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ACCAN recently submitted to the Future Skills Organisation (FSO) consultation on Bridging the Digital Divide: Digital Accessibility and Inclusion.

The submission recommends the FSO considers options to ensure:

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On Friday 11 October, ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett and Deputy CEO Dr. Gareth Downing appeared before the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee. The Committee was hearing views on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024.

The full transcript of their appearance can be found below, or on the Parliament of Australia website.

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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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ACCAN recently provided a joint submission, together with CHOICE and Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA), to the Treasury’s consultation on Revitalising National Competition Policy (NCP).

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ACCAN recently submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) consultation on proposed changes to the ECS Determination and the Draft Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Amendment Determination 2024 (No.1).

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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.

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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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ACCAN recently commented on the Treasury’s Scam Prevention Framework – exposure draft legislation (SPF).

ACCAN’s submission sets out our concerns with respect to fundamental incentive problems in the SPF which make it impractical and unworkable and concerns regarding the interaction of the SPF and the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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ACCAN recently submitted to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment and Waters’ Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group (CEMAG).

ACCAN supports the CEMAG’s identification of the ‘right to repair’ as an activity the government should consider pursuing in the product design and use space.

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