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This week
IN THE NEWS: New financial hardship rules welcomed, temporary disaster roaming tests a success, and ACCAN Grants Program still available
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The 2024 round of ACCAN’s Independent Grants Program is now open and will close 23 February. The 2024 Guidelines and Priority Themes are now available to read on ACCAN’s Grants page. If you are thinking of applying, we encourage you to contact us in advance. The Grants Team is available to provide feedback on your project idea and answer any questions you have. Please contact us at grants@accan.org.au, 02 9288 4000, or via the NRS. [ACCAN]
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ACCAN has welcomed the new Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard, developed by the ACMA at the direction of the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP. ACCAN CEO Andrew Williams said that the new financial hardship standard is a critical improvement for consumers struggling with bill stress during a cost-of-living crisis. We look forward to seeing the benefits that will come from the new rules. Our full media release is available on our website. [ACCAN]
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Telstra has completed testing of temporary disaster roaming (TDR) in Queensland. Mobile roaming has been slated as an important future development to help consumers stay connected for short-duration emergencies such as natural disasters. The company has announced that TDR simulations conducted at their Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast were largely successful, and a proof-of-concept demonstration of network roaming was accomplished. [Telstra]
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ACCAN’s Deputy CEO Dr. Gareth Downing contributed to a Fairfax piece on NBN pricing this week, arguing that it is vital consumers have a strong voice in the regulation of NBN Co. He made the point that, from a consumer perspective, the floor price for NBN plans is still too high, and that a concessional broadband product should be established to assist struggling households. Note: A paywall may appear in this article. [The Age]
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ACCAN is honoured to be the recipient of an auDA Foundation 2023 community grant. Under the grant we will receive funding to establish a Digital Skills Finder (DSF), a freely available, national, skills hub for people with disability. The DSF will be a searchable, comprehensive and accessible map of available disability-centric digital literacy initiatives. We look forward to commencing work on the project. [auDA]
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The Australian Government is seeking feedback on the future of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) beyond 2024. ACCAN has created an explainer-style blog post to answer some of the questions you may have about this important consumer protection and outline our role in the review process. As part of ACCAN’s commitment to undertake in-depth stakeholder engagement on the future of the USO, we will be seeking the input of our member organisations and key stakeholders via a virtual roundtable to be held 14 February 2024 – 2pm-3:30pm AEDT. Please get in touch if you would like to participate. [ACCAN]
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On February 6th, ACCAN joined with the eSafety Commissioner to mark Safer Internet Day by calling on all internet users to #ConnectReflectProtect. With more than 75% of adults having negative online experiences each year, Safer Internet Day is the opportunity to equip yourself to report online abuse and contribute to a safer online environment. For great resources and to learn more visit the link above. [eSafety]
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Quarterly complaints data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has reflected a 13% increase in complaints from the previous quarter, a change largely attributable to the November Optus outage. Year-on-year complaints, however, have dropped nearly 18%. Key areas of complaints continued to be customer service issues and problems with bills. [ABC]
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ACCAN, alongside a coalition of advocacy groups, including Consumer Action Law Centre and CHOICE, are arguing that customer reimbursement, paid for by industry through a customer’s own bank, must be a centrepiece of the Federal Government’s proposed new scam laws. We are pleased to partner with these organisations in this important submission. [CALC]
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The National Anti-Scam Centre is warning consumers to be on the watch for ‘romance baiting’ scams. Such scams cause significant emotional and financial harm to Australians, with Scamwatch receiving 484 reports in 2023. Scamwatch data suggests $40 million was lost to romance baiting scams in 2023, and disproportionately impact people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. [ACCC]
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WebNews #644
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If you are Deaf, or have a hearing impairment or speech impairment, you can contact us on 02 9288 4000 through your preferred National Relay Service call number or access point.
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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 information contained in or attached to this message is intended only for the people it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited. This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you receive this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the e-mail and any attachments. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network does not warrant that the information in this e-mail or any attachments are free from any viruses, defects, errors, interception or interference.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's representation of residential and other consumers' interests in relation to telecommunications issues is supported by the Commonwealth through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
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