Hot Issues

Welcome to the latest current affairs that impact communications consumers. 

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Conference name tags laid out on registration desk
Planning for our 2016 Conference, ACCANect: Equipping Consumers to Stay Connected, is well underway. We’re curating an exciting program (stay tuned for updates!) which will feature some inspirational and key figures in the telecommunications space. You can now register for the Conference. Remember: if you register before 12 August you can take advantage of early bird rates.

This is a busy time of year for everyone, and before we know it, it will be September and we’ll be welcoming you to our 2016 Annual Conference. While we were workshopping ideas and speakers for this year’s Conference, we got a little nostalgic and wanted to share with you some highlights of our past events.

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Four hands holding puzzle pieces that fit togetherACCAN has a broad membership base that represents groups in the community sector, disability sector, small business owners and more.

Our members are invaluable to the work we do as they are often invited to have their say in our submissions and consultations. Not only that, we look to our members to support ACCAN’s work and to let us know of the issues affecting their stakeholders.

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Group of people sitting on lounge using smartphones and laptopsIn the lead up to the 2016 Federal Election, the Coalition, Labor Party and Australian Greens have made announcements regarding various communications policies. We’ve summarised these below, for your information.

As we previously reported, both Labor and the Coalition have committed $60 million funding for another round of the Mobile Black Spot Programme.

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TIO, Judi JonesWe interviewed the new Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), Judi Jones, for our Winter Magazine to find out more about her past work experience and the future direction of the TIO.

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ACCANect conference logoYou’re invited to attend our 2016 National Conference - ACCANect: Equipping Consumers to Stay Connected. Registrations are now officially open.

The ACCANect Conference will be held in Sydney on 14-15 September, 2016. Register before 12th August to take advantage of early bird pricing.

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The CEOs of ACCAN, the South Australian Council of Social Services (SACOSS), and Financial Counsellors Australia (FCA) have sent a joint letter to the major political parties calling for an urgent review of the Centrelink Telephone Allowance (CTA). See below for a link to download the letter that was sent to the political parties.

The letter is accompanied by a preliminary data briefing report by ACCAN and SACOSS on the adequacy of the CTA, based on a survey of 523 low-income Australians. The survey found that many low-income consumers are struggling to pay their telecommunications costs, and that the CTA is not adequate to alleviate this financial difficulty. As a result, the report recommends that all parties and candidates in the Federal Election:

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Researchers sitting at a table with laptopWe’re pleased to announce the successful Grants for 2016. This year the projects look at a range of communications consumer issues including the ballooning market of mental health apps, the security implications of smart home Internet of Things devices, and ways to assist victims of identity theft.

The ACCAN Grants Scheme funds projects which undertake research on telecommunications issues, represent consumers or create educational tools which empower consumers to derive the greatest benefit from telecommunications products and services.

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Person using smartphone and laptopTelecommunication services have and are rapidly evolving. ACCAN believes the enhancements to quality of life and economic opportunities from being connected should be available to all consumers.

In looking at the future of communication services in Australia it is time for a new focus on consumer needs. The focus to date has centred too much on developments in the telecommunications market and infrastructure rollout. A consumer focus reveals a number of policy gaps that must be addressed now. These are discussed in ACCAN’s new policy position, The Connected Consumer.

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Sad woman using laptopIt’s a sad fact of life that one day we will die.

Many of us think of our legacy simply in terms of money in the bank, superannuation, cars, homes and other physical assets, but with more and more of our lives being lived online we have a large digital footprint we could leave behind as well.

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Una Lawrence presenting at Broadband for the BushToday, ACCAN Director of Policy, Una Lawrence, delivered a presentation on ACCAN’s policy outcomes to improve communications services and products for Australian consumers at the Broadband for the Bush Forum.

The speech identified six areas of focus where current policy settings are not delivering for consumers:

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ACCAN has written to the major political parties (the Liberal Party, the Australian Labor Party, the Nationals and Australian Greens) to raise awareness of the need for politicians and government agencies to ensure that all of their online video content is accurately captioned. See below for a copy of this letter.

YouTube has a function that auto-captions videos uploaded to the site, but these captions are often inaccurate. Videos that are uploaded to Facebook often have no captions.

One in 6 Australians suffer from hearing loss; that’s 1 in 6 consumers who are not able to access online videos due to unreadable captions or a lack of captions. Access to information is especially important during the lead up to the 2016 Election. If videos are not properly captioned then many consumers will miss out on important information.

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TV remote pointing at TVAmending the Broadcasting Services Act to introduce audio description on free-to-air TV is one of ACCAN’s 2016 communications consumer priorities. Introducing audio description on Australian TV would provide greater access for consumers who are blind or vision impaired. Currently there is no audio description on Australian free-to-air TV.

Audio description is additional verbal narration that describes visual elements shown on screen during pauses in dialogue. It can describe elements such as scenes, costumes and actions.

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