Australia has joined five other nations in strengthening strategic engagement in the global fight against scams, unsolicited telemarketing and spam following an agreement between international regulators.
The ACMA has entered into a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) as part of the global Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network (UCENet), along with agencies from the Republic of Korea, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
UCENet, the global network of organisations engaged in combating unsolicited communications, is meeting this week in Dublin, Ireland, where the announcement was made. This is the first time UCENet members have met in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreement provides for further engagement and information-sharing between agencies and will assist the ACMA with investigations and compliance operations in relation to scams and unsolicited communications of a cross-border nature.
ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said she was pleased to further Australia’s involvement with UCENet in the global fight against unwanted calls, SMS and emails.
“This agreement sees us build on already strong ties with our international colleagues to crack down on unsolicited calls and messages, particularly when cross-border issues are involved,” she said.
“Unsolicited communications are an international problem and increased global cooperation is required to address the issue.”
“As a core member of UCENet we are keen to further the aims of the network by collaborating with other regulatory agencies in jurisdictions that may be the source of, or suffering from, scam communications.”
The seven signatories to the UCENet MOU are the:
- Australian Communications and Media Authority
- Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission
- Korea Internet & Security Agency
- Authority for Consumers and Markets in the Netherlands
- UK Information Commissioner’s Office
- Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
For information on how to spot and stop phone scams, visit acma.gov.au/scams.
