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
Subscribe to Grants Program mailings
This tip sheet is available in:
Arabic - Choosing a Mobile Plan390.24 KB
Simplified Chinese - Choosing a Mobile Plan410.95 KB
Spanish - Choosing a Mobile Plan390.9 KB
Tagalog - Choosing a Mobile Plan387.85 KB
Vietnamese - Choosing a Mobile Plan346.66 KB
Read more: Choosing a Mobile Plan - Information in other languages
ACCAN is committed to advancing the interests of consumers through enhancements to consumer protection arrangements. Sound consumer protections are necessary to allow consumers to engage confidently in the communications market.
ACCAN’s work and commitment to ongoing engagement with stakeholders will drive strengthened consumer protections through the direct regulation of consumer protections. Some current issues in this policy priority include the adequacy of consumer protection arrangements for financial hardship, credit assessment and domestic and family violence.
Ian Binnie has been an individual member of ACCAN since its inception and also one of the predecessor organisations the Consumers Telecommunications Network (CTN). Ian joined CTN soon after he retired from a long career in the telecommunications industry. He is a great supporter of consumer representation activities in the telecommunications industry.
For general enquiries email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For membership enquiries email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For executive meeting requests please email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For grants scheme enquiries email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ACCAN’s purpose is to work for “communications services that are trusted, inclusive, accessible and available for all.” Our Strategic Plan can be viewed at accan.org.au/about-us/reporting/strategic-plan.
In 2021-22 ACCAN will be focused on the following priority areas, informed by the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on consumers’ use of communications services and the need for accessible and easy-to-understand consumer education and information about communications issues. 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, including the converging areas of media, broadcasting and digital platforms.
Our policy priorities are developed in close consultation with ACCAN members, and are informed by our knowledge and analysis of the communications market.
Many companies offer gift cards as a convenient way for customers to purchase apps, books, movies, and video games from app stores. But as convenient as gift cards are for consumers, they are just as attractive to scammers who present them as legitimate payment methods in sophisticated scam scenarios.
Don’t be misled by these scams. Gift cards can only be used at the company they were issued for, not as payments for other goods, services, bills, or fines. If anyone ever asks you to pay them for anything in gift cards, it’s a scam. You should never be asked to share your gift card codes with anyone.
Read more: Protecting Yourself from Gift Card Scams
Write comment (0 Comments)
If you forget to renew your domain name, someone else may take it. Even worse, a cybercriminal could snatch it up.
Read more: Managing Your Website Domain and Keeping It Secure
Write comment (0 Comments)
Desktop computers - Tasmania
ACCAN has developed a resource which provides a series of guidelines on how to make publications, presentations, meetings and documents accessible for people with disability.
Download: 
Accessibility Best-Practice Resources4.65 MB
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) commissioned research on how consumers experience their billing arrangements.
This research has found that some of the payment options that are offered by telecommunications providers to their customers are not suitable for people in vulnerable circumstances.
Some of the key findings of the research include:
ACCAN has today released our Independent Plan Comparison Tool (IPCT) Policy Position. Developed in consultation with consumers and other stakeholders, this position outlines the rationale for an IPCT for the telecommunications sector.
The IPCT should:
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
Online Safety Codes require social media platforms to build safety features that empower users to protect themselves from technology-facilitated abuse. However, 42% of Australians agree that existing safety features are inadequate, leaving women and gender-diverse users most vulnerable. ACCAN’s submission to the Codes recommends involving end-consumers early on to produce consumer-centric outcomes.
This project investigates how women and gender-diverse users engage with safety features on social media, to identify their strengths/limitations. Following “Safety by Design” principles, the project will collaborate with users, designers and policymakers, to produce consumer-centric recommendations to proactively design online safety mechanisms that address vulnerable consumers’ safety expectations.
The opinion piece below was written by ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett for the Canberra Times and Australian Community Media about draft anti-scams legislation. It was originally published on 27 September 2024.
Australians lost $2.7 billion to scams in 2023. These are scams we know about - the true losses are likely to be far greater.
The federal government has recently published draft scams prevention legislation (the Scams Prevention Framework), which will be put to the Parliament this year.
Read more: The government's scams prevention legislation has one critical flaw
Write comment (0 Comments)ACCAN recently submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) regarding the proposed Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 (the standard). ACCAN welcomes the development of an industry standard for communications, having called for stronger action in this field following the Optus Outage on 8 November 2023.
The peak body for communications consumers, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) today described the alleged actions of Optus in mis selling products to vulnerable consumers as ‘unconscionable’ and called on the Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland to directly regulate the industry to end this pattern of behaviour by telcos.
The ACCC has today alleged disgraceful conduct by Optus – Australia’s second largest telco. Court action has been launched which accuses Optus of taking advantage of consumers, predominately First Nations, regional consumers, consumers with a disability, and low-income consumers.
Read more: Disgraceful Optus conduct must spur fundamental change in telco sector
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network held an afternoon seminar on 4 November, looking at responsive regulation and effective policy making, and how engagement with consumers can be enhanced to get better results. This forum looked beyond the current, sterile stand-off between consumers on one side and policy makers and regulators on the other to meeting each other’s needs.
Acknowledgement of Country
The Australian Communication Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website contains images, names, and audio recordings of people who may have passed away.
Acknowledgement of Accessibility
ACCAN acknowledges the need to actively promote equal access to all ACCAN events, consultations, submissions and other information. This reflects our principles of equal access and meaningful inclusion of people with disability. ACCAN strives to be a model in this field, for other not-for-profits, industry and government.
ACCAN endeavours to maintain its website in accordance with the WCAG 2.1AA guidelines and WCAG 2.1AAA guidelines where possible. We welcome feedback on our content.
External Content Acknowledgement
Although ACCAN takes care to direct our subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policies, standards or beliefs.
Relevant legislation
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is the Australian telecommunications regulator overseeing among other things:
- The Telecommunications Act 1997
- the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999
- The Telecommunications (Equipment for the Disabled) Regulations 1998
People with disabilities have the right to access voice telephony, or an equivalent, under the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
Download: Avoiding big charges for 13 number calls48.74 KB
Download: Avoiding big charges for 13 number calls334.99 KB
Some long expiry pre-paid and pay as you go mobile plans charge for 13 number calls by the minute. These plans may not be good value if you often call 13 numbers and you may find your credit gets used up quickly.
Here are some plans that charge for 13 number calls by duration (note: there may be other plans on the market that charge for these calls as well):
Read more: Avoiding big charges for 13 number calls
Write comment (0 Comments)Telecommunications access and affordability among people experiencing financial hardship
Anglicare Victoria looked at over 300 of its low-income clients to investigate how they accessed telecommunications and whether they considered these services affordable.
The overwhelming conclusion was that telecommunications are not universally accessible. This is because 49% of those in the survey did not have home internet, and 56% didn't have mobile internet – such as a smartphone or a dongle. Two-thirds of mobile phone users had difficulty paying their phone bills and a similar number of people ran out of credit on their pre-paid mobile service sooner than they expected.
The full report is available on the ACCAN website.