The Do Not Knock campaign has reached a new milestone – our website has turned one!

In that year, we’ve had 41,627 unique visitors to the website – a fantastic figure when you consider that we achieved this without spending any money on advertising or promotion.  We estimate that at least 200, 000 free Do Not Knock stickers have been distributed in this time.

Talking about our campaign to the media Australia-wide has helped spread the word about Do Not Knock stickers.  But we owe particular thanks to our partners for our success to date, namely:

• Victoria Legal Aid,  who run community education and outreach programs to teach people about their rights at the door. When you order a sticker from the website, it’s Victoria Legal Aid who send it out free of charge.
• Financial Counselling Australia, who have championed the rights at the door of ATSI consumers, and developed an ATSI themed sticker in partnership with Centacare Forbes Wilcannia; and
• All our campaign partners– including the 106 who are making stickers available to the public, and many others who are  behind the scenes distributing stickers directly to people who want to stop unsolicited salespeople coming to their homes.

One of the highlights of the past year was the outcome of a case brought to the Federal Court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against an energy retailer and its marketing sub-contractor in March 2012.  In September, the court found that a salesperson that ignores a visible Do Not Knock sticker is breaching the provision of the Australian Consumer Law that requires salespeople to leave when requested to do so.  It was a ringing endorsement of the sticker, and an example of strong enforcement action by the ACCC.

Many people have contacted us with their stories about poor door to door sales experiences. Using information collected via our Make a Complaint form, we’ve sent 150 detailed complaints to the ACCC.  We’ve also launched a Facebook page, to encourage consumers to share their stories and report problems via social media. Please “like” us and share our page with your friends and colleagues.

We have many goals we are looking to achieve in the next year, but today we’d simply like to say thanks for your ongoing support of our campaign.  If you have any feedback, ideas, or want to help distribute stickers, you can contact us via campaigns@consumeraction.org.au