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ACCAN welcomes the ACCC’s announcement today that it has commenced proceedings against Telstra for misleading its customers about third party billing services.
ACCAN CEO Teresa Corbin said that consumers have been extremely frustrated by these unexpected charges on their telco bills and by the difficulties they experience in resolving them. An ACCAN survey last year found 12% of mobile customers had experienced unexpected third party charges on their mobile phone bills in the preceding 6 months.
‘We’ve been calling for stronger consumer protections in this area for some time, including that all third party charging become opt-in, instead of the current opt-out arrangement’, said Ms Corbin. ‘Many people don’t realise that their mobile phone account can effectively be used like a credit card to purchase third party content, like games credits’.
The ACCC has found that Telstra has earned about $61.7m from commissions on third party premium direct billing.
Read more: ACCAN welcomes ACCC action over Premium Billing charges
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ACCAN submitted to the Treasury’s consultation on the final Open Banking Report and the proposed regulatory framework for the national Consumer Data Right, proposed by the Productivity Commission in its Data Availability and Use inquiry. The Consumer Data Right will oblige organisations to provide consumers with the data that is held about them in a machine-readable format.
As part of its response to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry, the Government announced that the Treasurer would lead the development of the Consumer Data Right, which will be developed first in the banking sector, and then in the energy and telecommunications sectors in late 2018.
ACCAN has an interest in the current consultation as the development of the CDR in banking and its rollout will influence the development and establishment of a right to consumer data more broadly, including in the telecommunications sector.
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Today ACCAN is celebrating World Consumer Rights Day. The theme this year is ‘Making digital marketplaces fairer’ and Consumers International is calling for access to fair and secure internet for all, action against scams and fraud, and better consumer protection online. As a member of Consumers International, ACCAN supports this initiative.
“Consumers need to be wary of scams and online fraud which can come in different shapes and sizes,” ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin said. “We urge consumers to sign up to Australian Government scam alerts to stay on top of these issues and report scams when they encounter them.”
Consumers can stay informed about scams by following Scamwatch and Stay Smart Online. They can learn about cybercrime from the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN). Scams can be reported on the Scamwatch website and cybercrime can be reported on the ACORN website. ACCAN also has a tip sheet to help consumers avoid phone and internet scams.
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ACCAN welcomes the ACMA’s announcement today of a consultation on proposed new rules that cover telco complaints handling processes and monitoring. This announcement is especially timely given that 15 March is World Consumer Rights Day – a day to raise awareness about consumer rights and needs. Today’s announcement follows the launch of the ACMA’s analysis of the consumer experience moving to the NBN late last year and an announcement of new telco rules from the Minister of Communications and the Arts.
“The experience of migrating to the NBN has shone a light on the inadequacies of the current regulatory framework to support the delivery of essential telecommunications services,” ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin said. “Once in place these new rules will ensure that the regulator has better tools to ensure practices of telco providers improve.
“We congratulated the Minister last year for using his powers, and taking these steps to protect consumers. This consultation on complaints handling and monitoring is the first step in implementing these new rules which we hope will greatly benefit consumers.
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The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) is an independent, consumer-focused policy think-tank.
In December 2016, the Victorian Government established CPRC as a generalist policy research centre by expanding the remit of what was then the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre (CUAC).
CPRC undertakes evidence-based research to inform policy reform and business practice changes that improve consumer outcomes. The organisation conducts policy research internally, as well as in partnership with other research organisations. It also promotes, translates and supports the consumer research work of others.
Read more: Advancing fair outcomes for all consumers
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The .au Domain Administration, auDA, the body that manages internet domain names in Australia, is currently reviewing the domain name policies for Australia’s country code .au through an open policy process. ACCAN has submitted to the Policy Review Panel putting the views that:
- Australian presence requirements should be strengthened
- Reserved names should respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander names
- Monetisation should not exist in any new top level registrations
- Geographic names should be available more broadly, but with protections
- Existing second levels should be preserved (net.au and asn.au) with others opened up
- Any changes to WHOIS should incorporate free or low cost access for consumer organisations
- Domain name suspension policies should be possible for well evidenced misuse and abuse
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The National Relay Service, audio description services and accessible ICT procurement were among the issues on the agenda at ACCAN’s 2018 Disability Advisory Forum on Wednesday 7 March in Sydney.
Held yearly, the Disability Advisory Forum brings together groups representing people with disability to discuss telecommunications issues and accessibility and advises ACCAN on its policy priorities for the upcoming year.
Read more: Accessibility issues in 2018
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ACCAN has submitted to the ACCC’s inquiry into NBN’s wholesale service standards. The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether NBN wholesale service standard levels are appropriate, and to consider whether regulation is necessary to improve customer experiences.
ACCAN has long advocated for reform of existing customer service guarantees for connection times, fault repairs and network reliability. Currently, nbn’s wholesale service standard levels are set out in commercial agreements negotiated by nbn co with retail service providers (nbn’s Wholesale Broadband Agreement). This includes performance objectives and operational targets for nbn co’s products and services, requirements for improvements if targets aren’t met, and an arrangement that allows service providers (nbn’s wholesale customers) to claim compensation for their customers when nbn has failed to meet a service target.
Read more: ACCC Inquiry into NBN Wholesale Service Standards
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In our 2018-19 Pre-Budget submission, we took the opportunity to highlight telecommunication areas that could benefit from more funding in the Federal Budget.
Our recommendations span a range of issues, from mobile coverage to affordability and accessibility. Many of these are not new recommendations, but they are ones that are important to consumers and worth highlighting once again.
Read more: Calling for telecommunications funding in the Federal Budget
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Telecommunication services have always been essential for public health and safety, but today they are a necessity for participation in civic society and transacting with government, for business operations, productivity and growth. ACCAN’s Pre-Budget Submission 2018-19 discusses market gaps and gives recommendations on telecommunications initiatives that will benefit consumers including:
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The process for migrating to the NBN is set out in a document called the Migration Plan. The Migration Plan needs to be tailored with each new technology that nbn uses in its network. In this consultation, Telstra has proposed a number of changes to accommodate the Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) technology. nbn plans to use FTTC to connect about one million Australian premises from 2018.