Medical authorities must take urgent action to ensure that users of up to 200,000 medical device are aware of the health threat posed by the looming 3G network shutdown.

ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said the recent delay to the shutdown of the 3G network was to be applauded, but there was growing concern that people were not being warned about the impact on medical devices.

The growing rate of scams and the devastating impact they are having on Australians has been recognised by the Federal Government through the establishment of the SMS Sender ID Register – but it should be made mandatory.

ACCAN has welcomed this important step in the fight against scams but urges the government to  ensure that all industry participants are doing their part to stop fraudsters from stealing money or information from Australians. That requires a mandatory scheme.

ACCAN - Australia’s peak communications consumer group – today welcomed the news that the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has directed the ACMA to establish an industry standard to ensure telecommunications companies communicate with consumers in the event of an outage.

This reform follows advocacy from ACCAN and other organisations which led to a recommendation in the Bean Review into the Optus Outage of 8 November 2023 that there needed to be a clear industry standard to protect consumers from future outages.    

As part of Scams Awareness Week, ACCAN – Australia's peak communications consumer body – is calling on Australians to ‘share a story, stop a scam’.

Consumers encounter scams on a daily basis. Communications services – text messages and phone calls – are leading contact methods criminals use to target people. We are all part of the fight to stop scammers stealing money and information from Australians. As such, ACCAN is pleased to support the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) as they ask Australians to ‘share a story, stop a scam’ this Scams Awareness Week, 26-30 August.

Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, welcomes today’s joint announcement from major telcos Telstra and Optus that the shutdown of 3G networks will be delayed until 28 October.

ACCAN yesterday called on the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland to delay the shutdown due to health and safety concerns particularly with the ongoing access to triple zero services and medical and safety devices.

Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, is calling on the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to exercise her discretionary powers and delay the 3G shutdown due to unacceptable public safety concerns.

The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee last week released an Interim Report into the shutdown of 3G networks. It found that up to 77,000 mobile phone users would be unable to call triple zero emergency services when the nation’s 3G networks were switched off.

ACCAN welcomes today’s joint announcement by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland that 15,000 families are now receiving free internet connections via the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI).

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