The short answer

Yes, real estate agents can cold call in Australia, but almost every appraisal or listing call goes to a homeowner's private landline or personal mobile, and those are the numbers the Do Not Call Register exists for. Unless you hold the person's consent, wash each number against the register within the 30 days before you call it. Call between 9am and 8pm on weekdays or 9am and 5pm on Saturdays, at the homeowner's home time, and never on a Sunday or a national public holiday. Give your name, your agency and the reason for the call as soon as it starts, show a number that can be called back, and end the call when the person asks. A follow-up text needs consent of its own.

This guide covers what is different when the person on the line is a homeowner, a vendor or a landlord. The general process is in how to cold call in Australia, and the register itself is explained in the Do Not Call Register guide. It is a plain-English summary of four federal laws, as published on the Federal Register of Legislation: the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the Act), the Do Not Call Register Regulations 2017, the Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017 (the Standard) and the Spam Act 2003. It also covers the Victorian conduct rules for estate agents. It is not legal advice. I wrote it after building the Australian wash into TPSClear.

Why real estate calls are telemarketing calls

Section 5(1) of the Act defines a telemarketing call by its purpose, and real estate calls meet it in two ways.

  • Prospecting for a listing. A call asking a homeowner whether they would like an appraisal offers the agency's services and promotes the agent as a supplier of them (paragraphs (e) to (g)). Section 5(4) says the supplier being promoted can be the person who made the call, so an agent promoting themselves counts.
  • Promoting a property. A call offering a property to a buyer or investor offers to supply land or an interest in land, or promotes it (paragraphs (h) to (j)).

The test is whether the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the call is on that list. A call that is partly a friendly check-in and partly a pitch is still a telemarketing call. The Act's definition of a voice call also includes a recorded or synthetic voice, so a recorded or AI voice prospecting call is covered too.

The numbers matter as much as the purpose. Section 14 makes a number eligible for the register if it is used or maintained mainly for private or domestic purposes. A homeowner's landline or personal mobile is the plainest example there is. Section 11(1) then bars a telemarketing call to a registered number unless it is a designated telemarketing call. Schedule 1 of the Act lists those, and real estate is not among them; the list is in the Do Not Call Register guide, and the penalties are under penalties for calling a registered number.

Calls that are not telemarketing calls

Section 6 of the Regulations lists kinds of calls that are not telemarketing calls at all, judged by the call's primary purpose, even if a sales purpose is also there. Two of them matter to agents.

  • Calling back about an appraisal request. Section 6(7) covers a call made in response to a customer or potential customer's request for services, or their inquiry for information about services. The primary purpose has to be that request, the request must not have been withdrawn, and the call must be made within a reasonable time after it. The Regulations give the example of a person who fills in an online form on a mortgage website and gets a call from a broker. A homeowner who fills in your online appraisal request and gets a call back about the appraisal is the same shape. Keep the call on the appraisal they asked for.
  • Appointment calls. A call whose primary purpose is to reschedule a customer's appointment, or to remind a person of an existing one, is not a telemarketing call (sections 6(4) and 6(5)). Confirming a booked appraisal time falls here.

Section 6(7) speaks of goods or services. It does not mention land, so I would not rely on it for calls to buyers who enquired about a property for sale. Treat those as telemarketing calls unless you have taken advice.

Under section 11(2), the ban does not apply if the account holder, or their nominee, consented to the call. Schedule 2 of the Act sets out how consent works, and three clauses shape what agents collect.

  • Inferred consent. Consent can be express, or reasonably inferred from the person's conduct and their business and other relationships (clause 2). A past vendor or a current landlord client may support inferred consent. Express consent you have recorded is easier to show.
  • Three months by default. Express consent given with no stated period is taken to be withdrawn three months after it was given (clause 3). An open home sign-in sheet or appraisal form that just says "you may call me" lapses after three months. Put a period in the wording.
  • A published number is not consent. Consent cannot be inferred just because the number was published (clause 4). A number on a private-sale listing, a rental ad or a directory is not consent by itself.

Record each consent with the date, the exact wording and where it was given, such as the open home address or the web form. A number with no record goes through the wash.

Washing your prospect list

Washing means submitting your numbers to ACMA's register and getting back which ones are registered. Section 11(3) protects a caller whose own submitted list came back with the number clear during the 30 days ending on the day of the call, so re-wash anything you will still be calling after that. The other routes are that the call was made by mistake (section 11(4)) or that you took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence (section 11(5)), and the caller has to point to evidence for either. The mechanics are in step 4 of the Australian cold calling guide.

Keep your own do-not-call list as well, and apply it first. A homeowner who told you to stop calling stays off the list even if their number washes clear.

TPSClear runs the wash in HubSpot, Zapier or the API, and re-washes before day 30. HubSpot plans start at A$149 per 30 days, and prepaid washes for Zapier and the API start at A$4; both are on the Australian pricing page. TPSClear washes on its own ACMA subscription; an agency that holds its own can ask to wash through it. For an old or bought list, a dead number check clears out disconnected mobiles before anyone dials them. It works on mobiles only, and some networks, Telstra among them, do not return a live status.

Calling hours and interstate landlords

Section 8 of the Standard allows calls from 9am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays. There are no calls on Sundays or on New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day or a weekday given in lieu. The full table is in step 5 of the Australian guide. State and territory laws on calling times keep running alongside it (section 15).

The time that counts is the time at the account holder's usual home address (section 8(4)). That matters when you prospect landlords for property management. If the owner of a Sydney flat lives in Perth, you call on Perth time, not the flat's time or your office's.

There is one exception. If the account holder asks in advance for a call on a particular day or at a particular time outside those hours, you can call then. You must only call at that day or time, and be able to show ACMA the request if asked (section 8(5)). A vendor who asks for a Sunday call back about their appraisal can have one. Note the request in the CRM.

What to say at the start of the call

Section 9(2) of the Standard says that as soon as the call starts, the caller gives their first name, the name of the business behind the call and the purpose of the call. Which business names you give depends on how you work.

  • Employed sales agent. Give your first name and the agency that employs you.
  • Self-employed agent under an agency brand. Give your first name, your registered business name if you have one, and the agency causing the call if that is a different name.

An opener that does this: "Hi, it's Mia from Harbourside Property. I'm calling because we sold two houses in your street this month, and I wanted to ask whether an appraisal would be useful."

Three more rules apply on every call. Caller ID must be on (section 14(1)), so dialling from a personal mobile with the number withheld breaks the Standard. The number shown must let the person call back and find out who called and why, and it must be able to take return calls for at least 30 days (sections 14(2) and 14(3)). If the person asks, give contact details that include a business name and an Australian number they can call in normal business hours (sections 9(4) and 11). And if they ask you to end the call, or show they do not want it to go on, end it straight away (section 13(1)(b)). "I'm not selling" after one polite question means thank them, hang up and add the number to your do-not-call list.

For more on openers, see cold calling scripts: rules of thumb.

Using a virtual assistant or offshore caller

Many agencies hand prospecting calls to a virtual assistant, often based overseas. The Act and the Standard apply to those calls as if you had made them.

  • The Act reaches offshore callers. Section 9 extends the Act to acts and matters outside Australia, so a VA calling Australian numbers from Manila is bound by it.
  • You are taken to have caused the calls. If you contract someone and they, or their staff, make telemarketing calls under that arrangement, you are taken to have caused those calls (section 11(9) of the Act). The Standard treats a caller you contract the same way (section 6(2)).
  • The contract needs a clause. Section 12 bars you from entering that kind of contract, where calls to private numbers are likely, unless it expressly says the other side will comply with the Act. If they use staff or agents, it must also say they will take all reasonable steps to make sure they comply. Put the clause in the VA agreement.
  • Ask whose account washes. The section 11(3) protection attaches to the person who submitted the list. If the VA firm washes on its own register account, get the wash records, or wash on yours.
  • The VA names your agency. The opener gives the VA's first name, their employer's name if they are employed by a VA firm, and the name of the agency causing the call (section 9(2) of the Standard). A VA cannot present as an in-house agent without naming the agency.

The contact details a VA gives on request must still include an Australian number that can take calls in normal business hours at the person's location (section 11 of the Standard).

Text messages after the call

Texts fall under the Spam Act, not the Do Not Call Register Act. An SMS is an electronic message (section 5), and a text that promotes services or a property is a commercial electronic message (section 6). "Just sold in your street" texts and listing alerts both count.

You must not send one unless the account holder consented (section 16). Each message must say who authorised it and how to contact them (section 17) and carry a clear unsubscribe that works for at least 30 days (section 18). Consent can be express or inferred from conduct and relationships, but not from the fact that the number was published (Schedule 2, clauses 2 and 4). The published-address exception in clause 4 covers work addresses, such as an employee's or a self-employed person's, with messages relevant to their work. It does nothing for a homeowner's personal mobile. A prospecting text to a homeowner needs real consent, so ask for it on the call: "Is it all right if I text you the sales figures for your street?"

Victorian agents: the conduct rules that also apply

In Victoria, the Estate Agents (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2018 apply to an estate agent or an agent's representative, and several of them bear on prospecting calls.

  • Regulation 6. An agent must have a working knowledge of the Estate Agents Act and its regulations, and of any other laws relevant to their work. For an agent who prospects by phone, the Do Not Call Register Act and the Standard are among those laws.
  • Regulation 10(1). An agent must at all times act fairly, honestly, in good faith and to the best of their knowledge and ability.
  • Regulation 13. An agent must not engage in conduct that is unprofessional or harms the reputation or interests of the industry (13(2)), and must be timely and courteous in all dealings (13(4)).
  • Regulation 14. An agent must not knowingly induce, or try to induce, a person to breach a contract of sale, letting or agency.
  • Regulation 8(2). An agent must not induce a person into an agreement that could leave them owing commission to more than one agent on the same sale or lease, without clear written advice about that risk.

Regulations 14 and 8(2) matter most when you call owners of homes that were listed with another agency. Withdrawn and expired listings are the usual target, so check the other agency's agreement has actually ended before you pitch for the listing. This guide cites only the Victorian rules; agents in other states should check their own state's conduct rules.

A checklist for agency principals

  • Treat every appraisal, listing and property call as a telemarketing call unless it answers a request.
  • Wash every homeowner and landlord number within the 30 days before you call it, keep the wash record, and know whose register account it ran on.
  • Keep an internal do-not-call list and apply it before the wash.
  • Put a consent period into open home sheets and appraisal forms, and record the wording, date and source.
  • Call back appraisal requests promptly and keep the call on the request.
  • Call within the Standard's hours at the owner's home time, and log any requested out-of-hours call.
  • Train agents on the opener: first name, business name, the agency behind the call, the purpose.
  • Turn caller ID on for every phone used to prospect, personal mobiles included.
  • Put a compliance clause in every VA or call centre contract, and get their wash records.
  • Get consent before any prospecting text, and include sender details and an unsubscribe.
  • In Victoria, check a property's listing has ended before you call the owner about it.

Summary

Real estate prospecting calls are telemarketing calls under the Act, and homeowners' numbers are the ones the register covers, with no exemption for agencies. Wash your list within 30 days unless you hold consent, and put a period into the consent you collect. A prompt call back about an appraisal request, or a call to confirm a booked appraisal, sits outside the definition. Every other call follows the Standard: the hours at the owner's home time, a clear opener that names the agency, caller ID on, and an immediate end when asked. If a VA makes the calls, you are taken to have caused them. Texts need consent under the Spam Act, and Victorian agents also answer to the conduct regulations. TPSClear washes Australian numbers in HubSpot, Zapier and the API.