Optus has reached an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) arising from unconscionable conduct and inappropriate sales practices that occurred between August 2019 and July 2023.
Under the agreement, it is proposed that Optus will pay a penalty of $100 million and will enter into an enforceable undertaking, which includes the remediation of impacted customers.
The penalty will now be considered by the Federal Court for approval.
Impacted customers are receiving refunds as part of a remediation approach which is informed by financial counsellors and industry partners to make sure it is fair and reasonable.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue said the misconduct was inexcusable and unacceptable.
I would like to sincerely apologise to all customers affected by the misconduct in some of our stores, Mr Rue said.
Optus failed these customers, and the company should have acted more quickly when the misconduct was first reported.
"I am leading the implementation of extensive changes across the company with active responses to the issues raised well underway.
However, there is much more to do as we work to regain our customers' trust and improve support and protections for them, especially for those who are vulnerable."
The conduct involved:
- Inappropriate sales conduct to 24 consumers who were vulnerable or experiencing disadvantage
- Inappropriate sales conduct to consumers who were sold products at Optus stores in Darwin; and
- Inappropriate referral of debts to third party debt collection agencies arising from sales at a store in Mt Isa
CEO Stephen Rue has made numerous executive and senior leadership changes, and disciplinary action has been taken in some circumstances, terminating retail sales staff who were found to be responsible for inappropriate sales practices.
This is not what Optus stands for and we will hold ourselves to a higher standard going forward, Mr Rue said.
In other changes to the business, structural accountability changes have been made and new sales incentives have been introduced to increase quality control and customer experience metrics.
Optus has also agreed to pay $1 million to support digital literacy initiatives for First Nations Australians.
Optus is committed to learning from what has occurred to ensure the business is working together to better support and protect our customers from the way we design and implement our product offerings through to how we conduct ourselves at the point of sale.
Customers will also be better protected through enhanced and additional training for frontline staff; more robust credit check processes; and a new network coverage check tool to better inform consumers about making purchases.
Optus is also hiring a number of financial counsellors to provide community-based support, and guidance to the remediation process. Financial counsellors provide free advice and advocacy to Australians in financial difficulty.
We will continue to focus on working with partners, industry bodies, community groups and financial counsellors to improve service standards for customers and ensure we are consistently integrating feedback into our future processes.
These commitments will be tracked through the enforceable undertaking agreement and ongoing independent audits.
The penalty is fully provided for in the previous financial year ended 31 March 2025.
Optus will continue to cooperate with the ACCC on these matters and awaits the Federal Courts determination.
