 |
This week
IN THE NEWS: What Australians expect from digital platforms, ACCAN 2023 Grants round to open in January, and more.
|
![What Aussies expect from Digital Platforms [icon of Australia with social media profiles linked to it]](https://accan.org.au/images/WebNews/MicrosoftTeams-image%205.png) |
|
Digital media platforms are fundamental to how Australians communicate and live their daily lives. To better represent the consumer voice, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) conducted a survey to find out more about what Australians expect from digital platforms. According to our research, many people find it difficult to change their privacy and safety settings of websites and apps, think that digital platforms need to do more to protect users from scams, and want more interoperability and data portability to give them more choice between the digital platforms they use. [ACCAN]
|
|
|
|
ACCAN’s Grants Round for 2023 is scheduled to open in January, with funded projects to begin from July. ACCAN encourages anyone interested in applying to discuss their project ideas with the Grants Team. For more information about our grants scheme, or how grants applications are assessed, visit our website. [ACCAN]
|
Telecommunications and inclusion advocate, Bob Willis passes away
The ACCAN team was saddened by news that Bob Willis, the founder of ‘Word of Mouth Technology’ and a passionate advocate for inclusive telecommunications services, has passed away. Bob was actively involved in many different advocacy groups relating to all things deafness and was one of the founding members of the Melbourne 2005 Deaflympic Games Organising Committee. Bob was one of the few people in Australia who was ‘ahead of the game’ in knowing how inequitable telecommunications and captioning are for deaf Australians. We’d like to extent our condolences to his wife and sons, as well as anyone who felt the impact of his work.
|
|
According to the ACMA’s report, ‘How Australians make voice calls at home’, Australians are still moving away from landlines. 63% of us have only a mobile for phone (voice) calls at home, with no landline, which mas more than doubled since 2015. Furthermore, 25 to 34-year-olds are the most likely to have only a mobile for voice calls (82%). That’s 3 times more likely than those aged 75 and over (27%). [ACMA]
|
|
The government has kept its pre-election pledge to back NBN Co with another $2.4 billion so that the network builder can replace more copper-based services with fibre. NBN Co last night “welcomed the government’s commitment to invest $2.4 billion to roll out more fibre to communities across Australia.” Labor said in November last year that it would fund an extra 1.5 million homes and businesses in the fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) footprint to be upgraded to fibre-to-the-premises. (FTTP). [iTNews]
|
|
1 in 4 Australians are digitally excluded (ADII, 2021). Less than 40% of Aussies are confident that they can keep up with the rapid pace of tech changes (ADII, 2020). For people more at risk of digital exclusion, such as older people, people with disability, low income families and First Nations people, this rate is even higher. Through Good Things Foundation’s network of community organisations and with the help of our supporters, free digital skills events will take place in hundreds of communities this October to support people to get online. [Good Things Foundation]
|
|
The telecommunications industry has asked Treasury to allow a phased introduction of the Consumer Data Right (CDR), mirroring how the rollout took place in banking and energy. Treasury is currently conducting a consultation into expanding the CDR to the telecommunications industry, and the Communications Alliance recently published its submission, and as well as asking for time to phase-in compliance with the CDR, it would like implementation to be extended to two years. [iTNews]
|
|
According to Anti-Poverty Week, 1 in 6 children in Australia (16.6% or 761,000) are growing up in poverty which continues to be higher than the rate for adults (12.7%). Not having enough money to cover the necessities restricts daily life and crushes hope for the future. Anti-Poverty Week 2022 are urging Parliamentarians to commit to halve child poverty by 2030. [Anti-Poverty Week 2022]
|
|
Mobile infrastructure services across regional Australia will be the focus of a new parliamentary inquiry. The inquiry by the The House Communications and the Arts Committee will hear evidence on co‑investment in regional mobile carrier infrastructure. Committee Chair, Brian Mitchell MP, said ‘co-investment is a tool which would allow multiple telecommunications providers in regional areas to invest in and share ‘multi-carrier’ mobile towers and related infrastructure, to improve services.’ [iTWire]
|
|
It's almost impossible to exist without an internet connected device or a mobile phone. But there are still many Australians who are excluded from accessing services and opportunities that a good internet and mobile connection, and the ability to use it, provides. [ABC Radio National]
|
|
|
|
WebNews #584
Unsubscribe
from this mailing
click here
|
|
Tel: (02) 9288 4000
Email: media@accan.org.au
Web: accan.org.au
Twitter: @accan_au
Facebook.com/accanau
LinkedIn: accan.org.au/LinkedIn
|
| |
|
Although we take care to direct subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policy, standards or beliefs.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's representation of residential and other consumers' interests in relation to telecommunications issues is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
|
|
|
