ACCAN's Talking Telco: phone and internet help made easy. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has today released Talking Telco, a series of guides to help Australians understand how to connect their phone and internet services and how to get help when things go wrong.

Talking Telco has been supported by the Federal Government, with the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP launching ACCAN’s new range of telco consumer advice.

As the current COVID-19 crisis has highlighted, phone and internet services now play an essential role in the everyday lives of Australians.

“Through our telco services, we’ve able to connect with education services, health care providers, businesses, and most importantly, each other,” said ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin.

Informed by ACCAN’s policy expertise, Talking Telco cuts through the jargon to provide consumers with simple and practical advice about phone and internet connections.

Help is available on a wide range of topics from how to choose a mobile plan, through to how to trouble-shoot common NBN internet issues.

Talking Telco provides advice for both consumers and small businesses, with key information available in a range of formats and in multiple languages, including Auslan, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and a range of Indigenous dialects.

“People who don’t speak English as a first language are often left to navigate the difficult telco landscape by themselves,” said Ms Corbin. “We want to ensure that all communications consumers have the tools they need to understand their rights and to make sure that they are treated fairly by their telco.”

Talking Telco is also available in Easy English to help those with low English literacy.

As well as being available on the ACCAN website, printed brochures will be made available for community sector groups, financial councillors and other front-line service providers.

“We know that not everyone is online, so we’re proud to be working with our members and other advocacy groups to provide printed materials to make sure that the digitally disconnected are not disadvantaged when it comes to knowing their telco rights.”

Talking Telco is available online now at accan.org.au/tips

Print brochures are also available on request.

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