Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I particularly thank the member for Hinkler for coming along to hear this speech. I know that he as the deputy chair of the public works committee just can't get enough of me as the chair! Seriously, I rise in support of the Telecommunications Amendment (SMS Sender ID Register) Bill, as brought to the House by the honourable Minister for Communications. This bill is an important part of Labor's multifaceted approach to combating SMS scams and protecting Australian consumers. As the member for Aston knows, this legislation is welcomed by all constituents around Australia, including by Moreton constituents who have contacted my office to share their terrible experiences with SMS scams. I'm sure the member for Aston has people in her electorate who are concerned about this and distressed by it. They need their phones for all sorts of health reasons and the like, but then they're getting scams.

SMS scams are a scourge, and they're not going away. In 2023, Australians reported 37 per cent more scams via text message compared to the previous year. Unfortunately, it can be pretty easy to fall for a text scam. Your phone pings, you glance at it and you recognise the name of your bank, a toll-charging service that you use, a government agency, or a courier used to deliver online purchases. You're not to know that these are fake text messages that are sent using sender identification in the message headers. If you click on the link in the text, you'll then be deceived into responding to the message or taking the actions the message suggests. If worst comes to worst, you may end up losing your personal information or your money. So I stress: don't click on the hyperlink.

It might seem like a simple scam, but the criminals and the technology behind it are actually very sophisticated. Sometimes scam messages can appear in the same message chain as real messages from the organisation that you're dealing with. This makes them even harder to spot.

Scammers also prey on our fears. The scam messages often contain threats to cease a service or to charge a fine if you don't act immediately—or worse. They may falsely claim that you or your accounts have been hacked, that you have a substantial bill that needs urgent payment or that there is a problem with your package delivery. It's not just a Nigerian prince offering you marriage or a great deal.

We're all told, 'Never click on a link in an SMS if you don't know the sender.' We all need to remember this, but, in our busy lives, when you recognise the sender and you know you have a parcel due for delivery, it's all too easy to click on the link. It doesn't occur to you that it's not really StarTrack couriers or Australia Post who have messaged you.

This bill takes action against the insidious practice of SMS scamming. The measures it contains take the scammers on by making it harder for them to operate. The crux of the bill is the establishment and maintenance of a register of legitimate sender IDs by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA. This builds on the rules registered by ACMA in 2022, which have blocked more than—wait for it—533 million scam texts between July 2022 and March 2024. It also builds on the information gathered by the pilot register, which was launched in December last year. The pilot program included organisations such as the Commonwealth Bank, the National Australia Bank, Services Australia and the ATO. The bill allows for the register to be either voluntary or mandatory, enabling the decision on its status to be implemented by the end of the year. It also dictates that the register can be maintained either partially or wholly by a contracted third party.

The bill will also put in place an industry standard for telecommunications providers who manage SMS traffic. These providers will be required to check texts with sender IDs to ensure they are on the register. Those which are not may be blocked, or the text message may be tagged with a warning or labelled as fraudulent. There is some set-up work to do. ACMA will have the power to make determinations by legislative instrument. These will outline the requirements for access to the register as well as set out some admin and operation guidelines. All these will be in place before the register commences.

The successful rollout of the register is also dependent on the deployment of a sophisticated IT system which has strong privacy and security features. It will also need to interact securely with the systems and processes used by the telecommunications industry. The legislation will commence once the decision over voluntary or mandatory permission is made by the government. And the bill accepts that ACMA needs time to establish the register to take IT requirements into account. The current timeline for the rollout is late next year and will most probably be after a transition and testing period.

The register will benefit Australian consumers by decreasing the number and frequency of SMS scams. It will also protect legitimate brands and restore confidence and trust in SMS communications. Importantly, it will disrupt the business model of scammers and make Australia—one of the biggest economies on earth, the 13th biggest economy—a less attractive target for their dodgy operations.

We know would-be scammers will attempt to find other ways to target Australians once the register is operational; that's the nature of being a wealthy country. The bill therefore allows for the Minister for Communications to respond to evolving scam attempts in the future. The minister will be able to make determinations regarding future new communication services which might use sender IDs. The bill also enables the minister to use an identifier other than letters, numbers or symbols in the future and allows for the extension of the register to retain additional relevant information.

Since coming to government Labor has taken incisive and comprehensive action against scamming. We established the National Anti-Scam Centre as part of the ACCC. The NASC provides several services, including the Scamwatch service, to share up-to-the-minute information on scams and the best way for Australians to protect themselves. It also collects and shares information across government and business sectors and coordinates action to combat scammers. I recommend checking out the Scamwatch website and sharing it amongst your constituents or friends or neighbours or elderly parents. It provides valuable tips on how to spot a scam text and the steps to take if you click on a link in a message. It's something my community has particularly appreciated, and when I brought the minister, Stephen Jones, up to talk about scams it gave people information and the confidence to then talk to their friends about it.

The Albanese government has done more than that. We've directed $67½ million over four years to bolstering the Fighting Scams initiative to protect Australians from financial harm. The funding enables the establishment of a scams code framework. This focuses on mandatory industry codes for banks, digital communications platforms and telecommunications providers in regard to preventing, detecting and stopping scams. The code requires all telecommunications providers to identify, trace and block SMS scams. It will also support ACMA to enforce compliance with providers. This funding is in addition to the nearly $87 million over four years announced in last year's budget. We are committed to taking on the scammers, and, slowly but surely, we are winning.

This bill is backed by two rounds of extensive consultation with the public and stakeholders. ACMA commenced targeted consultation in February last year with the telecommunication providers, government agencies, merchants and consumer organisations to establish the level of support for a proposed register. The second phase of consultation was held in February and March this year and focused on how the Australian register should operate—that is, whether it should be mandatory or voluntary. We anticipate that ACMA will hold further consultations to decide the final operational details before implementation—whatever will be most efficient.

The establishment of the register and the other measures reflects the Albanese Labor government's actions to protect Australian consumers. As the Minister for Communications said:

Cracking down on criminals trying to rip off hardworking Australians is a priority for this Government.

They are great words. I commend her work, and I commend this bill to the House.

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