Key Dates

Next Grant Round:
Applications for funding will open early 2025. 
> Information about our Grants Program

Independent Grants Panel:
Results of the recent EOI will be notified Dec 2024.
> Information about our Panel  

We can help:  grants@accan.org.au
or phone 02 9288 4000

Grants Information

Round Guidelines

Round Priorities

How to apply

Who can apply?

What is eligible?

How Grants are assessed

The first thing that you should do if you are struggling to pay a bill is contact your service provider so you can discuss your options. Your provider can set up a payment plan for you, and while this is in place they will not report your debt to a Credit Reporting Agency.

Below are the contact details for some of the main service providers.

Telstra

Optus

  • Call 1300 308 839
  • Online payment assistance policy summary
  • Download: Payment assistance policy [downloads from Optus website - 201KB)

TPG Telecom

Vodafone

  • Call 1800 185 289
  • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Further online information
  • Download: Vodafone Hardship Policy [downloads from Vodafone website - 128KB]

ALDImobile

Amaysim

  • Call 1300 808 300 (567 free from your Amaysim mobile)
  • Call: 07 3063 4574
  • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information
  • Download: Amaysim Hardship Policy [downloads from Amaysim website - 79KB]

Aussie Broadband

Belong

  • Call 1800 979 544
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information
  • Download: Belong Payment Assistance Policy [downloads from Belong website - 188KB]

Boost Mobile

Dodo

  • Call 1300 907 283
  • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information
  • Download: Dodo Payment Assistance Policy  [downloads from Dodo website - 699KB)

iiNet

Internode:

iPrimus

  • Call 1300 312 337
  • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information

Lebara

Southern Phone

  • Call 13 14 64
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information
  • Download: Payment Assistance Policy [downloads from Southern Phone website - 790KB]

Tangerine

  • Call: 1800 317 520
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Further online information
  • Download: Tangerine Payment Assistance Policy [downloads from Southern Phone website - 4.6MB]

Uniti Retail (Uniti Internet)

  • Call: 1300 847
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Download: Hardhip Policy summary [downloads from Uniti website - 87KB]
  • Download: Uniti Internet Financial Hardship Policy  [downloads from Uniti website - 116KB]

 

In a project funded by ACCAN, researchers at The University of Sydney analysed 61 top-rated mental health apps available to Australian consumers.

Mental health apps commonly collected consumer data, requested that consumers make in-app purchases, and made health claims. Although this is normal in the app world, we thought, “How would this stand up in the real world?”

[Jane looking at the hand massage signs. Thinks, “hmmm…just what I need”]

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ACCAN Mag Cover Autumn 2019

Download: pdfACCAN Magazine - Issue 31 Autumn 2019936.62 KB  (Note: reading order not accessible)

Download accessible version: docxACCAN Magazine Issue 31 Autumn 2019 - accessible version35.54 KB

Small Business Making a Complaint cover image

If you are unhappy with the service you are receiving from your telco, you can make a complaint.

Telcos have to follow rules about when small businesses can be disconnected, help they must provide if you can’t pay a bill, and more. If your small business spends less than $40,000 per year with one telco for your internet, landline and mobile phone services, you’re protected by these rules.

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Icon: Information in other languages

Small Business Making A Complaint cover image

This tip sheet is available in:

pdfArabic - Small Business Making a Complaint 247.73 KB

pdfSimplified Chinese - Small Business Making a Complaint249.15 KB

pdfSpanish - Small Business Making a Complaint208.46 KB

pdfTagalog - Small Business Making a Complaint201.5 KB

pdfVietnamese - Small Business Making a Complaint216.65 KB

 Picture of Walpiri People holding a Honey ant (Yurrumpi)

ACCAN’s purpose is to work for “communications services that are trusted, inclusive and available for all.” Our Strategic Plan can be viewed at accan.org.au.

In 2021 ACCAN efforts will be focused on the following priority areas, informed by the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on consumers’ use of communications services. At the same time, we will be responsive to emerging issues, and engage with government and industry consultations in areas of significance for telecommunications consumers
.
Our policy priorities are developed in close consultation with ACCAN members, and are informed by our knowledge and analysis of the communications market.

 

Gerard Goggin was an inaugural ACCAN Board member appointed in 2008. Since then Gerard has been a member of the ACCAN Independent Grants Panel which assesses applications for the ACCAN grants program.  Gerard has continue to provide leadership on many communications consumer issues including universal service, accessibility issues and mobile telephony. Gerard is currently Wee Kim Wee Professor of Communication Studies at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore.

ACCAN commissioned research assessing the effectiveness of programs and offers being provided by the telecommunications industry to assist low income households and individuals with the affordability of their telecommunications services.

The research encompassed surveys and interviews with community organisations involved in delivering some of the programs, community organisations who work with low income individuals and households, and low income individuals themselves – both those that have received programs and offers from telcos and those that haven’t.

 

Now that the NBN has been declared built and fully operational, ACCAN has examined what needs to be changed in the telecommunications sector in order to protect consumer interests and maximise the benefits of broadband in the future. Underpinning this analysis is the shift in the way consumers use and rely on broadband services. Telecommunications is now widely regarded as an essential service, and so consumer protections and safeguards must be brought in line with this way of thinking.

Icon for Affordable Devices in New South Wales

Please choose the type of device you are looking for:

 

Desktop computers - New South Wales

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network’s (ACCAN) Board of Directors has unanimously endorsed the organisation’s support of the Voice to Parliament. A Voice to Parliament aligns with ACCAN’s organisational vision of Communications services that are trusted, inclusive, accessible, and available for all. A Voice to Parliament also aligns strongly with ACCAN’s Reconciliation Action Plan vision of a united Australia that acknowledges its past and values the unique culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Board and staff of ACCAN support a successful Referendum that will enshrine a First Peoples Voice to Parliament in our Constitution. A Voice that can provide independent advice to Parliament and Government enables true self-determination by ensuring the diverse First Nations perspectives and aspirations are authentically embedded in decisions affecting their lives. A Voice will also provide new opportunities for community consultation to improve communications, particularly in regional and remote Australia.

Digital Literacy Foundation

Working towards universal digital inclusion is critical. In partnership with local Council and community organisations, this project will operate locally-based, face-to-face digital mentoring services for people in the Hawkesbury region. Workshops will build on a successful pilot program focused on increasing consumers’ access to online information, communications products, and services.

With many services digitised, older Hawkesbury residents are increasingly isolated, as the region’s rivers, bushland, unsealed roads, and devastation following fires (2019) and multiple floods (2022) has reduced access to physical services. The Hawkesbury region has a higher proportion of 50 to 84-year-olds than Greater Sydney (Census 2021), a group which, according to the Australian Digital Inclusion Index, are more likely to experience digital exclusion. The program aims to improve access to communication channels with community, family and government, including telehealth, and provide opportunities for increased social connectedness, and participation in online social and economic activities.

Period: 1 March – 31 May 2023

Luke Coleman

ACMA Delegate Bag Banner

The opinion piece below was written by ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett for the Canberra Times and Australian Community Media about the 3G shutdown. It was originally published on 19 August 2024.

Many Australians are doing it tough right now and the challenges confronting rural and remote parts of the country are especially acute.

The bush has always struggled to secure essential services, be it doctors, teachers or trades. Communications services are equally essential.

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ACCAN recently submitted to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee’s consultation on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 (the Bill).

In ACCAN’s view the Bill provides a foundation for tackling misinformation and disinformation on digital communications platforms. However, the Bill should be expanded to explicitly include measures which address consumer harms, such as minimum dispute resolution standards, which could be expanded to ensure appropriate complaints do not fall through the gaps.

ACCAN has today welcomed the Albanese Government’s introduction of legislation to the parliament to keep the National Broadband Network in public ownership. 

ACCAN supports NBN Co in its mission to deliver affordable, accessible, high-speed broadband to all Australians. This legislation ensures that the public interest will remains front and centre. 

Australian taxpayers have outlaid nearly $60 billion for the construction of the NBN in the 15 years since it was established.

ACCANect2022 Webpage Banner

ACCANect 2022 Better Basics featured a range of presentations about key topics including access to reliable communications services, affordable communications, on-line safety and trust, and the essentiality of communications.

Thank you for joining us as we probed the progress and challenges of modernising communications basics for consumers, and to the future opportunities to work together and achieve ACCAN’s vision of communications services that are trusted, inclusive, accessible, and available for all.

All conference registrations have access to a video on demand (VOD) broadcast of the conference on the Delegate Connect Conference Platform.

Registration remains open for those who are not registered and wish to watch ACCANect 2022 Better Basics VOD.   

ACCAN Grants Program Banner - Woman researching at libraryContact Us

We encourage you to talk to us before applying for an ACCAN Grant. The Grants Team is available to help develop your project idea, ensure it's within scope, and with enough notice, we may be able to review a draft and help you make the most of your application.

The best way to reach us is via email - let us know a good time & number to phone you, or simply pop your questions & project ideas into the email. We will get back to you as soon as we can: 

Email: grants @ accan.org.au

Phone: 02 9288 4000 (ACCAN reception) or via the National Relay Service

Subscribe

To keep up to date with all things grants related and to better understand ACCAN's work, subscribe to the mailing lists below:

 

Cover image of the fixed voice continuity plan pdfFixed Voice Continuity Plan.pdf409.05 KB

docFixed Voice Continuity Plan.doc71.5 KB

Your business landline (fixed voice service) can be a critical business asset. If your fixed voice service failed, would your business continue to operate effectively?

Back-up (or failover) solutions for fixed voice services vary considerably depending on the size of your organisation and the purposes for which you use these services. Most small businesses are highly dependent on their fixed voice services so a continuity plan is important.

To minimise risk to your business from failure of your fixed voice services you should:

  • Perform a 'risk assessment' for your business's use of telecommunications

  • Obtain the most reliable fixed voice service that you can afford – to match the level of risk.

  • Write an action plan for what you would do in the event of a disruption to this service (outage)

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In order to sign up with some businesses, such as phone companies or internet providers, consumers are often required to be able to prove their identity. This can be problematic for people who do not have the typical standard identification documents such as a driver licence or a passport.

This tip sheet is intended to outline alternative methods that are accepted by telecommunications companies, specifically, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.

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