The Australian Communications and Media Authority has moved to clamp down on consumer telco service providers by ending co-regulatory arrangements with the industry.
Instead, the authority said it will regulate the sector directly by setting its own enforceable industry standard to protect consumers from questionable conduct by telcos.
The move follows the regulator’s decision last October not to register the industry’s draft co-regulatory code, at the time accusing telcos taking a weak stance when it came to safeguarding consumer interests.
ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin today said the process to develop revised standards under the co-regulatory scheme, which began in May 2023, had failed to produce a code that the regulator could accept.
“Over recent years, ACMA has progressively lifted key consumer safeguards from telco industry codes into enforceable industry standards, including for complaint handling, financial hardship obligations and protections for people experiencing domestic and family violence,” O’Loughlin said.
“Now is the time to move the remaining consumer protections into direct regulation so that expectations are consistent, obligations are clear and are backed by stronger and more immediately available enforcement powers for the regulator.”
The practices that the enforceable standard will aim to address include predatory sales practices, advertising, credit and debt management, and conduct around vulnerable consumers.
The Australian Telecommunications Association (ATA), the industry lobby that represented carriers in the negotiations, defended the sector’s record on consumer satisfaction.
Nevertheless, its chief executive Luke Coleman said that the industry would continue to work with the ACMA to rebuild trust in telecommunications services.
“Australians are increasingly reliant on phone and internet services, and consumer expectations have increased significantly as connectivity has become an essential part of everyday life.
“Telcos are committed to working with regulators and government to deliver the best outcomes for consumers, and we will work constructively with the ACMA as it develops the new industry standard,” Coleman said.
It was a shift in tone from last October when the ATA expressed disappointment at the regulator’s decision to reject the revised code.
Telecommunications consumer advocacy body, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), welcomed the regulator’s decision to assume control.
ACCAN’s chief executive Carol Bennett described it as “watershed moment” for telecommunications regulation.
“ACMA should now take a proactive role in mitigating consumer harm by enforcing this new standard,” Bennett said.
