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While internationally, pre-recorded telephone messages, often referred to as robo-calls, have been used for some time, their use during Australian election campaigns goes back less than a decade. This article tracks the emergence of robo-calls and a complementary technology known as telephone ‘town-halling’ in Australia. It explores the way Australian parties are using telephonic technology as part of their election campaigns and compares this use to the experience in the United States and Canada. While these countries have seen a push for increased robo-call and telephonic regulation as a result of a number of controversies, this article argues that any regulatory changes in Australia should reflect the different way the technology is being used here. In particular, the evidence shows that it is the telephone ‘town-hall’ technology which is set to grow most significantly and regulatory changes need to reflect the distinction between the two forms of telephonic political campaigning.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Australia, Research, Political Science
Research Division:	Studies in Human Society
Research Group:	Political Science
Research Field:	Political Science not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Government and Politics
Objective Field:	Government and Politics not elsewhere classified
Author:	Kefford, G (Dr Glenn Kefford)
ID Code:	93568
Year Published:	2014
Deposited By:	Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2014-08-08
Last Modified:	2015-05-04
Downloads:	191 View Download Statistics