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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Peak consumer body ACCAN say the results of a study released today shed a stark light on the challenges involved in connecting up remote indigenous communities, where very few residents have been online and many have never used a computer.

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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.

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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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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.

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There is finally hope for consumers after the regulator, the Australian Communications & Media Authority, today released its findings and recommendations for major reform following a year-long inquiry into the industry’s customer service and complaint handling problems.

ACCAN says the ACMA has proposed a strong set of recommendations that, if implemented, have the potential to substantially transform the telecommunications industry.

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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed today's announcement by the Federal Government that it will set up “Digital Hubs” to provide people with community-based computer and internet training as part of its National Digital Economy Strategy.

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Peak telco consumer group ACCAN says that today's announcement by Telstra that it will slow internet speeds on smartphones rather than charge customers excess data charges is a welcome step in the right direction towards curbing "bill shock".

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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) says the Federal Government’s Household Assistance Scheme (HAS) is essential to ensure people on lower incomes who have a disability, seniors and those living in remote areas will have uninterrupted access to television as the switchover from analog to digital television progresses around the country.

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Number Woman wants 13 & 1800 calls from mobiles to be affordable

Australia’s newest superhero, Number Woman, has today written to the chief executives of the big three network providers, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, appealing to them to become a consumer superhero by ending expensive, per-minute timed calls from mobiles to the 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers used by hundreds of thousands of government services and businesses.

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Complaints up by 31% as customer service levels reach a new low

ACCAN says the record-high complaints figures released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) today are the final piece of evidence the regulator, the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA), needs to justify strong action to bring the self-regulated industry under control.

 Figures released by the TIO report 60,000 new complaints from January to March this year – more than 20,000 per month – and up by 31% on the record-high in the previous quarter.

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The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), today launched NBN: A Guide for Consumers, designed to offer all Australians simple information about the National Broadband Network.

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Peak telecommunications consumer body ACCAN body says the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) needs to be given greater powers, including the ability to charge telcos more to resolve complaints and the right to award compensation to customers when a telco breaches its consumer protection obligations, in order to bring about real change to the industry.