The members of the Fair Call Coalition, an alliance of 23 consumer organisations, has today written to the Chair of Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) urging the regulator to reject the re-drafted Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code put forward by the telecommunications industry.
The Fair Call Coalition acknowledges that the latest draft of the Code is an improvement on initial efforts. Yet it is too little, too late for Australian consumers, who Fair Call Coalition members represent, advocate for and assist every day.
The updated Code put forward by the Australian Telecommunications Alliance (ATA) continues to lack the basic protections required to keep people connected and prevent harm. The Coalition is deeply concerned that the fundamental problems identified by ACMA, the Fair Call Coalition, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) and the ACCC have not been resolved.
Telco customers continue to face well-documented issues – unsafe sales practices, weak credit assessments, inappropriate disconnection and service-limiting actions, and misleading mobile coverage information. The proposed updated Code does not adequately address these problems, nor does it offer meaningful avenues for consumer remedies when things go wrong.
Given these ongoing deficiencies, the Fair Call Coalition is calling on ACMA to develop binding industry standards in the following critical areas:
- Sales practices - to eliminate sales incentives schemes that have exploited consumers through misleading and high-pressure sales.
- Credit assessments – to prevent unaffordable plans being pushed onto people who cannot sustain them.
- Disconnection and service-limiting actions - to protect consumers from being unfairly cut off from essential communications services.
- Mobile coverage information and remedies - to ensure people are told the truth about coverage and have clear rights when services do not perform as promised.
Direct regulation is the only way forward. The sector has had years to listen to consumers and ACMA about the improvements that must be made in the Code, yet have repeatedly failed to do so.
ACCAN and the Fair Call Coalition have previously published policy positions on the need for tough rules on telco's sales practices and credit assessments given poor systemic industry conduct. The Fair Call Coalition stands ready to work with government, the regulator and industry to see long-awaited protections for consumers, through industry standards, established.
The letter to the Chair of the ACMA is available on the ACCAN website.
Quotes attributable to Fair Call Coalition members
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network CEO Carol Bennett said, "The last-ditch efforts by industry to provide a carefully crafted legal response to get approval of the self-regulated industry TCP Code do not go far enough. Consumers have waited years for proper protections, and now it is time for ACMA to make a decisive move and put in place firm rules to help restore public confidence in the telco sector and curb the systemic misconduct we have seen over recent times.
Council On The Ageing CEO Patricia Sparrow said, "Telecommunications are a lifeline for health, safety and social connection. Yet weak and evasive standards are failing to deliver consistent compliance or consumer confidence."
"Too many Australians, particularly older people, are being left exposed to manipulative sales practices, flawed assessments and misleading claims about mobile coverage. We need strong, enforceable regulation that puts community expectations first. No household in Australia should ever face the prospect of being cut off."
Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin said, "It's well past time for strong, direct regulation of the telecommunications sector. We have had a recent surge of people in financial distress calling our services after being sold multiple telco products they could never afford. Time and again, Australia's telcos have shown that self-regulation simply doesn't protect people — consumers are still being failed, and the harm continues. We need the Australian Communications and Media Authority to step in, develop enforceable rules, and ensure Australians get the fair treatment they deserve."
Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network Advocacy Manager Jillian Williams said, "The Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network has been assisting hundreds of people impacted by Telstra's selling misconduct because Telstra failed to act on consumer advocates' concerns. Optus is now in the firing line for the same conduct."
This is an industry that has repeatedly failed to regulate itself and created significant harm as a result. Strong, enforceable regulation is needed to prevent future consumer harm in relation to essential telecommunication services."
Members of the Coalition
Consumer Action Law Centre
Financial Counselling Australia
Economic Abuse Reference Group
WEstjustice
CHOICE
Financial Rights Legal Centre
Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network
Consumers' Federation of Australia
South Australian Council of Social Service
Care ACT
Anglicare NT
Bush Money Mob, WA
MoneyMob Talkabout, NT
Hume Riverina Community Legal Service
Consumer Credit Legal Service, WA
Consumer Policy Research Centre
Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
Redfern Legal Centre
South-East Community Links
Australian Council of Social Service
Centre for Women's Economic Safety
