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Australia is becoming a more connected country than ever before. With approximately 14.2 million1 Australians connected to the Internet, it is quickly becoming the vehicle for much of our communication, information and commerce. However, for many regional, rural and remote Australians, there are considerable barriers to engagement with the digital world.
ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin, spoke at the Country Women’s Association of Australia’s National Conference where she presented on the main barriers that prevent rural Australians from maximising the economic and social benefits that today’s telecommunication services can provide.
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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) welcomes the reappointment of Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield to the position of Minister for Communications and the Arts in Prime Minister Morrison’s newly formed Cabinet.
“As the peak body responsible for representing all Australian telecommunications consumers, ACCAN looks forward to continuing to engage with Minister Fifield and his office to ensure better outcomes for consumers and small businesses,” said Teresa Corbin, ACCAN CEO.
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The Federal Government is reviewing consumer protections in telecommunications. The aim is to ascertain whether existing arrangements will be fit for purpose in an environment where NBN is the underlying infrastructure provider, and consumer use of services has changed considerably since the existing framework was developed. The review is divided into three parts:
- Part A – Redress and Complaints Handling - completed in 2018.
- Part B – Reliability of Services - launched in November 2018 with submissions closing 18 January 2019.
- Part C – Choice and Fairness - expected in the first half of 2019.
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The review of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code has been underway since August 2017. The Code sets out rules for how retail service providers must deal with their customers. It covers sales, customer service, contracts, billing, credit and debt management, financial hardship, and transfers between providers.
The Code is reviewed periodically to ensure it reflects current market offers, trends and consumer needs. ACCAN is a part of the Working Committee (comprised of industry, consumer, government and regulatory representatives) for the review and has consulted widely with its members throughout this process.
A draft TCP Code was recently released for public comment. ACCAN’s submission to this consultation focused on the need to improve consumer protection by strengthening the requirements on providers in a range of key areas. In particular ACCAN would like to see better practices for:
Read more: Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code
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The Regional Telecommunications Review is conducted every three years and is an important forum for examining telecommunications issues and equity of services in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Since the last review in 2015 the rollout of the National Broadband Network in regional areas has almost been completed, and communities and consumers are starting to see the benefits of greater investment in regional and remote telecommunications services. However, for many people in regional and remote Australia the digital divide remains entrenched. There is a need for further investment in infrastructure, targeted affordability measures and digital literacy support programs to close this divide.
In our submission ACCAN has outlined emerging or persistent issues and recommended actions on how these might be addressed. These include:
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ACCAN is seeking nominations for Directors to fill three (3) vacancies on its Board.
In accordance with the ACCAN Constitution, the 2018-2019 ACCAN Board will consist of nine (9) members . Six (6) positions are continuing Directors from the 2017-2018 Board. Three (3) Directors are retiring from the Board but may be eligible for re-election as stated in the ACCAN Constitution.
In accordance with the ACCAN Constitution Board members are elected for a three year term.
In order to ensure an appropriate balance, the Board is particularly seeking candidates with legal and regulatory expertise or experience; and/or experience in financial management and governance in a not for profit organisation; and/or with an understanding of the issues affecting rural and remote consumers and/or from an Indigenous background or with strong linkages to Indigenous communities; and/or with expertise in relation to low income consumers.
Each nominee for the ACCAN Board MUST sign the nomination form and be accompanied by a signature from a proposer and seconder. In order for the nomination to be valid the nominee, proposer and seconder must be individual members or representatives of voting organisational members of ACCAN. Associate members are ineligible to vote in ACCAN elections.
Late applications cannot be accepted under the ACCAN Constitution.
Read more: Call for nominations for the ACCAN Board
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Customer service in the telecommunications industry can be a frustrating experience for consumers who want and need to quickly and efficiently make contact with their provider.
In 2016/17 the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) received 158,016 complaints. 76,932 (48.7%) of these complaints related to customer service. In the first six months of 2017/18 a further 84,914 complaints were received by the TIO.
To discover the aspects of customer service most in need of improvement, ACCAN surveyed 1,347 customers of 10 telecommunications providers. The screening process for the survey found that in the last 12 months, 51% of respondents had made contact with their provider, not including routine contact to pay a bill or top up an account. This suggests over half of telecommunications consumers have had an issue or query relating to their service.
Read more: Can you hear me? Ranking the customer service of Australia’s phone and internet companies
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Results from ACCAN’s Customer Service Survey
The survey was conducted with 1,347 telecommunications consumers who had contacted their provider about a question or problem in the previous 12 months. Respondents were customers of 10 different providers- eight are those with the biggest market share plus the two providers with the largest number of satellite customers (to ensure the survey was not solely urban focused). Respondent targets (see Figure 1 of the report) for each provider were set according to estimated market share, calculated using the most recent annual reports of the providers and cross checked against the Australian Communications and Media Authority Communications Report 2016. The following table shows sample sizes achieved and weightings attributed.
Read more: CAN YOU HEAR ME? Ranking the customer service of Australia’s phone and internet companies
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Peak communications consumer group, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), has released a report, called Can You Hear Me?, on the customer service provided by 10 telco providers.
Major findings are that consumers are unimpressed by the amount of time they spend getting a resolution to a telco issue. It takes an average of 13 days, but for those with harder to resolve issues averages blow out to 2 months. The results confirm customer experiences of having to contact providers multiple times about an issue, repeatedly explaining the problem, and disappointing levels of first contact resolution. It also shows that escalating an issue to a formal complaint can be difficult.
Read more: Disappointing Report Card on Telco Customer Service
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ACCAN recently submitted to the Department of Communications and the Arts consultation on Copyright Modernisation. The modernisation of copyright has the potential to bring significant benefits to consumers and ACCAN supports reforms to ensure that consumers are appropriate protected and can have confidence when interacting with the copyrighted material.
In our submission, we reiterated our support for reforms including:
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ACCAN welcomes the release today of the public comment draft Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code, but says it doesn’t go far enough in providing adequate consumer protections for today’s telecommunications landscape.
The Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code has been released for public comment by peak industry body Communications Alliance. Submissions are due by August 10.
The Code sets out requirements for Retail Service Providers (RSPs) relating to sales, customer service, contracts, billing, credit and debt management, financial hardship, transfers between providers and the compliance framework. It is a key component in the consumer protection framework for the telecommunications industry.
Read more: Draft Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code released for public comment
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Our policy priorities are broad subject areas which identify the focus of our policy work for 2018-19. ACCAN's mission is to represent consumers and the public interest, with particular emphasis on the needs of consumers for whom the market is not working.
Our policy priorities were developed in close consultation with ACCAN members, and informed by our knowledge and analysis of the communications market and market trends.