Are purchased solar leads legal? The rules for calling them.

Yes. Buying a lead is lawful. Calling it is lawful when the homeowner gave express or inferred consent to be contacted, or the number is not on the Do Not Call Register, and you follow the Telemarketing Industry Standard and Australian Consumer Law when you call. The obligation to prove consent sits with the business making the call, not the provider who sold the lead.

If you are relying on consent you must be able to prove that consent for each number. If you are not, the number must be checked against the register before you call, and industry guidance is to re-wash lists at least every 30 days. A lead where the homeowner submitted their own number asking for a solar quote is a consent-based contact; keep the record.

ACMA's 1 July 2024 statement says keep the method used to give consent, the terms of the consent and the date and time it was obtained, and that consent must not be buried in fine print or a long privacy policy. Ask your lead provider to deliver those three fields with every lead. A website visit or an email address alone is not consent.

You are. ACMA states that if a business is purchasing leads gathered by third parties, the compliance obligations sit with the business using the leads, and that outsourcing marketing does not transfer responsibility for consent records. That is why verification at the point of capture matters: Capital Leads confirms both mobile and email with the homeowner before the form can submit, and delivers the timestamp.

For unsolicited sales calls under Australian Consumer Law: weekdays 9 am to 8 pm, Saturdays 9 am to 5 pm, never Sundays or public holidays. You must give your name, the business you represent and why you are calling. A homeowner who asked for a call the same day is not an unsolicited contact, but the same hours are a sensible default.

If the sale is an unsolicited consumer agreement, made by phone or in the home without the consumer initiating that negotiation, the consumer can cancel within 10 business days from the day after signing and you must return any money immediately. Solar Victoria requires its authorised retailers to give 10 full business days in any circumstances. Build it into your contract and your cashflow.

Not by cold call. Solar Victoria bans door-to-door and cold-call telemarketing sales for the Solar Homes program and refers breaches to Consumer Affairs Victoria. Calling a homeowner back who requested a quote is inbound follow-up, which is different. Say so on the call and keep the enquiry record.

A commercial SMS or email needs the recipient's consent, must identify your business accurately, and must carry an unsubscribe that works for at least 30 days and is actioned within 5 business days. Penalties are calculated per message per day. ACMA reported businesses paid more than $20 million in spam penalties in the 18 months to October 2024.

On 31 March 2025 the Federal Court imposed $1.5 million in penalties on V Marketing Australia and $60,000 on its director for 553,630 calls made to numbers on the Do Not Call Register on behalf of a solar business, plus a further 548,688 calls for its own solar brand. In July 2026 the ACCC published a review of unsolicited selling and lead generation recommending higher penalties, an opt-in approach for consumers and clearer rules for sales that originate from lead generation.