The Australian Communications and Media Authority has issued a
formal warning to Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) after finding
that its call centres had made prohibited telemarketing calls to
numbers on the Do Not Call Register.

ACMA's formal investigation found that
Westpac had breached the Do Not Call Register Act 2006
(the Act) by causing telemarketing calls to be made to people whose
numbers were on the register. While they were existing customers of
Westpac, they had asked not to be contacted about its products or
services.

While Westpac had an existing relationship with the consumers
concerned, ACMA’s investigation found that its procedures for recording
the withdrawal of consent had failed, and subsequent telemarketing
calls were made to these consumers despite the withdrawal of their
consent.

Westpac has implemented a number
of new procedures to address the issues identified in the
investigation. These include checking all calling lists against the
register, including telephone numbers of existing customers.