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ACCAN says it welcomes the release of a draft revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code today, giving stakeholders a month to provide feedback as to whether the new rules will improve consumer protections for Australian residential and small business customers.

A reminder to ACCAN members that nominations for Directors to fill three vacancies on the ACCAN Board are now open and will close at 5pm AEDT 24 September 2013. Newly elected Board members at the 2013 AGM will sit for a three-year term until the Annual General Meeting in 2016.

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Parts 7 and 8 of the Telecommunications Act provide an important basis to ensure that broadband networks operate in a similar way and to the benefit of consumers. They require network operators to offer services to any retail providers on request (offer open access on a non-discriminatory basis) and that they must operate separate to the retail level (wholesale only). While these specify the operation of networks, the ultimate aim is to ensure competitive networks exist that benefit consumer by increasing choice of providers.

Since 2012 Telstra have had an exemption to comply with these requirements in the South Brisbane network area. Telstra have now requested a further extension, with the Minister for Communications and the Arts has proposing an extension to January 2020 (designated day).

Major Australian consumer advocacy organisations have launched a campaign to “kill CAPTCHA”, the annoying and discriminatory tests used by websites to prove users are human.

With less than two weeks until the 2013 Federal Election, there's still a lot of confusion among the general public regarding the National Broadband Network (NBN), one of the biggest election issues. ACCAN has compared both parties' NBN policies, including what the Greens think, as we want all consumers to have a clearer idea of what the competing NBN policies will offer them.

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) recently undertook a Review of the Emergency Call Service (ECS) Determination. The ECS Determination imposes requirements on carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons regarding access to the emergency call service. The purpose of this Review was to consider whether the ECS Determination is still relevant and whether its obligations remain consistent and robust. This Review was recommended by the Department of Communications and the Arts, in its report into the Triple Zero service disruptions in May 2018.

ACCAN made a submission to the ACMA’s Review, in which we provided recommendations about how the emergency call service could be made more accessible and more reliable.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) today launched a new guide for consumers that explains their rights in relation to mobile phone, landline, internet and pay TV services.

The guide, Making the Right Call, summarises in plain language what rights customers have under the newly registered Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code and other laws, regulations and industry codes.

“This guide is essential for phone and internet customers in Australia, because it explains your rights in simple terms, including what to look for when signing up for services. It also has tips on what you can expect once you’ve signed up for a service and what you should do if something goes wrong,” said ACCAN Chief Executive Officer Teresa Corbin.

When the trial of audio description (AD) ended on 5 November last year, Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy acknowledged the strong desire for the service to continue and agreed to work together with all parties towards establishing a permanent AD service on Australian TV in the future.

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ACCAN has made a brief submission to the Senate Inquiry into Australian content on broadcast, radio and streaming services. We highlighted the value of Australian content for people with disability in particular, and outlined that everyone should have access to Australian content.

In our submission, ACCAN explained that some accessibility features are readily included on Australian content, whereas others aren’t available (or aren’t consistently available). This is because there are no clear legislative requirements or protections to ensure access to Australian programming across all platforms.

Peak consumer body ACCAN say the results of a study released today shed a stark light on the challenges involved in connecting up remote indigenous communities, where very few residents have been online and many have never used a computer.

Transcript of the speech given by ACCAN Chief Executive Teresa Corbin at the CommsDay Melbourne Congress.

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ACCAN has made a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). The Assistance and Access Bill seeks to amend current legislation to facilitate access by law enforcement agencies to the content of stored communications, such as texts, emails and call data.

ACCAN has expressed serious concerns about the Bill, alongside many other Australian and global stakeholders, including those from the telecommunications industry, technology sector, human rights and consumer organisations. In its current form the Bill will provide access to consumers’ data without their knowledge or adequate judicial oversight. The Bill will act to weaken encryption systems by forcing technology companies, device manufacturers, and other relevant parties, to build into their software and systems an entry-point (or backdoor) to encrypted data.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), Blind Citizens Australia, Media Access Australia and Vision Australia welcome the announcement by Senator Stephen Conroy of an audio description trial to commence on ABC1 television in the second half of 2012, which will provide a voice description of the visual broadcast for people who are blind or vision impaired. 

Audio description provides a narrative soundtrack that runs alongside audio and describes actions and non-verbal cues that are occurring on screen so that people who are blind and vision-impaired can fully enjoy programs on television.

ACCAN has been asked to nominate two consumer representatives to sit on the Communications Compliance Advisory Committee. Communications Compliance is a newly formed company established to monitor telecommunication industry compliance with the recently approved Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code.

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The Federal Government is developing reforms to give consumers greater access to and control over their data held by companies they do business with, such as banks, energy companies and telcos. The Consumer Data Right will allow customers to transfer their data to different providers to see if those providers offer products that would be more suitable, at a better price.

For consumers, greater use and control of their data could provide significant benefits through helping them to find services they need at reduced prices.

In this consultation the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) asked for comments on the principles that will underpin the drafting of rules for the consumer data right, prior to the draft rules being released. The rules will provide detail about how the consumer data right is to be implemented, privacy protections for consumers and the obligations of businesses. ACCAN will comment further on the consumer data rights when the draft rules are released later this year.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed the Mid-term Review into its first two years of operations, which has highlighted its effectiveness as a peak body representing Australian telecommunications consumers.

ACCAN is accepting Expressions of Interest to fill a vacancy on its Independent Grants Panel.  The role of the Panel is to assess eligible applications to the ACCAN Independent Grants Scheme and recommend the strongest to the ACCAN Board for funding.

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The Federal Government is developing reforms to give consumers greater access to and control over their data held by companies they do business with, such as banks, energy companies and telcos. The Consumer Data Right will allow customers to transfer their data to different providers to see if those providers offer products that would be more suitable, at a better price.

For consumers, greater use and control of their data could provide significant benefits through helping them to find services they need at reduced prices.
In this consultation The Treasury is asking for further comments on the draft legislation that will underpin the consumer data right, before the legislation is introduced into Federal Parliament. ACCAN’s initial comments on the draft legislation are available here.

National Telework Week is running from 12 to 16 November 2012. Telework is working regularly from a place other than the office, in most cases from a home office. During National Telework Week businesses are encouraged to trial telework by allowing their employees to work remotely for one or more days during the week and register their involvement online.

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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has urged both sides of federal politics to commit to a whole-of-government accessible IT procurement policy, which has been recommended in the final report of the IT pricing inquiry.

ACCAN lodged a submission with the ACCC on its fixed line services declaration inquiry. The inquiry relates to the services that Telstra sells on its copper network to other providers of phone and internet services.

The ACCC is proposing to maintain the regulation of the services Telstra provides for further 5 year period. ACCAN agrees with the ACCC’s position.

Once the ACCC makes its final decision, it will then consider the prices Telstra charges other providers to use its network.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed today's announcement by the Federal Government that it will set up “Digital Hubs” to provide people with community-based computer and internet training as part of its National Digital Economy Strategy.

Great news! The communications regulator, the ACMA, has released a new captioning standard designed to make television more accessible to people who are deaf or hearing impaired.

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ACCAN has made a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) on its investigation of TPG Telecom Limited’s (TPG) proposed merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited (VHA).

ACCAN is supportive of the proposed merger as it is likely to lead to more sustainable competition with a positive effect for consumers in the Australian telecommunications market. 

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