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IN THE NEWS: Concessional internet plan would ease affordability woes, new data shows telco complaints too often ‘unresolved’, and new communications rules for future outages clarified
CEO MESSAGE: This week, I penned an opinion piece for the Canberra Times and Australian Community Media about the growing cost-of-living pressures consumers are facing in our sector.
Prices are increasing on services across the board, and consumers are increasingly feeling that they are not receiving value for their money. The most important thing Australians can do is to shop around – particularly for their mobile phone services where small providers often provide huge value compared to larger and established players.
The government has an important role to play in easing cost pressures. I renewed ACCAN’s ‘No Australian Left Offline’ call – asking the government to establish a cost-price NBN product for low-income households. This would be relatively simple to introduce, wouldn’t be inflationary, and would be of real help to those struggling with cost pressures.
While it is bad enough that some consumers are feeling cost pressures, it is even worse for already vulnerable consumers who faced crippling repayments and debt collection action due to Optus’ alleged unconscionable conduct. Fallout has continued this week over both Optus’ mis-selling with an unprecedented $12 million fine for breaches of Triple Zero rules by the Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA).
It was pleasing to see that Stephen Rue, who commenced this week as CEO of Optus, committing to weed out and sack unethical staff, provide great customer service and restore trust. We hope that he will deliver in walking the talk.
Following recommendations in a review of the Online Safety Act led by Delia Rickard, (and ACCAN’s Deputy Chair), the Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland MP has proposed a ‘digital duty of care’ for social media platforms. As the ABC has reported, and ACCAN agrees, this could be one of the most significant changes to online safety in Australian history.
This week, ACCAN’s executive staff and Board came together for a strategic planning session. More details to come on this, but suffice to say the future looks bright for ACCAN in pursuing its purpose in serving Australian communications consumers.
I hope you enjoy this edition of WebNews.
Carol Bennett
Chief Executive Officer
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ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett wrote an opinion piece for the Canberra Times and affiliate publications this week. Affordable and reliable connectivity is critical for accessing important health and support services, to work, to study, and to be productive. While many Australians take this for granted, over a quarter of consumers are struggling to meet basic payments for essential communications services. Young people are affected at greater rates. A concessional, basic broadband product would see eligible households only pay around $30 per month. This is not an inflationary policy - in fact, it's a countermeasure to the price inflation in our sector currently impacting many consumers. You can read the piece in full on our website – linked above – or see more about our concessional product call here. [ACCAN]
Research conducted by SpinTel has suggested that widespread misunderstanding of internet speeds, and what speeds are needed to achieve common work or leisure tasks, is leading to consumers overpaying for internet services. According to SpinTel CEO Liam Bal, “Most consumers don't realise that a slower speed, at a reduced cost, can easily meet their needs while saving money”. The research also found that 41% of consumers have continued paying their bills without considering the offers of alternative providers. ACCAN has a Money Saving Guide with useful resources for consumers looking to save on their internet and phone bills. [Telco News]
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The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has released new data about consumer complaints for Q1 2024-25. It shows that nearly 13,550 complaints were made during the period, with complaints about internet services falling (-4.3), but mobile services (3.6%) and landlines (6.8%) both increasing. Concerningly, over 30% of complaints returned unresolved after referral to a telco.
We know that consumers are finding the process of lodging a complaint with their provider difficult, complex and unlikely to result in a satisfactory resolution as shown by research commissioned by ACCAN and undertaken by the Consumer Policy Research Centre. The TIO plays an important role in our sector - if you have a complaint with a mobile or internet service, the TIO can help you find a solution. [ACCAN]
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A disruptive and dangerous outage can be made worse by poor or unclear information from service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has this week provided further detail about new rules that will apply to telcos during outages. If an outage is expected to last longer than 60 minutes, and will affect 100,000 services in operation, telcos must provide customers with timely, up-to-date and accessible updates using a variety of methods, including SMS, email, apps and social media. The rules will come into effect on 31 December. ACCAN welcomes the re-definition of ‘major outages’, which has been reduced from 500,000 services in the initial draft. However, as per our submission, we strongly suggest removing the current exemption for natural disasters. [ACMA]
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Communications Minister Michelle Rowland MP has proposed a 'digital duty of care', under which social media giants 'would be required to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm to users'. This announcement marks an important step forward for the online wellbeing of Australians, and ACCAN congratulates the Minister for tackling this problem head-on.
We consider that the digital duty of care should be pursued alongside reforms and stronger protections to the Online Safety Act and Privacy Act. As the Alannah & Madeline Foundation said this week, it is important that this policy be "enforceable and measurable, with digital providers held accountable for their impact on children’s lives." Reset Australia have also called this "a game changer for digital safety”. The ABC have created an explainer about how this duty of care may work – linked above. [ABC]
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Photo credit: ABC, supplied by Readback Aboriginal Art Darwin
As readers are likely aware, the ACCC recently announced it is taking Optus to court over alleged unconscionable sales practices impacting hundreds of vulnerable Australians. Jacinta Numina-Waugh, a First Nations artist from Darwin, shared her experience at an Optus store with ABC News, stating, “I walked in, and I was an easy target.” Behind every one of the 429 unconscionable dealings that are alleged, there is a human story. If you have encountered a similar situation, we encourage you to get in touch with our team, or go straight to the ACCC - search for 'ACCC report a consumer issue'. [ABC]
ACCAN welcomes the apologetic and forward-looking sentiment from new CEO Stephen Rue this week. In the interview linked above, Mr Rue commits to ‘weed out and sack staff who fail to meet the telco's ethical and legal standards’, after what the Financial Review described as a “horror” two years. Optus remains the least trusted company in the country – and Mr Rue is right to recommit the company to providing good value, high-quality services and great customer service to long-suffering customers. [ABC]
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Today, the Australian Government released the consultation paper on the proposed Unfair Trading Practices reforms. This is a crucial step toward protecting Australians from unfair business practices that cost people money and cause harm CEO of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, Erin Turner, joined Minister Stephen Jones in Sydney to discuss the importance of the reforms. CPRC’s research has consistently shown that unfair business practices harm consumers and that legal gaps in Australia leave consumers with fewer rights and options than in the US, EU, UK or Singapore. [CPRC]
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WebNews #683
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Tel: (02) 9288 4000
Email: media@accan.org.au
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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