‘Cold-call’ telemarketing and doorknocking bans under the Victorian Energy Upgrades program

Release of updated guidance documents to reflect the commencement of these bans pursuant to amendments to the VEET Regulations 2018.

30 April 2024

The Victorian Government has made amendments to the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Regulations 2018 which introduces bans on 'cold-call' telemarketing and doorknocking practices as part of the code of conduct requirements under the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program. The final regulations will be published on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Regulations 2018 page tomorrow.

The telemarketing and doorknocking bans have been introduced in response to consumer complaints about problematic telemarketing and doorknocking practices under the program.

The bans aim to:

protect Victorian consumers from high-pressure sales tactics and other inappropriate marketing practices
improve consumer experience, participation and the program’s reputation to ensure the ongoing success of the program.

Scope and timing of the bans

Under the bans, a person can only telephone or visit residential and business consumers to market an activity under the program if they have obtained ‘express prior consent’ to do so.

From 1 May 2024, the following telemarketing activity is banned without express prior consent:

making telemarketing phone calls
requiring or permitting an employee, agent or contractor to make a telemarketing call
purchasing consumer contact details that were obtained from a telemarketing call.

From 1 August 2024, the following doorknocking activity is banned without express prior consent:

lead generating or marketing at a consumer’s home or business premises
requiring or permitting an employee, agent or contractor to lead generate or market at a consumer’s home or business premises
purchasing consumer contact details obtained when visiting a consumer’s home or business premises.

Express prior consent

Express prior consent means that a consumer has agreed to be telephoned or visited at their home or business premises by an identified person or business for the purposes of lead generation or marketing in relation to VEU activities.

Accredited persons must keep a written record of express prior consent which shows the consumer has consented to being contacted by the person/organisation making the call and that the consent remains valid at the time of the call.

Express prior consent can be obtained through a range of methods, including:

by the consumer filling out a form, for example at a stall at a shopping centre
by the consumer completing an online enquiry form via your website
by the consumer sending an email requesting information about a product or service or to be contacted
by the consumer contacting your organisation over the phone requesting information about a product or service or to be contacted. You will need to record this orally obtained consent as a written record.

Updated and new guidance documents

We expect all accredited persons and scheme participants to comply with the bans from commencement. To assist you to comply, we have release the following updated and new documents.

Code of conduct documents

We have released updated the following code of conduct documents to reflect the ban:

We have released a:

new fact sheet – ‘How to comply with the telemarketing and doorknocking ban’ which provides a summary of key business obligations and implications of the bans. Please use this resource to help educate employees, agents or sub-contractors.
frequently asked questions (FAQ) document providing businesses with further guidance on what the ban means for businesses, how to comply with the ban and our compliance monitoring and enforcement approach.

As part of our review of the code of conduct documents in preparation of the ban, we have rationalised our code of conduct resources given duplication of content across the code of conduct documents.

Updated VEEC assignment forms and VEEC creation forms

As per the program update released on 8 April 2024, we have amended the VEEC assignment form for all activities and made changes to the VEEC creation forms for the following activities:

Water heating activities – activities 1 and 3
Space heating activities – activity 6
Weather sealing - activity 15
Low flow shower rose – activity 17
In-home display unit – activity 30
Refrigerated cabinet – activity 32.

Accredited persons are reminded they will need to use the new VEEC assignment forms and VEEC creation forms for activities carried out from 1 May 2024.

Where to get help

If you have any questions about this update, please contact VEU support team by calling (03) 9032 1310 or via email veu@esc.vic.gov.au.