Australia has joined five other nations to strengthen its strategic engagement in the global fight against scams, unsolicited telemarketing and spam.
Following an agreement between the international regulators, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has entered a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) as part of the global network known as Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network (UCENet).
In the Network, ACMA has joined agencies from the Republic of Korea, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
ACMA said UCENet, the global network of organisations engaged in combating unsolicited communications, met in Dublin, Ireland last week, where the announcement was made.
It was the first time UCENet members had met in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACMA said the agreement provided for further engagement and information-sharing between agencies and was expected to assist them with investigations and compliance operations relating to scams and unsolicited communications of a cross-border nature.
Chair of ACMA, Nerida O’Loughlin said Australia’s involvement with UCENet would 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,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“Unsolicited communications are an international problem and increased global cooperation is required to address the issue,” she said.
“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.”
Ms O’Loughlin said the seven signatories to the UCENet MOU were: ACMA; Canadian Radio-Television and 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 and the
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
She said information on how to spot and stop phone scams could be found on the ACMA website at acma.gov.au/scams.
