Media Releases
ACCAN's work informs public debate about consumer issues in the communications landscape. Welcome to our collection of the latest news and current affairs that impact communications consumers.
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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.
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Today’s announcement from Minister Rowland that Australians facing domestic and family violence (DFV) will receive new, stronger protections for their essential communications services is a significant and welcome development.
This decision follows years of advocacy from ACCAN and others in the community sector, urging more robust protections about the use of telecommunications services by DFV victims, and the misuse of technology by DFV perpetrators. Through media releases, policy submissions and consultation, we have called for protections that ensure telcos act responsibly when dealing with vulnerable customers.
Read more: ACCAN welcomes new telco rules to curb DFV scourge
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A broad coalition of consumer advocates is calling for the Albanese Government to make one fundamental change to the proposed Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) and put reimbursement at its core, warning that without this improvement the SPF is not going to work for the tens of thousands of Australia’s robbed by scammers.
The group’s call is a core part of their submission -with seven key recommendations- in response to the Government’s Consultation on the exposure draft of the Scams Prevention Framework.
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A report from the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO) of a 14.6% reduction in consumer complaints over the past year is unlikely to be an indication of improved satisfaction with communications services. The reduction in complaints is more likely to indicate that telco consumers are increasingly giving up on the complaints process.
Over 50% of consumers report having at least one problem with their communications service in the last year. This fact alone should temper any industry claims that a reduction in complaints is a good outcome. The disconnect between customer’s experiences of their telco provider and a reduction in the level of complaints suggests the telecommunications complaints mechanism is not working or not fit for purpose.
Read more: A reduction in telco complaints may signal that consumers are giving up
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The government’s draft Scams Prevention Framework, set to be put to Parliament later this year, will make a difference in the fight against scams. However, by not securing mandatory reimbursement for scam victims, it falls short of what is needed.
ACCAN – the peak body for Australian communications consumers – welcomed the draft scams prevention legislation earlier this month alongside other consumer advocates despite some caveats, including the absence of a mandatory reimbursement requirement on large corporations.
Read more: Onus to stop scams must be on large corporations – not consumers
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Changes to Triple Zero rules announced by Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland today are an important step to enhance public safety.
ACCAN – Australia’s peak body for communications consumers – welcomes today’s announcement by the Minister that several new requirements will apply to mobile carriers in relation to the Triple Zero service.
The range of changes included in a ministerial direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will amend the Emergency Call Service Determination.
Read more: New rules for essential Triple Zero services a win for public safety
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Medical authorities must take urgent action to ensure that users of up to 200,000 medical device are aware of the health threat posed by the looming 3G network shutdown.
ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said the recent delay to the shutdown of the 3G network was to be applauded, but there was growing concern that people were not being warned about the impact on medical devices.
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The growing rate of scams and the devastating impact they are having on Australians has been recognised by the Federal Government through the establishment of the SMS Sender ID Register – but it should be made mandatory.
ACCAN has welcomed this important step in the fight against scams but urges the government to ensure that all industry participants are doing their part to stop fraudsters from stealing money or information from Australians. That requires a mandatory scheme.
Read more: New Register to fight SMS scam scourge should be mandatory
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ACCAN - Australia’s peak communications consumer group – today welcomed the news that the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has directed the ACMA to establish an industry standard to ensure telecommunications companies communicate with consumers in the event of an outage.
This reform follows advocacy from ACCAN and other organisations which led to a recommendation in the Bean Review into the Optus Outage of 8 November 2023 that there needed to be a clear industry standard to protect consumers from future outages.
Read more: Consumers welcome new outage communications rules
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As part of Scams Awareness Week, ACCAN – Australia's peak communications consumer body – is calling on Australians to ‘share a story, stop a scam’.
Consumers encounter scams on a daily basis. Communications services – text messages and phone calls – are leading contact methods criminals use to target people. We are all part of the fight to stop scammers stealing money and information from Australians. As such, ACCAN is pleased to support the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) as they ask Australians to ‘share a story, stop a scam’ this Scams Awareness Week, 26-30 August.
Read more: Fighting back against cyber criminals this Scams Awareness Week
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Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, welcomes today’s joint announcement from major telcos Telstra and Optus that the shutdown of 3G networks will be delayed until 28 October.
ACCAN yesterday called on the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland to delay the shutdown due to health and safety concerns particularly with the ongoing access to triple zero services and medical and safety devices.
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Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, is calling on the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to exercise her discretionary powers and delay the 3G shutdown due to unacceptable public safety concerns.
The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee last week released an Interim Report into the shutdown of 3G networks. It found that up to 77,000 mobile phone users would be unable to call triple zero emergency services when the nation’s 3G networks were switched off.