Key Dates
2021 Grants projects announced:
30 June 2021
New projects begin:
1 July 2021
> View full Grants Round timeline
Contact us:
grants@accan.org.au or phone 02 9288 4000
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Welcome
ACCAN works towards achieving communications services that are trusted, inclusive, and available for all.
With this aim, the ACCAN Grants Program funds projects to enable research on telecommunications issues, represent telecommunications consumers, or create educational tools which empower consumers to understand telecommunications products and services and make decisions in their own interests.
On the following pages you will find all the information you need to decide if your project idea is eligible for an ACCAN Grant, and how to apply.
To be eligible, projects must address systemic telecommunications consumer issues. Have a browse through the following ACCAN Grants Projects to get a feel for the type of work that is funded under the Program.
University of Melbourne
Telcos are increasingly using chatbots and other forms of automated assistants to respond to their customers. There may be gains for consumers, but there are also the risks of harms, and this project seeks to investigate and recommend strategies to assist consumers to navigate these risks.
University of Melbourne
This project is an extension of research funded by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute (MSEI), undertaking a survey and focus groups with the residents (representing 39 language groups) of Carlton Public Housing Estate in central Melbourne to analyse their strategies for coping with limited connectivity. The ACCAN grant will be used to conduct one-on-one interviews with 12 residents and provide interpreting services.
Charles Sturt University
“Family Plan" telecommunications data sharing contracts are commonly promoted as an economic option for multiple users. These plans have multiple devices (with multiple users) contracted to one customer. Family plans can present surveillance risks, especially to those at risk of domestic violence.This project will collate, investigate and analyse the available information about the usage data that the customer can access about all users/devices on their plan, and report on the findings. Ultimately, the findings will provide information to consumers about their phone usage and behaviour that is accessible to their family members and assist in risk reduction.
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
The ability of small businesses (those with less than twenty employees) to adopt advanced digital services such as e-commerce solutions and cybersecurity services is vital for these businesses and for the economy. Recent surveys indicate that many are struggling to adapt to sudden changes due to Covid-19. This project aims to investigate how small retail businesses can enhance their growth and efficiency through the better use of advanced digital services from telecommunications providers.
Read more: In Progress! Enhancing the digital adaptability of Australian small retail businesses
University of Technology Sydney
The project will map out policy options for developing a complaint-handling framework for digital platforms, addressing a critical need for the satisfactory resolution of complaints from consumers. The features of effective and accountable internal dispute resolution schemes and the options for an external complaint-handling scheme will be assessed.
Read more: In Progress! Options for a complaint-handling framework for digital platforms
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $45,754
Read more: In Progress! E-Change and Remote Work in Australia
Wamboin Communications Action Group Inc.
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $50,000
Read more: In Progress! Achieve Better Broadband for Regional Communities
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $65,091
Read more: In Progress! Regulation of Internet of Things Devices to Protect Consumers
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $98,637
Curtin University
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $46,635
Centre for Accessibility
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $69,794
Deakin University
Grant Round: 2019
Amount: $76,195
Read more: In Progress! Enhancing Consumer Awareness of Privacy and the Internet of Things
WEstjustice
Grant Round: 2019
Amount: $50,000
Read more: In Progress! Newly-Arrived Consumers Telecommunications Advocacy Project
Monash University, Automated Society Working Group
Grant round: 2019
Amount: $49,579
Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM)
Grant Round: 2020
Amount: $48,000
Read more: Apps Can Trap - Tips for Protecting Children’s Privacy
First Nations Media Australia
Grant round: 2019
Amount: $49,670
Read more: Indigenous Community Perspectives and Experiences of Digital Inclusion
SACOSS (South Australian Council of Social Service)
Grant Round: 2019
Amount: $99,112
Read more: Telecommunications Affordability and Waged Poor Households
UTS Faculty of Law, UNE School of Law
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $50,603
James Cook University, Cairns Institute
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $36,000
Read more: Connectivity and digital inclusion in Far North Queensland agricultural communities
Deakin University, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $60,728
University of Melbourne, Melbourne Social Equity Institute
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $69,428
Read more: Thanks a Bundle: Making telecommunications services more accessible for people with...
MoneyMob Talkabout
Grant Round: 2019
Amount: $50,000
Read more: Telecommunications Debt in Rural and Remote Indigenous Central Australian Communities
UTS School of Communication
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $55,302