Charities, survey companies , religious groups, politicians would fall into the authorised entry category…as they can legally enter one’s property and go to the front door…and knock.
Maybe a home made sign on the front door saying (in addition to a do not knock sign)…‘go away…door won’t be answered for charities, religious groups or survey companies’. And hope they read the sign.
I had the JWs knocking yesterday. I was asleep. Deeply asleep. I woke with a huge adrenaline surge and struggled to get into something I could wear to open the front door, by which time they were wandering off. I closed the door again as they turned to come back. They didnt bother knocking again, which is just as well, because I was not feeling particularly polite.
I’ll be off to bunnings later to get something like that. Dont want any repeats of yesterday.
As can anyone under the implied right of entry. Authorised entry does remove that implied right as it means they must have an authority to enter your property, either an Act of Law eg Council may enter only for purposes authorised such as access to check or repair the Sewerage service or that Police have to enter to keep the peace. If they have no Act of Law to permit the entry they must have your explicit authority ie you invite them to enter which you can remove at any time by telling/asking them to leave (by any vernacular phrase you might wish to use).
As has also been noted previously Charities, Religious groups and Pollies are not bound by the “Do Not Knock” sticker as this pertains strictly to those cold calling to sell a service or product but not a donation. If you ask them to leave they must do so immediately or they are trespassing as you have removed their implied right of entry. For any of those groups that do not understand the meaning of “Authorised Entry Only” it may just be easier to get a “No Entry” type sign but both have the same effect. If you ask a service person to perform some work eg an Electrician to come to repair or check your lights, then they have your authority to enter which then overrides the sign until you remove that right or when they have completed their work.
No, this is not the case.
Legislation provides power of entry for authorised persons like council officers, meter readers, surveyors, emergency services, utility providers etc.
Having a sign saying Authorised Entry Only or Unauthorised Access Prohibited does not imply the same thing. These signs are used commonly within industry, commercial/retail and government premises to ensure those who are not allowed to enter (such as untrained workers or workers without the right or privileges to enter) do not enter beyond the signage. They are not erected to only allow authorised persons with power of entry under a piece of legislation to enter. These signs effectively say ‘if you are allowed to enter, you can enter, otherwise to not proceed.’
This these signs placed on a gate applied to only Authorised Persons, in effect everyone’s friends, family etc would be trespassing if they pass the signage on the front gate. The question would arise why it would only apply to specific persons one thinks should not be authorised at the time that access is gained. I imagine this would be legal murky water to tread.
As anyone (expect those door to to sellers which are caught up by the Australian Consumer Law do not knock provisions) can legally enter a property to gain direct access to the front door, an Authorised Entry Only or No Unauthorised Entry won’t have any effect as these individually are allowed to enter the property to gain direct access to the front door (it is not trespass)… However, it may make some charity, religious, survey etc door knockers think twice and some who don’t now what it means (or have had inadequate training by their organisation), may decide not to enter after reading the sign (this would be a bluff and not based on them not being authorised persons).
Yes, one can withdraw access to a person at any time by indicating that a person must leave a property immediately, otherwise it would be trespass. My understanding is this must be given to each individual in question at the time that entry is gained.
The ACCC and courts looking at the ACL take a different position in relation to door to door traders…that the ACL extinguishes rights of access to the front door when signage is shown. There is no such legislation which broadly restricts other parties access to the front door rights.
Police officers have wide powers to enter premises without being liable to prosecution for trespass. Some other officials (e.g. gas and electricity employees, post office officials, and health and agriculture inspectors) are also specifically authorised by various laws to enter premises for certain purposes without being liable for trespass.
The defences to an action in trespass are:
It is generally implied that a homeowner consents to any person entering using the usual point of entry to reach the front door, unless there is a sign indicating the lack of consent or a locked door or gate restricting access to the front door.
From a previous post and was a quote from a solicitor in an article was the following:
It doesn’t have to be particular wording it only needs to be a sign that is reasonable to understand that implied consent has been removed.
I also did not say it removed the right for those with authority to enter but it removes all other implied rights. Pollies, Charities, and similar while not part of the Do Not Knock considerations are only using implied right of entry. From the link you provided re the Do Not Knock sticker “Visits from politicians, those seeking donations for a charity, or market researchers are not unsolicited consumer agreements for the purposes of that law because there is no selling involved. This means the Do Not Knock sticker does not apply to those visits” references only the Do Not Knock sticker.
I am fully aware of powers of entry for authorised persons…I have had, in previous employment, the ‘privilege’ to use power of entry provisions in the past.
Authorised person powers of entry is very different to Authorised Entry Only signage.
I agree with Mr Eliau that these signs are explicit but does not necessary result in trespass…other signs also include things like ‘Keep Out’ and these give one an idea what the person wishes. It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone inadvertently accessed with such signage, such as a charity worker, and what the courts (which in Queensland determine if trespass has occurred) would determine. The first question to be answered would be does the sign owner require all persons to not enter the property to access the front door or just some (using discretion and doesn’t include friends and family). If it is some, then the signs in effect are nonsense and only bluffs. It potentially could become interesting legally and could create some definitive case law.
The information provided in the past has been consistent with that on the Queensland Law Handbook information.
It is also worth noting that the access status in Queensland was made clearer after the ‘Lock the Gate’ campaign associated with CSG exploration and operations.
It is also worth noting that there are a few very old tenures which exist in Queensland that don’t allow access to a property, by someone exercising their legal rights. Some very old titles general provisions for such rights were never included. With the work that I didn, this one was one of first checks because if the title was silent, the only way to access was to negotiate access. I understand that the government updates these titles when there is a trigger, such as subdivisions or transfer of tenure.
Edit 1: To make signage which only applied to Authorised Persons, possibly it would need to be worded like “Entry only permitted for Authorised Persons under s.XXX of the ABC Act, sYYY of the DEF Act, szzz of GHI Act etc (listing all acts where powers of entry are provided for authorised person and the powers of access).” One would also need to legal advice and also potentially consult with the various statutory authorities as some may get their nose out of joint with such signage been displayed.
Edit 2: One mustn’t also confuse the definition in legislation with the common dictionary meaning of a word. In the case of a Authorised Entry Only sign, the common dictionary meaning would apply. The Authorised Person definitions under each piece of legislation, while are interesting, bears no association with the signage. The only way to attach a meaning would be to refer to the relevant sections of legislation as outlined in the first edit…as each piece of legislation will have different definitions in place.
@BrendanMays I used to live in the UK until end 2017. It always used to be ambiguous in the UK whether charity collectors were permitted to ignore “no cold calling” stickers but it appears that now it is no longer ambiguous. See https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/more-from-us/topics/direct-debit-fundraising-door-to-door. The UK fundraising regulator now says “If you live in a Cold Call Control Zone (CCCZ) where fundraising is prohibited, or have a “no cold calling” sticker then door-to-door fundraisers can’t knock.” I think that this is a relatively new development but I think it is a positive development.
Good. Remember that these notices have legal strength behind them if people persist. I would call your local MP if this occurs.
I’ve been led to believe that is not the case in all parts of Australia - here the ‘lock the gate’ people modified their signs allegedly because in the NT you apparently can’t just lock the gate … I can’t find a reference though … it wouldn’t surprise me if it were yet another example of our wonderfully diverse legislation …
I have tried that, as I do have regular direct donations made to a couple of charities. However, the calls are starting up again. Before last Christmas I had 12 calls in one week.
This is why I need to get a different sticker. I have two do not knock stickers. One is on the screen door, but before the screen door is reached, a person has to pass by the entrance to a portico and I have another sticker on that. But religious organisations are apparently allowed to ignore the do not knock. So… I need to be upgraded.
As I posted in Oct 18 above, I have not had the Jehovahs back since I slammed the door in their face.
When I was putting the wheelie bin out a few weeks ago, I saw 4 of them coming up our street but they did not annoy me.
I guess I am on their “Do not save from dammanation” list.
They can as they are currently exempt. This link was posted above, but have posted it again for you…
One can however ask them to leave the property on first contact.
Other forum members have different views and strategies for dealing with religious door knockers. These can be found through the above thread.
Yes, as I said, and as you said previously. Which is why I need something different. As i said.
While there is apparently an implied permission that enables access to your front door, per one view point from a legal thinking mind:
It is generally implied that a homeowner consents to any person entering using the usual point of entry to reach the front door, unless there is a sign indicating the lack of consent or a locked door or gate restricting access to the front door.
Thanks to the link @grahroll
It might be appropriate to provide written advice at the gate that advises directly those others to whom you will not grant permission to enter. Short of locking the gate, assuming the sign is ignored, the response at the front door might be to first ask the knocker, ‘Have you read the sign at the front gate?’
We’ve 5 gates onto our property. Four are usually locked. There are no legal excuses as soon as someone climbs over or through the barbed wire fence.
P.S. the best keep out signage I’ve seen recently is that on the fences surrounding Dept of Defence training and live firing range facilities. Rather long and wordy, but effective.
Unfortunately, I live in a tickytacky box of a house on a narrow block of land and when these were built, council had a caveat in place which said NO FENCES. So the spec builders built without fences and without space between the blocks except on one side where there could be entrance to the back yard. I already have a no junk mail on my letterbox, and theres no space for a nocanvassers as well. Which is why its on the portico roof support. Which is ignored by JWs, quite legally. Thankfully, I have not had to deal with people wanting me to join the local football club, those who are convinced they have a better internet deal, or those who want me to switch electricity and gas providers… not since putting up the signs.
I understand the situation. We’ve had several urban houses with no front fence covenants.
Apparently a hedge row, even a low version can define your boundary. We did that to good effect at one property.
On our rural block we still get:
the looking for work tree pruners,
the have I got a great deal on roof restoration,
and the occasional offer of salvation.
I often wonder if it is the last listed that are the ones that are lost. The road ends within sight of our front gate.
There is plenty of creativity amongst all the previous advice.
Get a plastic or metal “No Entry” sign attach it to a wooden/steel stake and hammer it in at (or inside but near) your front boundary facing towards the front of your boundary. This is all that is necessary. If someone ignores the sign and enters your property (and are not an authorised person who can ignore the sign eg a Council worker carrying out a legal duty or someone you invited to your property) then the person/s have committed trespass and can be removed from your land, you can sue them for trespass (no damage needs to be done either), you can call the police to remove them and charge them with trespass.
Well now, I would not bother going that far. I think its a bit excessive. A sign will be quite enough. The rest can take care of itself.
