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Cloud computing has the potential to transform the way individual consumers and small businesses store and use data, potentially saving time, money and effort. However, cloud computing involves risks for consumers that must be carefully managed.

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The Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network are delighted to announce a new accessible app challenge, Apps For All.

ACCAN has made a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Mobile Terminating Access Service (MTAS) inquiry, about the ACCC’s Final Access Determination (FAD) on price and non-price terms.

Peak consumer communications group ACCAN says prices for services on the NBN released yesterday by retail service provider Internode are comparable to current offers but affordability remains a key concern for consumers.

ACCAN and Telstra are delighted to announce the two-day
M-Enabling Australasia 2013 conference being held on 14th-15th August at Australian Technology Park, Sydney.

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‘Standards Australia is reviewing the ways in which it distributes and licenses its standards. Standards are documents that set a benchmark for how something should be done or made by an individual, company, or industry. They can be adopted into regulation or legislation. Standards Australia has been investigating how to license and distribute standards in a way that delivers:

  • Greater reach for Standards Australia’s content,
  • Better awareness and use of standards,
  • Financial sustainability.

The Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce will launch National Consumer Fraud Week with a warning that scammers can target you anytime, anywhere, anyhow.

Scammers do not stop at anything to target victims, including adopting a personal touch. Watch out for scammers – whether you are answering a phone call, opening mail, online chatting with friends, shopping or even looking for love.

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Peak consumer group ACCAN says annual report data released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) today shows the number of customers who have gone to the TIO about an unexpectedly high bill has doubled over the past year.

ACCAN has made some submissions to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) regarding caption exemption draft orders for Fetch TV, Foxtel Cable Television, Optus Vision Media, Selectra and Telstra Pay TV.

In our submissions we urged the ACMA to deny the exemption applications, as Australians who rely on closed captions should be ensured the same functional access to television services as other Australians. We continue to call for equitable access to video programming, including subscription television services, for people who are Deaf or have hearing impairment.

Disability advocates say a “talking” digital set-top box specially commissioned by the Digital Switchover Taskforce under the Household Assistance Scheme (HAS) will ensure blind and vision-impaired Australians still have access to television when the analog signal is switched off.

ACCAN, Blind Citizens Australia (BCA), Media Access Australia (MAA) and Vision Australia (VA) today welcomed the announcement made by Senator Stephen Conroy that from next month the talking set-top box will be provided to eligible consumers at no cost.

Communications Compliance, a newly created industry monitoring body set up to monitor telco compliance with the new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code, is seeking nominations or recommendations from consumer bodies for a consumer director to sit on its Board. 

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has conducted a second-round of consultation on the Emergency Call Service (ECS) Determination. A draft ECS Determination 2019 was provided for comment, in which a number of changes have been made based on the results of the first consultation process (completed in November 2018). It also outlines options for a trial of alternative call handling methods for SIM-less calls to the ECS.

Complaints from small businesses about their telecommunications services increased 52 per cent in the last financial year, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) reports in the latest issue of TIO Talks, published today.

More than 22,000 complaints were made in 2010-11 by small businesses unable to resolve issues with service providers. Complaints about inadequate or incorrect customer service advice, poor mobile phone coverage, broken promises and bill disputes were the most common issues.

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Peak consumer communications group ACCAN today announced the six new consumer research, education and advocacy projects awarded funding through the 2012 Round of the $250,000 ACCAN Grants Scheme.

The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science undertook a public consultation on Australia’s Ethics Framework in relation to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

ACCAN made a brief submission to this consultation. We outlined that consumer safeguards must be put in place to protect consumers from any unintended outcomes of new technology such as AI. We stated that compliance and enforcement procedures in relation to the ethical use of AI are necessary to protect consumers, as existing human rights, legislative and regulatory frameworks alone cannot completely protect consumers against unethical behaviour.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority doesn’t seem to understand the needs of consumers  Against the advice of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ACMA has decided not to implement a default bar on subscription text message services. Instead, the ACMA has sided with industry in a soft-regulatory approach that is just what the revenue hungry and consumer indifferent telecoms companies want. It’s just another decision that casts doubt on whether the ACMA is actually up to the job of protecting consumers.

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The telco industry had more than 197,000 new complaints from its customers lodged with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in the last financial year, representing a 17.8% increase on the previous year’s result and making this the highest number of complaints on record.

The top three issues for consumers were again customer service, complaint handling, and billing and payments.

“The telco industry has scored another ‘F’ this year for customer service and complaint handling for failing to address its customers' problems in a timely manner,” ACCAN Chief Executive Officer Teresa Corbin said today.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) is investigating options for internal reform in the wake of recommendations from the Consumer Safeguards Review Part A: Complaints handling and consumer redress. The first part of this investigation relates to possible changes to the TIO Constitution to reform the structure and selection of its Board. ACCAN’s response to the TIO Option Paper proposed a number of changes to enhance the independence of the TIO Board and strengthen the consumer perspective in Board matters.

A report released today by Council on the Ageing (WA) and the Australian Communications Action Network (ACCAN) has found that very few senior women are going online due to a lack of skills, anxiety about technology, cybercrime fears and problems with service providers.

ACCAN has released its 2013 Grants Scheme Guidelines ahead of the 2013 round of the ACCAN Grants Scheme, which opens Monday 18th February.

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The peak body for the telecommunications industry, Communications Alliance, has conducted a preliminary consultation on a Draft Industry Guidance Note about appointment of Authorised Representatives and Advocates. Authorised representatives are usually lawyers, financial counsellors or family members of customers who need assistance managing their telco affairs.

The Draft Guidance Note provides recommendations about how telcos should go about authorising representatives who act on behalf customers.

Communications Alliance will be consulting further on the Guidance Note in September 2019.

In our written feedback, ACCAN proposed that substantial adjustments be made to improve the efficiency and fairness of the authorisation process.

Peak communications consumer advocacy body ACCAN has today announced the six successful projects it will fund through the 2011 Round of the ACCAN Grants Scheme.

ACCAN Director of Research & Grants Ryan Sengara said the organisation had received 71 applications from a wide range of non-government, research and community organisations.

People experiencing homelessness, Aboriginal youth and the Deaf community are among the consumers set to benefit from this year's ACCAN grants scheme.

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ACCAN recently submitted to the ACCC’s inquiry into the proposed extension of expiring non-price provisions of the NBN’s Special Access Undertaking (SAU). The SAU sets out the terms on which service providers can access NBN infrastructure.

The expiring provisions are about:

    • consultation processes for the design of products and pricing by NBN;
    • dispute resolution processes; and
    • arrangements to modify network technology design.

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