The Victoria Institute of Technology (VIT) has taken steps to comply with Australia’s anti-spam laws after an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found that VIT had sent over 6,000 marketing emails without consent. We will undergo an independent review of our practices.

VIT has sent messages promoting courses in September 2021 to email addresses purchased from third parties with no evidence of consent by the consumer concerned.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said consumers have the right to choose the email marketing they receive and have the right to expect unsolicited messages.

“Spam rules have been in place for nearly 20 years and this failure is completely unacceptable,” she said.

“Institutions cannot outsource their compliance obligations if they rely on data provided by third parties. I have a responsibility to do that,” she said.

Under a two-year enforcement obligation to ACMA, VIT appointed an independent consultant to verify compliance with spam rules, implement improvements to ensure compliance, and report progress to ACMA. To do.

“We will actively monitor VIT’s compliance and commitment to ACMA,” said O’Loughlin.

Over the past 18 months, the company has paid nearly $5 million in fines for violating spam and telemarketing laws. ACMA has also accepted 13 court-enforceable undertakings and issued five formal warnings. For repeated corporate offenses, courts could fine him up to $1.11 million per day.

Consumers can file a spam complaint at www.acma.gov.au/stop-getting-spam.