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Working from home has become an environment that many of us have become familiar with recently. However, home offices often aren’t set up as effectively as usual places of work. This means you may
not be able to guarantee access to the internet all the time, or that you may not have the speeds you need to work efficiently. Below are some steps you can take to ensure that you have the best possible working from home set up.
Read more: Handling outages while working from home
Write comment (0 Comments)The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed an overall fall in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). However, considerable increases to complaints about poor mobile coverage and mobile service dropouts (up 9.9% and 6.3% respectively) have concerned the peak body for communications consumers.
Complaints data published today in the TIO’s 2021-22 Annual Report shows that there were 79,534 complaints received in the last financial year; a decrease of 33.4% compared to the 2020-21 report. This is the lowest volume of complaints received by the TIO in over three years and the largest percentage reduction in over a decade.
Read more: Telco complaints decrease on average but mobile coverage still a concern
This list is to be used for guidance only, and inclusion on it is not an endorsement or recommendation. This website is not intended to be a substitute for independent advice.
This list is intended to be a work in progress and ACCAN encourages feedback from the broader community on recommended improvements to the site and its contents. If you find some of this information incomplete or out of date please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ACCAN recently provided a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications on the Optus Network Outage (the Outage) occurring on 8 November.
As with all mass outage events, the Outage on Wednesday 8 November caused significant disruption across Australia. It inconvenienced customers, closed businesses, and disrupted access to essential services. In ACCAN’s view the Outage highlighted systemic issues that require renewed attention.
While there is significant policy work underway to address network reliability issues, the Outage raises the question of what reliability settings are appropriate, in an environment of widespread uptake of and reliance on connectivity. Answering this question requires consideration of the social and economic costs of disconnection, which should inform policy decisions with respect to reliability frameworks.
Download: The Bottom Line - Summer 2012 [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 4.08 MB]
Download: The Bottom Line - Summer 2012 [Word Document - 70 KB]
Google and ACCAN partnered again in 2015 to offer a paid internship opportunity with ACCAN. Applicants were invited to submit a brief proposal outlining a research project on an emerging communications consumer issue.
The winner was recent law graduate, Alexander Vulkanovski, who tackled the hot topic of the Internet of Things. "Home, Tweet Home": Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers is a first-class piece of research by a talented up-and-coming lawyer.
The summary below outlines ACCAN's activities from 1 June, 2016 to 31 August, 2016.
James Cook University, Cairns Institute
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $36,000
Read more: Connectivity and digital inclusion in Far North Queensland agricultural communities
NetThing 2021 Speech by ACCAN Acting CEO – Andrew Williams
- CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY –
Building trust is a slow process. One that takes time, ongoing effort, and maintenance.
Conversely, losing trust can happen in an instant. One bad call, one misstep, and years of cultivating trust can be in jeopardy.
According to the 2021 Edelman Australia Trust Barometer, social media companies are the least trusted of all industries, falling well behind telecommunications, and even financial services.
The 2021 report shows that technology companies were the only industry to lose trust from 2020-2021, rather than gain it from Australians.
As the consumer voice for communications consumers, these statistics are not shocking or surprising to ACCAN.
We engage with consumers and advocates daily who express concern about a wide range of issues from misinformation spreading online that impacts their communities, to cyber abuse, to being unaware of their rights when using digital platforms.
Read more: NetThing 2021 - The role of consumers in building trust in digital platforms
Write comment (0 Comments)As Australian households increasingly feel the impact of higher costs of living, new research by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) conducted in April has revealed that 90% of Australians think that telcos should provide an affordable internet plan as standard so that everyone can remain connected.
A nationally representative survey of nearly 1,000 Australians conducted by the peak body for communications consumers also found that more than 80% (82%) view a home internet connection as essential. At the same time, more than a quarter (27%) say their phone and internet costs are unaffordable.
Read more: 90% of Australians think telcos should offer affordable internet plans
Disclaimer:
This list is to be used for guidance only, and inclusion on it is not an endorsement or recommendation. This website is not intended to be a substitute for independent advice.
This list is intended to be a work in progress and ACCAN encourages feedback from the broader community on recommended improvements to the site and its contents. If you find some of this information incomplete or out of date please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ACCAN recently submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) consultation on the Proposed Telecommunications Financial Hardship Industry Standard (the draft standard).
ACCAN considers that the development of the financial hardship standard is a critical improvement in consumer protections for telecommunications consumers. ACCAN acknowledges and welcomes the actions by the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland and the ACMA to progress the development of these protections.
ACCAN is supportive of the contents of the draft standard. We are pleased to see that it:
Read more: ACMA consultation on the Proposed Telecommunications Financial Hardship Industry Standard
Download: The Privacy Issue - Winter 2012 [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 4.34 MB]
Download: The Privacy Issue - Winter 2012 [Word 2007 Document - 38.34 KB]
Examining fixed phone and broadband products
ACCAN has commissioned a research project with Market Clarity to determine the telecommunications needs and wants of small business consumers and whether these are being met by the telcos.
The research raised concerns for ACCAN that the current offerings from telcos to small businesses do not match the increasingly heavy reliance that small businesses have on telecommunications. Service level agreements and performance guarantees for small businesses need to be available and enforced. Telcos need to champion their products and offer usable solutions and contingency plans in the event that their services fail. At the end of the day, the small business operator should not suffer inconvenience and loss of business due to a lack of services beyond their control. They should not have to deal with the details, they need faults fixed immediately or an agreed alternative needs to be provided by their telco.
The summary below outlines ACCAN's activities from 1 March 2016 to 31 May 2016.
Deakin University, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
Grant round: 2017-18
Amount: $60,728
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the ACCAN will be held via virtual meeting, on Thursday 16th September 2021 from 4.00pm.
ACCAN AGM
Date: Thursday 16th September 2021.
Time: 4:00pm (AEST)
Venue: Virtual Meeting via Zoom – Please register from here by 14th September 2021
Read more: Notice of ACCAN Annual General Meeting
Write comment (0 Comments)Better Basics is the theme for the 2022 Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) conference which is to be held online on September 14. The aim of this year’s conference is to outline some of the key issues that are of continuing importance to consumers, and to highlight the work being done by consumer advocates, industry, regulators, and politicians to improve the communications sector and get the basics right for consumers.
At a time when being connected to communications services is so crucial to everyday life, the reliability of services is essential. Conference delegates will hear from industry experts about measures they’re undertaking to ensure that consumers have reliable access to broadband, mobile and landline services, no matter where they live in Australia.
Read more: Achieving better basics for all during a time of significant change
Disclaimer:
This list is to be used for guidance only, and inclusion on it is not an endorsement or recommendation. This website is not intended to be a substitute for independent advice.
This list is intended to be a work in progress and ACCAN encourages feedback from the broader community on recommended improvements to the site and its contents. If you find some of this information incomplete or out of date please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ACCAN recently commented on the C555:2023 Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) Industry Code.
The IPND provides an important public asset for emergency calls, emergency warnings and law enforcement.
ACCAN is pleased to see that the revised code provides:
Read more: C555:2023 Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) Industry Code
ACCAN's broadband position statement, entitled Our Broadband Future, was launched at the ACCAN National Conference 2010 in Melbourne. ACCAN defines four principles that should guide broadband policy.