David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak in favour of the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, which will give effect to a number of significant reforms to boost the enforcement powers and penalties available to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, and complement a host of other initiatives the government is taking to better protect consumers.

I acknowledge earlier speakers in this debate, including the member for Eden-Monaro, who well understands the importance of this bill. Before going to the content of the bill under consideration, I'll set the scene or background for why I and this government believe that getting these policy settings right is important for the people of Bean and Australians generally. I'd also like to put on the record my commendation of the work of the Minister for Communications on this bill and the associated activities to protect consumers in this space.

For many people in my electorate of Bean and right across Australia, staying connected is an essential part of everyday life. It's why the allied work ensuring that 40,000 homes in Bean are upgraded to fibre to the premises is so critical. In fact, much of the connectivity disquiet for consumers right across Bean has often been linked to unhappiness about the experience with fibre to the node. Within four years, up to 95 per cent of the electorate of Bean will be able to experience giga-ready speeds rather than speeds around 25 to 28 megabytes per minute.

The government, of which I'm proudly a member, understands how critical telco services are for everyone, whether you're a regional member, whether you're a city member, whether you have external territories like Norfolk Island in your electorate or otherwise. It's particularly important for consumers facing vulnerable circumstances and those who rely upon connectivity to support their families and businesses and provide service to their communities.

As MPs, we're reminded every day of the centrality of staying connected through telecommunications. One example is the way people communicate with us through social media and the internet generally. When we speak with constituents or when we visit them in their homes, we hear that for so many residents being connected is essential to their work, businesses, health, family and so many facets of modern life—whether they be in Woden, Tharwa, Uriarra or the Molonglo Valley.

Accordingly, I want to see—and I know this government wants to ensure—that the telco industry is working for Australians, that it has the best consumer safeguards in place to protect their interest and that there is a strong, clear recourse if telcos do the wrong thing. The bottom line is telco services should enrich people's lives, not cause inconvenience, frustration or harm.

Whilst telcos are essential to modern life, we know that the cost of telco services and the treatment of consumers are becoming increasingly important to people. Many Australians, including many in my electorate of Bean, are experiencing significant cost-of-living pressures, and this includes being able to afford critical communication services like mobile and internet services. In addition, there have also been regular high-profile incidents in the telco sector, including significant service outages and claims of irresponsible selling practices across the country.

Today, the House is considering this bill, which is designed to better equip the regulator, ACMA, with the tools and powers it needs to protect telco consumers and hold companies to account if they do the wrong thing. These new measures will help to ensure that the ACMA is an empowered and effective regulator and that appropriate incentive structures are in place to drive better behaviour by telcos. Nobody wants an industry that sees penalties as the cost of doing business. The proposed changes will enable the ACMA to take direct and immediate enforcement action against telecommunications providers that have breached their obligations to customers under industry codes. This will remove the current two-step process whereby the ACMA must first issue a direction to comply to offending telcos, no matter how significant the breach, and only take further action if non-compliance continues. The changes will allow the ACMA to take quick and appropriate action in responses to breaches to immediately address consumer harm and holds telcos to account.

The bill will also significantly increase the maximum general penalty for breaches of industry codes and standards under the Telecommunications Act from $250,000 to approximately $10 million. Further changes will allow penalties for codes, standards and determinations to be based on the value of the benefit obtained from the offending conduct or the turnover of the relevant provider, allowing for penalties greater than $10 million in certain circumstances. This penalty framework will incentivise industry compliance and better aligns with those in other relevant sectors, like energy and banking, and under the Australian Consumer Law. To ensure that the ACMA has a range of effective enforcement tools at its disposal, an additional change will expand and clarify the government's ability to increase infringement notice penalty amounts that the ACMA can issue for all applicable breaches, including consumer protection laws.

The bill will also increase visibility of providers operating in the market, especially telecommunications retailers, through the establishment of a carrier service provider, or CSP, registration scheme. This will allow for more effective regulation of CSPs, including by empowering the ACMA to stop a CSP operating where they've been found to pose an unacceptable risk to consumers or they've caused significant consumer harm.

The significant reforms included in this bill will better equip the ACMA with the tools and powers it needs to protect telco consumers and hold those providers to account. They provide a powerful deterrent. They incentivise telcos to educate themselves about their obligations to consumers and to abide by those obligations, boosting compliance and improving the functioning and fairness of the telecommunications sector. The introduction of this bill is just another way the government is putting consumers at the centre of the telco industry, recognising the importance of quality telecommunications services for all Australians. The changes to the bill are complemented by other important measures the government has been taking in this space that will be of benefit to consumers. These extra measures include implementing new rules around support provided to consumers experiencing financial hardship and, more recently, directing the ACMA to create rules regarding support for consumers experiencing domestic, sexual and family violence.

In response to a direction by the minister, the ACMA developed a financial hardship standard that came into effect on 29 March 2024. This makes it mandatory for telcos to better support customers struggling to pay their phone and internet bills. Practical improvements include prioritising keeping customers connected, greater promotion of financial hardship assistance and requiring telcos to offer specific assistance such as payment plans. The standard replaces the rules of financial hardship contained in the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code and provides the ACMA with strong enforcement powers to ensure telcos are following through on their obligations. These new rules will mean telcos have to do all they can to keep customers connected if they are experiencing financial hardship, with disconnection being the last resort. These are practical and commonsense solutions. This is just one of the many ways the Albanese government is supporting families with cost-of-living pressures. They are measures that meet the challenges of many Australians, including residents of my electorate of Bean, and I commend the minister's actions in relation to financial hardship.

In October 2024, the minister directed the ACMA to develop a new industry standard to ensure telcos better support customers experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. Telecommunication services need to be a safe, secure and reliable avenue for victim-survivors to access information, conduct critical safety planning and seek the support they need to leave a violent situation, as well as remain connected with family members, friends and important social support networks. Examples of new measures include minimum requirements for policies and staff training with compliance reporting; prohibiting alleged perpetrator involvement in discussions with the victim-survivor; obligations relating to the privacy, safety and security of accounts; removing the requirements for victim-survivors to provide evidence or tell their story multiple times; and requirements for telcos to recognise domestic and family violence as a potential cause of payment difficulties and to consider the impact of any service suspension or disconnection.

Key advocacy groups support these changes. Carol Bennett, the CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said:

These reforms will promote increased accountability, transparency and compliance within the telecommunications industry and contribute towards improving diminishing consumer trust in telcos.

Luke Coleman, the CEO of the Communications Alliance, said:

The alliance has consistently called for stronger enforcement powers for the ACMA, and we welcome this announcement to enhance consumer protections in the telecoms industry.

The changes in this bill before the House, complemented by the other measures I've outlined, demonstrate that the Albanese government is committed to putting Australian consumers at the heart of the telecommunications industry. We want to ensure that all Australians have access to reliable, high-quality and affordable telecommunications services supported by strong regulatory and consumer safeguards framework.

I commend this bill to the House.

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