Albanese Government takes strong action to protect telco consumers

The Albanese Government is bringing forward a number of important reforms to ensure telco consumers are better protected by significantly strengthening the Australian Communication and Media Authority’s compliance and enforcement powers and increasing penalties for breaches.
 
This includes proposed amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1997 to enable the ACMA to take direct and immediate enforcement action against telecommunications providers that have breached their obligations to customers.
 
Currently, the ACMA cannot take direct enforcement action against breaches of industry codes, no matter how significant, without first issuing a direction to comply. The ACMA can only take further action if non-compliance continues.
 
The proposed changes remove this two-step enforcement process so that the ACMA can act quickly and appropriately to address consumer harm arising from code breaches and hold telcos to account.
 
The Government will also move to increase maximum penalties for breaches of industry codes and standards under the Act from $250,000 to $10 million – bringing them into line with those for breaches of service provider determinations under the Act. This will also better align telecommunications penalties with other sectors like energy and banking.
 
Additional changes will allow for the courts to determine penalty amounts based on financial turnover of the provider and the scale of the breach – ensuring the imposed penalties are proportionate to the harm caused.
 
To ensure the ACMA has a range of effective enforcement tools at its disposal, a further change will enable the Government to increase infringement notice penalty amounts for all applicable breaches, including breaches of industry codes and standards relating to consumer protections.
 
The Government will also establish a Carriage Service Provider (CSP) registration scheme to increase visibility of providers operating in the market, especially telecommunications retailers. It will enable the ACMA to undertake more proactive education and compliance work with providers and ultimately empower the ACMA to stop CSPs operating in the market where they’ve been found to pose unacceptable risk to consumers, or have caused significant consumer harm.
 
The proposed reforms will ensure the right settings are in place to incentivise telcos to comply with the law and provide quality services to consumers.
 
They reflect the Government’s commitment to making sure Australians are appropriately protected and supported in their interactions with telecommunications services providers, and follow the $2.5 million in grant funding for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) to continue their integral advocacy for NBN customers.
 
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP:
 
“We’re committed to putting customers at the centre of the telco industry.
 
“Nobody wants an industry that sees penalties as the ‘cost of doing business’. These changes provide a powerful deterrent, improve the likelihood of compliance and lead to a better functioning telecommunications sector. 
 
“We’ve listened to wide ranging feedback from industry, regulators, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and consumer advocates to develop these reforms. 
 
“Most importantly we’ve listened to customers – these are the changes every day Australians deserve – so we’re delivering them.”
 
ACCAN chief executive officer, Carol Bennett, hailed the strengthening of the act as a major win for consumers:
 
“These reforms will promote increased accountability, transparency and compliance within the telecommunications industry and contribute towards improving diminishing consumer trust in telcos.
 
“The Australian Government’s reforms address longstanding consumer concerns about the relatively weak regulatory settings of the telco industry and will go a long way towards improving trust in the telecommunications industry.” 
 
Communications Alliance CEO Luke Coleman, welcomes the announcement:
 
“Communications Alliance has consistently called for stronger enforcement powers for the ACMA, and we welcome this announcement to enhance consumer protections in the telecoms industry.
 
“Australians expect the highest standards of business behaviour from telcos, and these new direct enforcement powers will ensure they are held to account by the regulator.
 
“A major revision of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code is currently open for public comment, and if accepted by the ACMA will provide stronger safeguards for consumers when combined with these new measures.”