules are consent, a clear identification of the sender with contact details, and a working unsubscribe that is honoured within five working days. The Act defines electronic messages by reference to email, instant messaging, telephone and similar accounts and says a message sent by a voice call over a standard telephone service is not an electronic message, which is why calls and messages are regulated separately.

What does the product do, and not do?

• It does not check numbers against the Register and has no consent gate. Washing your lists is your job.
• It has no calling window of its own. You set hours per campaign.
• It gives you a do-not-contact list that you keep, an opening line that you write, and a transcript and outcome for every call.
• It never re-dials a number that declined or is dead.

ACMA has issued six-figure infringement notices to businesses for breaches of the spam and telemarketing rules, according to the Register's news items. Plan your outbound work with your adviser first.

Your next step

If you are new to outbound, start with calls to people who have asked to hear from you, such as booking confirmations and service reminders. See voice campaigns, the Australia page and the AI receptionist.