Calling leads on the Do Not Call Register: what the rules say
Published 6 October 2026 · Rules checked against regulator pages on 6 October 2026 · By Target Digital · 7 minute read
You can call a lead whose number is on the Do Not Call Register only if they have given consent or you are exempt, and for a business chasing leads the lead form is where that consent comes from. An enquiry is not automatically consent, and the register does not care how fast you want to be.
This guide explains what the register covers, how consent works for a lead who has just filled in your form, how to check a list against the register, and what to do when a number is registered and you have no consent. It is general information, not legal advice. The wider rules on hours, disclosure and recording are in our guide to AI outbound calling compliance in Australia.
What the Do Not Call Register covers
The register is a free national opt-out list run by ACMA. ACMA says a person can register a home phone number, a personal mobile number or a fax number. You cannot add a business phone number, although a phone used for both business and personal calls can be registered if personal use is more than 50 percent of the total.
After a number has been on the register for 30 days, ACMA says telemarketers can call it only if the person has given consent or the caller is exempt. The exempt groups ACMA lists are government bodies, registered charities, educational institutions the person is or was a student of, registered political parties, members of parliament and election candidates. A business following up its own sales leads is not on that list.
That means a lead who gives you a personal mobile number may well be registered, even though they typed it into your form themselves.
Does the Do Not Call Register apply to a lead who just enquired?
It depends on whether the call is telemarketing. ACMA's Statement of Expectations says telemarketing is any call where at least one of the purposes is to offer, promote or advertise goods and services. It also says "Calls made by businesses that are requested by a consumer and are made within a reasonable time after the request is made are generally not telemarketing calls", and that calls about appointments and fault rectification are generally not telemarketing either.
Two caveats matter. First, where a call has more than one purpose and one of them is to sell or promote, the call is commercial and must follow the rules. Second, the same statement says commercial calls that use pre-recorded or AI voices are all telemarketing calls. So a prompt callback that only books the quote visit the person asked for is generally outside the register, and a callback that also pitches is not. "Generally" leaves room for argument, so the safe approach is to treat every lead callback as telemarketing and make sure you hold consent that covers it.
When consent lets you call a registered number
Under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006, consent can be express, or reasonably inferred from the person's conduct and your relationship with them. Inferred consent is hard to defend. ACMA's statement of expectations says that if a consumer visits a website or sends an email to a business, it is unlikely to constitute consent to inclusion on a marketing list or in a marketing database, and that ACMA recommends express consent. The Do Not Call Register's own consumer page is more encouraging about forms: it says companies can call if you have given express consent, "for example, by completing a web form requesting contact". Even so, a specific tick box is stronger evidence than a generic enquiry form.
Good consent on a lead form has four features:
- It is specific. It says you may call and text about their enquiry.
- The person ticks it themselves. The box is not ticked by default.
- You keep a record. The Do Not Call Register's own industry guide says to get and record permission, and to keep records because you need to provide evidence to ACMA if asked.
- It is recent. Under the Act, express consent that states no period is taken to be withdrawn after three months, and ACMA treats telemarketing consent older than three months as stale unless the person agreed to longer.
If a person asks to be removed from your list, the same guide says to do it immediately.
How to check a list against the Do Not Call Register
Checking a list is called washing. The register's industry FAQs describe how it works:
- You need a washing services account, which any business doing telemarketing can apply for.
- A free subscription covers businesses that telemarket on an ad hoc basis and wash up to 500 numbers a year.
- Fewer than 10 numbers can be checked immediately with the quick check facility, and list turnaround is generally under a minute.
The 30-day rule matters for speed to lead. The FAQs say that if you washed your list against the register in the 30 days before the call, and the register did not state the number was on it, you are not in breach. A lead you call within minutes of capturing is easy to check at that moment. A lead you hold for weeks needs a fresh check before you dial, by our reading of that rule.
What to do when a number is registered and you have no consent
- Do not make a telemarketing call to it. For a telemarketing call, the register is a hard stop without consent or an exemption.
- Do not assume a text is fine. Texts sit under the Spam Act, which has its own consent rule, so check what your form covers.
- Use a channel the person controls. A reply to their enquiry by email, if they gave an address and consent to it, or a prompt for them to book a time or call you.
- Fix the form. If registered numbers keep arriving without consent, the tick box is missing or unclear. The fix is in the form, not in the dialler.
If an AI or an outside provider makes the calls
Outsourcing does not move the responsibility. The industry FAQs say both the person making the call and the business requiring it to be made must comply with the register legislation. If you use an AI calling service, you are still a party to the call.
The Act counts a call that involves a recorded or synthetic voice as a voice call, and the Do Not Call Register site says synthetic-voice calls are allowed under the telemarketing rules. ACMA also says commercial calls with AI voices are telemarketing calls. So the register applies to an AI call exactly as it does to a person's. Ask any provider how it checks numbers, how recent the check is when it dials, and where the consent record is kept.
A simple process for lead callbacks
- Put a clear, unticked consent box on every form that collects a phone number.
- Store the consent wording, time, form and number with the lead.
- Wash the number at capture and again before dialling if the lead is more than a few days old.
- Call only inside permitted hours, and suppress the number if the person asks to stop.
- Review the form and the records every quarter.
Our AI Outbound Call Engine is built to call within minutes of a form submission, and speed only counts if the call is allowed. The reasons speed matters are in our speed to lead guide.
Do Not Call Register: common questions
Do AI calls have to follow the Do Not Call Register?
Yes. The Act treats a call with a recorded or synthetic voice as a voice call, and the register's own site says such calls are allowed under the telemarketing rules, which means they must follow them.
How long does consent last?
Under the Act, express consent that states no period is taken to be withdrawn after three months. ACMA treats older telemarketing consent as stale unless the person agreed to a longer period.
Can I call a business phone number?
Business numbers cannot be added to the register, but the other telemarketing rules on hours, identification and ending the call still apply. A mobile used mostly for personal calls can be registered even if it also takes work calls.
Do I need to wash my list if I have consent?
Consent is what lets you call a registered number, so a record of consent matters most. Washing is how you find out which numbers are registered, which tells you where you must be able to show that consent.
Next step
If you are about to switch on AI follow-up, we will walk through your form, your consent wording and your checking process on a 30-minute call, and tell you what we would change. This is general information, not legal advice.