Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My community in Chisholm, like so many communities around the country, are absolutely sick of scammers taking advantage of them. Scams are an absolute scourge.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17 : 12 to 17:21

As I was saying, in my electorate of Chisholm, people are really worried about scams. It's an absolutely scourge in our community. Over the last couple of years since I was elected, we've held many different forums to advise people in my electorate of what they can do to protect themselves from scams. We've held forums in local libraries, in community centres, in bowling clubs, in retirement villages and online, and we've had hundreds and hundreds of people attend. The spots for these forums are snapped up really quickly because people are so concerned about scams in the community.

We have distributed thousands and thousands of copies of The little black book of scams to neighbourhood houses, to various community groups and to many residents throughout our electorate. A reminder to any Chisholm local who would like The little black book of scamsplease contact my office. We're very happy to send you a copy.

I'm sick of scams too. Like so many people, I get texts and phone calls almost every day. I'm really pleased to speak on this piece of legislation today and really proud to be part of a government that is taking meaningful action against scams.

The Telecommunications Amendment (SMS Sender ID Register) Bill marks a really important step in our government's multipronged approach to combating SMS scams. The establishment and maintenance of a register by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the ACMA, under this bill complements rules registered by the ACMA in 2022 which blocked more than 533 million scam texts between July of that year and March 2024.

This register will also complement our broader, comprehensive approach to scams. This includes the establishment of the National Anti-Scam Centre, the NASC, as an innovative, world-leading, public and private sector partnership to disrupt and stop scammers in Australia; and the introduction of a scams code framework requiring telcos, banks and digital platforms to prevent, detect and disrupt scams.

Now, just a little bit of advice to people who may be watching and interested in what they can do to protect themselves from scams—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:24 to 17:33

As I was saying before the suspension, there are some really practical things that people can do to try and protect themselves from scams—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:34 to 17:44

There are a number of things people can do to protect themselves from scams. The first is to stop and slow down the communications with someone who might have contacted you. Don't give any information to people who contact you via SMS or via phone or via email. Think: Could it be fake? Is this a genuine communication? Verify it with the official contact number or website, and don't click links on SMSs that you may receive. Protect yourself. Think and act quickly. If you need to, contact your bank, and make sure you put a report in with Scamwatch. That's certainly what I do every time I'm contacted by a scammer.

The scams that are targeted by this particular bill are fake text messages—which I know we all receive—that are sent by SMS using a sender identification in the message headers that looks like those of well-known companies or brands, including banks, government agencies such as myGov or Australia Post, and consumer product companies such as Coles or Linkt. Often scammers are relying on us being busy and trusting these organisations so that we're not thinking about the communications we're receiving. But, as I said, stop, think and protect. That can really help you when you are being targeted by scammers. But there's obviously a very big role for government here, which is why we're introducing this legislation.

Unfortunately, people who receive these SMS impersonation scams are often deceived into responding or taking action suggested by these text messages. These are absolutely not victimless crimes, and the theft of personal information or money from innocent victims is an incredibly sad outcome of this scam SMS traffic.

This bill will require the ACMA to establish and maintain a register of legitimate sender IDs. The ACMA can also engage a contracted provider to partially or wholly maintain the register. This bill will also allow for either a voluntary or mandatory register. Following public consultation on this issue earlier this year, an announcement on whether the use of the register will be voluntary or mandatory for entities wishing to send messages using sender IDs will be made by the end of this year.

This bill confers powers on the ACMA to make determinations by legislative instrument. These instruments will set out further requirements for access to the register and for its administration and operation, which will need to be in place before the register commences operation. An industry standard for telecommunications providers who manage SMS traffic will also be made by the ACMA. The standard will require telcos who manage SMS traffic to check SMSs that use sender IDs to ascertain whether a sender ID is on the register and whether the sender is a registered party. If not, the telco could be required to block or tag the SMS as fraudulent. Once the framework for the register is fully established, businesses and entities can be invited to apply to have their sender IDs placed on the register.

Once operational, the register will decrease the frequency and impact of SMS impersonation scams on consumers. The operation of the register will also increase protections for legitimate brands and agencies against bad actors impersonating them. This will disrupt the business model of SMS impersonation scams. This register will boost public confidence in SMS as a communications channel, and the operation of the register will ultimately make Australia a harder target for scam activity.

Similar registers are already in operation in a number of other jurisdictions, including Singapore. The Singapore sender ID registry requires mandatory registration for organisations wishing to use SMS sender IDs. Research released in November last year found that 87 per cent of Singaporean consumers said the register has made it easier to identify the legitimacy of SMSs they receive. Sixty-three per cent also noted that the register has resulted in them receiving fewer spam or scam messages. This is good for restoring confidence in the communications channel and reducing the number of spam and scam messages. This is what we want to see in Australia.

A deferred commencement date for this act will accommodate the fact that there are details relating to the application process and some operational features that are dependent on the government decision scheduled for later this year as to whether registration will be voluntary or mandatory. The register will need to deploy a complex ICT mechanism that is capable of interacting with systems and processes used by the telco industry, and it will of course need to have robust privacy and security settings. Commencement of the act is by proclamation. If no proclamation occurs, the provisions will commence automatically six months after the act receives royal assent. Once the legislation commences, the ACMA will be able to establish the register.

To allow the ACMA the time needed to finalise these preparations, the bill provides that the ACMA must establish the register as soon as practicable. This will provide the ACMA with the necessary flexibility to prepare for the commencement of the register's operation, and it is anticipated that the register will be operational by late 2025. The commencement of the register's operation is likely to be preceded by a transition period during which entities will submit and register their sender identifications.

It's really important, of course, that we try and do what we can to stay one step ahead of scammers, because often they use very sophisticated techniques to try and trick people. Something that often comes up during the scam forums that I hold is that people are embarrassed and ashamed that they have been targeted by scammers. I want to reassure people that anyone can fall victim to scammers. This is what they do every day. They are very sophisticated in what they do and they take advantage of people being busy. They often rely on making people feel there is a sense of urgency. They play on emotion. These are manipulative, sophisticated players. I want to reiterate the importance of people making sure that they report any issue they've had with a scammer to Scamwatch so that we're able to understand the nature and the scale of the problem, because every day there is a new scam.

Our government is not naive in thinking that the register will provide a silver bullet against all future SMS impersonation scams. We know, as I mentioned before, that scammers will invariably change tactics and use new methods to contact and ensnare would-be victims. That's why the bill has in-built provisions to allow us to respond quickly. The bill provides for the Minister for Communications to make determinations in the future, by way of legislative instrument, to respond to a changing scam landscape. That's what we're dealing with—a scam landscape. This will allow the minister to determine future communications services other than SMS and MMS which may use sender identifications registered in the future; anything other than letters, symbols and numbers which may be included in sender identification in the future; and relevant information additional to accepted sender identifications that should be kept on the register in the future.

The bill also provides the ACMA with the ability to make determinations by legislative instruments. The legislative instruments that the ACMA will make will set up further requirements for access to the register and its administration and operation, and this will need to be in place before the register commences operation. These instruments can be amended in response to scammers changing tactics—again, in order for us to do what we can as a government to stay one step ahead of these scammers.

As the speeches so far in this chamber have indicated, there is an enormous public interest in this legislation and taking action against scammers. The development of this bill has been informed by two rounds of stakeholder and public consultation. The ACMA initially undertook consultation in February 2023 with key stakeholders, including telco providers, government agencies, merchants and consumer organisations, to examine support for the establishment of a register, and in February and March this year there was broad public consultation seeking feedback on the nature of the register to be adopted in Australia and whether it should be mandatory or voluntary. It is expected that the ACMA will undertake further targeted consultation on the draft legislative instruments required to settle the detail of the register's processes.

We're doing a lot to combat scamming. It's really important for our communities, and this is really good public policy. Through our Fighting Scams Initiative measure, our government has committed $67.5 million over four years, from 2024-25 onwards, to combat scams and protect Australians from financial harms. This funding is supporting things like the introduction of mandatory industry codes to combat scams, the ACMA's work in enforcing compliance among telco industry operators through the antiscams code, and a campaign by the National Anti-Scam Centre on helping consumers protect themselves from scams. As I say, this is something that is enormously important to the people in my electorate of Chisholm and, I suspect, electorates right across the country.

The funding provided in the May budget, that I just mentioned, is in addition to the $86.5 million over four years provided in last year's budget, which included the funding to establish the National Anti-Scam Centre within the ACCC from July last year. It's great to see that the National Anti-Scam Centre and the work they do is having some positive results. But there's of course more to do, hence the legislation before the House now.

I'm really proud to be part of a government taking action. I will continue to work with my community to educate people about what they can do to protect themselves from scams. Not only that; I will communicate to my electorate the very important steps our government is taking so we can remain one step ahead of these nefarious operators and make sure our communities are safe from being targeted and losing access to their personal information and, in many cases, money.

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