ACCAN broadly welcomes the draft recommendations stemming from the Australian Communication & Media Authority’s Reconnecting the Customer (‘RTC’) Draft Report, which follows the lifecycle of a consumer’s relationship with a telecommunications service provider from advertising, to point of sale, through to customer service, credit management and complaints-handling. 

Banner image for ACCAN Events picturing ACCAN CEO and industry representatives taking part in a consultative forum.

 

As part of our commitment to community and industry consultation, ACCAN runs a number of events each year.  Our current and upcoming events can be found on this page.  ACCAN encourages its Members to profile their communications events through our website.

If you would like any further information regarding our events, or to include your event on our site, please contact us.

You can see the speakers' presentations from the ACCANect 2018: Confidence in the connected world on the conference event page.  If you are looking for information regarding past events it can be found in the events archive.

 

ACCAN, in its submission to the ACMA's Numbering Consultation paper 4, has urged the regulator to adopt an approach to numbering that considers the social impact of any change to numbering systems. This submission focuses on the positive impact a fair charging system for 1800, 1300 and 13 calls from mobiles will have on vulnerable consumers. 

New research published today examines the challenges faced by not-for-profit organisations in the Northern Rivers of NSW and their clients in relation to accessing information communications technology. The report, Another Barrier?, provides a snapshot of those living in regional areas who continue to struggle with the basics of availability, affordability, and accessibility of communications services.

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The Another Barrier? report provides a snapshot of the challenges faced by not-for-profit organisations and the people they support in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. As Australia moves into the era of the digital economy and the National Broadband Network (NBN), not-for profits are increasingly finding themselves as brokers of phone and internet access for their clients who continue to struggle with the basics of availability, affordability, and accessibility of ICT.

Telecommunications and Deafblind Australians provides the results of a survey of 71 respondents experiencing deafblindness and is the first research of its kind in Australia to focus specifically on telecommunications access and usage. The research, conducted by Able Australia and supported by a grant from ACCAN, calls for better support for deafblind Australians to access the customised telecommunications solutions that are vital to their day-to-day lives.

Consumer advocacy group ACCAN says telecommunication providers need to stop charging mobile customers expensive per-minute rates for 13, 1300, 1800 calls to essential services, government agencies and businesses.

ACCAN welcomes today’s announcement that the Government is providing funding to the telcos to make Lifeline a free call from any phone but says there are thousands of vital 13 and 1800 numbers that many Australians are finding too expensive to call from mobiles.

Able Australia, who received an ACCAN Grant in 2010, have produced a report calling for better support for deafblind Australians to access the customised telecommunications solutions that are vital to their day-to-day lives. The report, Telecommunications and Deafblind Australians provides the results of a survey of 71 respondents, and is the first of its kind to focus specifically on telecommunications access and usage by people experiencing deafblindness.

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A report released today by Council on the Ageing (WA) and the Australian Communications Action Network (ACCAN) has found that very few senior women are going online due to a lack of skills, anxiety about technology, cybercrime fears and problems with service providers.

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What is social media?

Social networking on social media websites involves the use of the internet to connect users with their friends, family and acquaintances. Social media websites are not necessarily about meeting new people online, although this does happen. Instead, they are primarily about connecting with friends, family and acquaintances you already have. The most well-known social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. These websites allow you to share photos, videos and information, organise events, chat, and play online games.

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Research by Council of the Ageing (WA) has found that very few senior women are going online due to a lack of skills, anxiety about technology, cybercrime fears and problems with service providers. A research-based qualitative study supported by a grant from ACCAN, Where do I Start? Female Seniors and the Internet documents the experiences of 50 women in Western Australian, some who had used the internet before and some who had not.

Peak communications consumer advocacy body ACCAN has today announced the six successful projects it will fund through the 2011 Round of the ACCAN Grants Scheme.

ACCAN Director of Research & Grants Ryan Sengara said the organisation had received 71 applications from a wide range of non-government, research and community organisations.