Real estate agents regularly make contact with property owners who have not approached them first. An agent may, for example, send letters or flyers to homes in an area where they are active, knock on doors after making a nearby sale or when they have buyers looking locally, or contact people by telephone, email or SMS where they already have the person’s details and the law permits that form of marketing. Prospecting is a normal part of the real estate industry, but the way an agent makes that contact is subject to a surprisingly detailed set of rules.
There is no single Queensland rule that determines whether an agent may contact someone. A telephone call is governed differently from a door knock. An unaddressed flyer is different from a letter addressed personally to an owner. Email and SMS marketing have another set of requirements again. There can also be additional consequences if an unsolicited approach progresses from an introduction to an agreement appointing the agent.
For homeowners, understanding these distinctions can explain why a professional agent may contact you in one way but deliberately avoid another. For agents, they are an important part of conducting prospecting properly. The rules come from a combination of the Australian Consumer Law, telecommunications legislation, spam legislation, Queensland property legislation, Queensland laws dealing with unsolicited advertising material and, in some circumstances, privacy law.
Cold Calling Has Rules Around It
An unsolicited telephone call from a real estate agent is not automatically unlawful. Real estate agents can prospect by telephone, but telemarketing calls are subject to rules about when calls can be made, who can be called and what the caller must disclose.
For an ordinary telemarketing call, the permitted calling hours are generally between 9 am and 8 pm from Monday to Friday and between 9 am and 5 pm on Saturday. Telemarketing calls are not permitted on Sundays, and restrictions also apply on specified national public holidays and substitute public holidays.
The rules are designed around the time at the location of the person receiving the call, rather than simply the time where the caller happens to be. This becomes relevant for agencies prospecting across state borders or using an external calling service.
A genuinely requested call is a different situation. If a property owner asks an agent to telephone at a particular time to discuss selling their property, that is not ordinary unsolicited telemarketing. The distinction between invited and uninvited contact becomes important throughout this area of law.
The Do Not Call Register Matters
The Do Not Call Register is one of the most significant restrictions on telephone prospecting. Personal mobile numbers and home telephone numbers can be registered, and once a number has been on the register for 30 days, an ordinary commercial telemarketer generally cannot call it unless the person has provided the relevant consent or another exemption applies.
Real estate agencies do not receive a general exemption simply because they operate in the property industry. Some organisations have particular exemptions under the Do Not Call framework, including certain government bodies, registered charities, political organisations and educational institutions in specified circumstances. Ordinary commercial real estate prospecting does not fall into that category.
Consent can change the position. Someone who has asked an agency to contact them, or who has validly consented to marketing calls, may be contacted even though their number appears on the register. That consent is not necessarily permanent, however. A person can withdraw their consent to receive telemarketing calls.
An Agent Must Identify Themselves When Making a Telemarketing Call
Permitted hours and the Do Not Call Register are only part of the telephone rules. Telemarketers also have identification obligations. During a telemarketing call, the caller must identify themselves, identify the organisation they work for and, where relevant, identify the organisation on whose behalf the call is being made. They must also explain the purpose of the call.
Caller identification requirements are intended to prevent legitimate commercial callers from hiding behind an unavailable or misleading telephone number. A return number must be available so the recipient can obtain further information about the call.
If the person receiving the call asks for it to end, or otherwise makes it clear that they do not wish to continue, the caller must end the call. Continuing a sales conversation after someone has clearly indicated that they want it to stop is not simply poor prospecting practice.
These requirements are particularly relevant where agencies use external prospecting companies, virtual assistants or call centres. Outsourcing the physical making of calls does not provide an agency with a convenient way around the rules that apply to marketing conducted on its behalf.
Door Knocking Has Different Contact Hours
Door-to-door prospecting is also lawful when conducted within the applicable rules, but its permitted hours are shorter than those applying to telephone calls. An agent making an unsolicited door-to-door approach generally must not call at a home before 9 am or after 6 pm on a weekday, before 9 am or after 5 pm on a Saturday, or at any time on a Sunday or public holiday.
An invited appointment is different. If an owner has arranged for an agent to visit at 6.30 pm because that is when they will be home from work, the situation is not the same as an agent unexpectedly knocking on doors throughout the street at 6.30 pm looking for listings.
The distinction matters because the Australian Consumer Law gives people additional protection when a salesperson arrives without being invited and begins negotiations for the supply of services.
Before beginning those negotiations, the agent must make the purpose of the visit clear. They must provide the required information about their identity and explain that they are obliged to leave immediately if requested. An unsolicited visit should therefore not be presented as something entirely unrelated if its actual commercial purpose is to seek the owner's agreement to use the agent's services.
A Do Not Knock Sign Must Be Respected
A prominently displayed Do Not Knock sign has genuine legal significance. The Federal Court has previously confirmed that an appropriate sign can constitute a request for an unsolicited salesperson to leave without the resident first having to answer the door and verbally say so.
For a real estate agent prospecting door to door, that means the proper response to a clear Do Not Knock sign is not to knock anyway and hope that the owner is willing to have a conversation. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission expressly tells salespeople to treat such a sign as a request to leave.
This is separate from a No Junk Mail sign. The two signs regulate different conduct. A Do Not Knock sign relates to the unwanted personal approach, while a No Junk Mail or similar sign can affect whether unsolicited advertising material may be placed at the property.
If an Owner Asks an Agent to Leave
An agent making an unsolicited door-to-door approach must leave immediately if asked to do so. There is also a further consequence that is sometimes overlooked: if the prospective consumer asks the salesperson to leave, the Australian Consumer Law generally prevents further contact with that prospective consumer for the purpose of negotiating an unsolicited consumer agreement on behalf of the same supplier for at least 30 days.
That makes a request to leave more significant than simply ending one conversation. An agency needs prospecting systems capable of recording these requests so that another salesperson does not unknowingly approach the same person again shortly afterwards.
Signing With an Agent After an Unsolicited Approach
Some of the most important rules arise after the initial contact. An agent may knock on a door or make a telephone call, have a productive conversation with an owner and ultimately be asked to sell the property. Where the resulting appointment meets the requirements of an unsolicited consumer agreement under the Australian Consumer Law, additional protections apply.
This is particularly important in real estate because the agreement being entered into is not the contract for sale of the home. It is the agreement under which the property owner appoints the real estate agent to provide agency services.
Queensland's Office of Fair Trading has specifically reminded the real estate industry that contracts entered into as a result of unsolicited door-to-door approaches or telemarketing calls can carry a 10-business-day cooling-off period. The Australian Consumer Law also imposes particular requirements on the form and content of an unsolicited consumer agreement and the information that must be given to the consumer.
The precise application of the unsolicited consumer agreement provisions depends on the circumstances. Broadly, the regime deals with agreements for goods or services that result from negotiations conducted by telephone or face to face away from the supplier's business premises where the consumer did not invite the relevant approach for the purpose of entering into those negotiations. There are also monetary requirements, although the value or potential value of ordinary real estate agency services will commonly place the appointment well beyond the low-value threshold.
The Agent May Have to Wait Before Starting Work
The cooling-off period is more substantial than a simple right for the owner to cancel later. During the statutory prohibition period applying to an unsolicited consumer agreement, the supplier generally must not provide the contracted services and must not accept or require payment in connection with them.
That has obvious practical consequences in real estate. If an agency appointment resulted from an unsolicited door knock or telephone approach and the Australian Consumer Law regime applies, the agent cannot simply treat the signed appointment as permission to commence the normal selling campaign immediately. Activities forming part of the contracted agency service may need to wait until the relevant prohibition period has expired.
For an agreement negotiated face to face, the ordinary termination period extends to the end of the tenth business day after the day the agreement was made. Where the agreement was negotiated by telephone, the calculation is connected to when the consumer receives the required agreement document.
The documentation obligations are also important. When an unsolicited consumer agreement is entered into in person, the consumer must receive the required written agreement. Where it is negotiated by telephone, the agreement document generally must be provided within five business days, unless a longer period has been agreed. The agreement must also contain prescribed information about the consumer's termination rights.
Queensland's Form 6 Requirements Apply
The Australian Consumer Law does not replace Queensland's specific rules for appointing a real estate agent. Under the Property Occupations Act 2014, a property agent must be properly appointed before acting for a client, and Queensland uses the prescribed Residential Agent Appointment or Reappointment, commonly known as Form 6, for residential agency appointments.
A completed appointment must be given to the client before the agent performs property agent services. The appointment deals with matters including the services the agent will perform, commission and other fees, when amounts become payable, authorised expenses and relevant benefits or rebates.
Where an appointment resulted from an unsolicited approach, the two legal frameworks can operate together. Completing a Form 6 does not by itself remove an applicable Australian Consumer Law cooling-off period, just as the Australian Consumer Law does not remove the Queensland requirement for an agent to be properly appointed before providing property agent services.
This distinction is important because a document can satisfy one regulatory requirement without necessarily satisfying every other obligation arising from the way the client was obtained.
Breaking the Unsolicited Selling Rules Can Extend the Cancellation Period
The ordinary cooling-off period is 10 business days, but it can become considerably longer where particular requirements have not been followed. Certain breaches can extend the period during which the consumer can terminate the agreement to three months, while other breaches can extend it to six months.
A three-month period can arise from breaches involving matters such as approaching the consumer outside the permitted hours, failing to provide the required identity or purpose information, or failing to comply with the requirement to leave when asked. More serious procedural failures relating to the agreement and cooling-off protections can produce the longer six-month period.
Examples can include failing to properly explain the cooling-off rights, failing to provide the required agreement documentation, failing to include prescribed information or supplying services during a period in which the law prohibits those services from being supplied.
For a property owner, this means the fact that an agency appointment has been signed does not necessarily answer every question about its operation. For an agent, it demonstrates why prospecting compliance needs to be considered from the first contact rather than only when the Form 6 is prepared.
Real Estate Flyers and Letterbox Drops
Physical prospecting material operates under a different legal framework. Queensland's Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 regulates unsolicited advertising material delivered to premises, and real estate leaflets are a recognised example of the type of material caught by these provisions.
The definition is wider than a glossy flyer. Commercial advertising material can include a circular, promotional material, information or a letter. Material that is not addressed by name to an owner, occupier or another person lawfully at the premises can be unsolicited advertising material.
That means putting the words "To the Householder", "To the Occupier" or similar wording on a real estate prospecting letter does not convert it into personally addressed correspondence for the purposes of these Queensland provisions. It remains capable of being treated as unsolicited advertising material.
If a property has a clearly visible sign stating No Advertising Material, No Junk Mail, Australia Post Mail Only or words having a similar effect, unsolicited advertising material must not be delivered there. An agency should therefore ensure that anyone distributing its material, including an external distribution company, is instructed to recognise and respect these signs.
The method of delivery also matters. Unsolicited advertising material must be placed securely in an appropriate mail or newspaper receptacle, mail slot or under a door. It should not simply be thrown onto a driveway, lawn or footpath where it may become litter.
A Personally Addressed Letter Is Different From an Unaddressed Flyer
Queensland's unsolicited advertising material rules draw an important distinction between generic advertising and material addressed by name. A genuine letter addressed personally to a named owner or occupier is not treated as "unsolicited advertising material" under those particular provisions merely because the recipient did not ask the agency to write to them.
That means a personally addressed prospecting letter is treated differently from a flyer, circular or letter addressed simply to "The Householder" or "The Occupier". A No Junk Mail or similar sign therefore does not operate in quite the same way against genuinely addressed correspondence.
Agents still need to consider any other laws that apply to the way they obtained and use a person's details, including privacy requirements where applicable. The important point for letterbox prospecting, however, is that Queensland law distinguishes between personally addressed mail and unaddressed advertising material.
Cars, Fences and Buildings Are Not Alternative Letterboxes
There is another Queensland rule worth knowing because it is easy to overlook during local prospecting. The Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 separately restricts placing documents in or on motor vehicles without the express consent of an owner, registered operator or driver.
That makes placing real estate flyers beneath windscreen wipers quite different from putting permitted material into residential letterboxes. The legislation also restricts attaching documents to buildings and other fixed structures without the express consent of the owner, occupier or someone acting for them, subject to limited exceptions for lawful or otherwise reasonable conduct.
A local prospecting campaign therefore needs more thought than simply determining how many flyers can be distributed. Where they are placed, how they are secured and whether the property has displayed an instruction against receiving advertising material all matter.
Email, SMS and Commercial Messages Require Consent
Email and SMS marketing are governed principally by the Commonwealth Spam Act 2003. Commercial electronic marketing generally requires the recipient's consent before it is sent. Consent may be express or, in more limited circumstances, inferred from an existing relationship and the way the contact details were provided.
An agency sending commercial electronic messages must also accurately identify itself and provide correct contact information. The message must contain a clear and functional way for the recipient to unsubscribe.
An unsubscribe request generally has to be honoured within five working days. The unsubscribe mechanism must not charge a fee, require the recipient to provide unnecessary additional personal information or force them to create or log into an account simply to stop receiving marketing.
The unsubscribe facility also needs to remain functional for at least 30 days after the commercial message was sent. Similar rules can apply to commercial electronic messages sent through channels other than conventional email and SMS, including certain instant messaging services.
Using a third-party marketing company does not remove the agency's responsibility to ensure appropriate consent exists. The Australian Communications and Media Authority makes it clear that a business remains responsible for the consent attached to addresses used for marketing carried out on its behalf.
An Agent Cannot Simply Send an Email Asking for Marketing Consent
One of the less intuitive features of the spam rules is that an agency generally cannot solve an absence of consent by sending an unsolicited commercial electronic message asking the recipient to consent to receiving commercial electronic messages. The request for consent can itself be a marketing message.
This matters for prospecting databases assembled from old enquiries, purchased lists, property information services or other sources. The safer question is not whether the agency possesses an email address or mobile number, but whether there is a proper basis for using that particular address for that particular form of marketing.
Express consent can be given in several ways, including through an appropriately worded form, an online selection, a telephone conversation or face-to-face. Where an agency relies on consent, retaining reliable evidence of how and when it was obtained is sensible because the business may ultimately need to establish that the consent existed.
Having Someone’s Details Does Not Mean You Can Market to Them
Real estate naturally generates large quantities of contact information. Buyers enquire about properties, attendees register at open homes, homeowners request information, investors speak to property managers and people subscribe to market updates. Those interactions can create legitimate reasons for further communication, but they should not all be treated as identical.
The Australian Consumer Law expressly recognises that providing contact details for one purpose does not necessarily mean a person has invited negotiations for an entirely different supply. Similarly, the existence of someone's details in a customer relationship management system does not itself answer whether a telemarketing call complies with the Do Not Call rules or whether an electronic marketing message has the consent required by the Spam Act 2003.
This is why professional database management increasingly involves recording the origin of an enquiry, the communication permissions that were given, any subsequent withdrawal of consent and channel-specific opt-outs. Someone may, for example, be content to receive a requested property update while not wishing to receive ongoing promotional SMS messages.
Returning a Missed Call
There is an unusual provision in the Australian Consumer Law that can matter in real estate prospecting. A consumer is not automatically taken to have invited the relevant negotiations merely because they responded to an unsuccessful attempt by the salesperson to contact them.
An owner who sees a missed call from an unfamiliar number and returns it has therefore not necessarily transformed an originally unsolicited sales approach into invited negotiations simply by returning the call. The circumstances of the contact still matter.
The law also provides that merely inviting a supplier to quote a price does not automatically amount to an invitation to enter into negotiations for the supply itself. In real estate, the factual context can be important because property owners frequently ask agents for market information, appraisals, commission information or other preliminary information without every interaction necessarily having the same legal character.
Contact Is Different When the Property Owner Invites It
The rules are not intended to make ordinary conversations between property owners and real estate agents unnecessarily difficult. When someone contacts an agency and asks an agent to call about selling, books an appointment to discuss agency services or otherwise genuinely invites the relevant contact, the position can be quite different from an unexpected prospecting approach.
The important point is that the invitation should match the contact that follows. Giving an agency a mobile number so it can provide access information for a property inspection is not necessarily the same thing as consenting to indefinite promotional messages. Asking for information about one property does not automatically answer every question about future marketing through every communication channel.
Good agencies make these distinctions because they are useful commercially as well as legally. Prospecting works best when the recipient understands who is contacting them, why they are being contacted and how they can control future communication.
The Rules Depend on How the Agent Makes Contact
There is nothing inherently improper about a real estate agent introducing themselves to someone who may be considering selling. In many communities, local prospecting is how property owners first meet the agent they ultimately choose. The important distinction is between legitimate prospecting and assuming that one method of contact gives unrestricted permission to use every other method.
A telephone number can engage the Do Not Call Register and telemarketing standards. A visit to someone's home can engage the Australian Consumer Law's unsolicited selling provisions. An unaddressed flyer can be affected by Queensland's rules for unsolicited advertising material. A personally addressed marketing letter can raise privacy considerations. Email and SMS marketing can engage the Spam Act 2003. If the unsolicited approach then produces an agency appointment, the Australian Consumer Law can affect when the agent is permitted to start providing the agreed services.
For property owners, these rules provide boundaries around unexpected commercial contact without preventing legitimate communication with agents they want to hear from. For professional agents, they provide a clear reason to treat the way a relationship begins as seriously as the services provided once a client is appointed.
The strongest prospecting does not depend on catching someone at the wrong time, ignoring a sign or treating an old telephone number as permanent permission to market. It starts with transparent contact, respect for the recipient's choices and a clear understanding of which rules apply to the particular channel being used.
This article provides general information about real estate prospecting and consumer contact rules in Queensland and is not legal advice. The application of the Australian Consumer Law, telecommunications legislation, privacy law and Queensland legislation can depend on the circumstances of the particular contact and agreement.
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