Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

All Australians need access to fast and reliable connectivity, whether or not it's the NBN. They need access so their sons and daughters can prepare for school assignments or exams. Whether you're a farmer living in the Somerset region or rural Ipswich needing access to the internet for accurate and fast email so that you can deal with your customers, producers and fellow farmers, or whether you're running a business, living and operating in Ipswich, we all need this sort of support.

We also need mobile phones that actually operate and connect with one another. I saw that in the aftermath of Cyclone Alfred, where people lost power and lost the ability to charge their phones. They lost the capacity to communicate with the outside world using their phones.

It's tough in regional and rural areas, and it's tough in the peri-urban fringe where the bush meets the suburbs. These areas have historically been underserviced because of the high cost of deploying infrastructure, difficult terrain, planning challenges and low population densities. Australia's a big place. I represent a large electorate and I know that building that infrastructure is important. But the consumer protection in this legislation is really critical.

This gives me an opportunity to mention the fact that the Albanese Labor government is investing in new mobile phone infrastructure in Ripley, Redbank Plains and Springfield. It's all part of our Peri-Urban Mobile Program, and I congratulate Waveconn, who will be rolling out new mobile phone towers and other infrastructure at sites in Ripley, Central Eden's Crossing, Redbank Plains and Springfield Lakes to boost mobile reception in those locations and surrounds. It's part of a $40.9 million commitment to 47 projects around the country. We know how important it is.

Having the NBN upgrades is critical. I've seen this recently with the Albanese government's upgrades to the NBN's fixed wireless and satellite services at 8,300 premises. People in areas like Toogoolawah, Coominya, Esk, Pine Mountain, Mount Hallen, Mount Tarampa, Haigslea, Wivenhoe Pocket, Hazeldean, Moore and Prenzlau will be able to access broadband speeds of at least 100 megabits per second. The increased speeds will provide smoother streaming, faster downloads and uploads, and stronger connections.

We've also seen some fixed wireless upgrades in my electorate which have delivered increased average end user download speeds for households, from around 40 megabits per second in 2022 to 100 megabits per second today. Using the latest 4G and 5G wireless technology has d about 120,000 premises across the country to access fixed wireless for the first time. I commend the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, in relation to that. That $480 million upgrade complements our nation-building investment to deliver world-class NBN fibre network backed by an additional $3 billion in equity investment.

This legislation before the chamber, the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, is about putting consumers right at the centre of the telecommunications industry. I saw that as recently as the last couple of months in relation to the problems of mobile coverage when upgrades were being made by Telstra in and around Kilcoy. As I said to Telstra, there were problems including inadequate notification, delays, and lack of communication with businesses, schools, consumers and residents. It's a problem if providers don't communicate well. It's no good just putting an ad in the newspaper; you've got to actually communicate and be on the ground. People who live in places like Somerset deserve as much support, in terms of their telecommunications, and similar access to reliable broadband and mobile phones that work as people in Sydney. Somerset should be treated the same as Sydney.

The legislation we're looking at today is important because we want every Australian to have access to quality and affordable telecommunications services. But we need the legislative backing, the regulatory backing, behind it, and we need a framework that safeguards consumers. We all want to stay connected; we know it's an essential part of everyday life, as I said before; but we understand how critical these telecommunications services are for everyone. Country towns that get cut off during floods and natural disasters need access to these services for daily operations. I've met many people over the years who have told me they go into their offices in Ipswich or Toowoomba or Brisbane but they live in the rural parts of my electorate and also work from home. When those things cannot happen, it makes it very, very difficult.

The Albanese government understands that people face vulnerable circumstances like floods, bushfires and cyclones. We know that people live in our regions. I know the majority of Australians live in capital cities and surrounds, but many Australians live in regional areas as well, and I'm proud to represent a regional and rural seat.

First Nations Australians also live in these areas. In my electorate, about one in 10 people are First Nations. They rely just as much on connectivity to communicate with other people, as, certainly, do multicultural communities. Places in my electorate—like Spring Mountain, Deebing Heights, Ripley Valley, Springfield Central, Springfield Lakes, Redbank Plains and Riverview—have very large multicultural communities. They want to communicate with their families and friends not just around Australia but overseas, so access to good telecommunications is absolutely critical.

Telco services should enrich people's lives. They shouldn't cause inconvenience, frustration and harm. The reality is many people face significant costs, and this includes being able to afford critical communications services like mobile phone and internet services.

The latest data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman shows that complaints to them rose by 13 per cent from October to December 2024 compared to the previous quarter. There was a 12.8 per cent rise in complaints from small business following four consecutive quarters of decline and a spike in 3G shutdown complaints in October to November 2024. And there continue to be regular high-profile incidents in the telecommunications sector—and even low-profile instances that really frustrate people like those who live in Kilcoy or, indeed, in Toogoolawah, where there've been ongoing issues with connectivity that people like Beryce Nelson and others have contacted me about.

This is why we've been actively reviewing the telecommunications consumer protection framework and making the appropriate changes. The legislation here is about better equipping the regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, with the necessary tools or weapons—if I can put it like that—and powers to protect telco consumers and hold companies to account if they do the wrong thing.

We are implementing some new rules to better support consumers who've experienced financial hardship, prioritising keeping consumers connected and requiring those telecommunications companies to offer specific assistance, such as payment plans. More recently, we've directed ACMA to make rules to better support people who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. It's something that is near and dear to my heart, having worked as a family lawyer for 20 years before I came to this place. We have revised the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code and improved telecommunications for people with disability. We've listened to a whole range of feedback, from consumer advocates to industry, regulators and the TIO.

So, on 12 February this year, the Minister for Communications introduced new legislation to the parliament to make these improvements. The bill gives effect to a number of the significant reforms to boost enforcement powers and penalties. They will enable ACMA to be a better and more effective regulator. The proposed changes mean that ACMA can take direct and immediate enforcement action against telecommunications providers that have breached their obligations to consumers under industry codes, and they remove the current two-step process whereby ACMA must issue a direction to comply to an offending telco, no matter how significant the breach—which is quite a clumsy arrangement. This two-step process will go, effectively, so that action can be taken immediately. It means that ACMA can respond quickly and appropriately to breaches to immediately address consumer harm and hold the telcos to account.

I think one of the most important things here is the raising of the maximum general penalty for breaches of industry codes and standards under the Telecommunications Act 1997. It's going to go up from $250,000 to approximately $10 million—a very significant increase and quite appropriate. Further changes will allow penalties for codes, standards and determinations to be based on the value of the benefit obtained by 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 community and industry compliance, and it will make sure that there's a better alignment with competition and consumer law around the country.

ACMA is going to get a number of enforcement weapons or tools at its disposal. An additional change will expand and clarify the government's ability to increase the infringement notice penalties that ACMA can issue for applicable breaches, including consumer protection rules. But, at the end of the day, no-one wants an industry that sees penalties as a slap on the wrist. They don't. And I've seen that happen, by the way, in industries like the waste industry around my electorate in Ipswich, where, for so long, I've seen the waste industry pay a penalty or do little when faced with litigation by the Queensland government. Indeed, I've seen so many people in the waste industry fight those cases, but it's almost like it's a price of doing business. I don't single out anyone in particular, but I've seen that happen. We want to make sure that that doesn't happen here. We want to make sure that there's visibility of providers operating in the market. We want to make sure that people know about the establishment of a carrier service provider registration scheme. We want to make sure that the bill equips ACMA with the kinds of tools and powers it needs, and these changes need to be a powerful deterrent. I think they will be. I think getting rid of that two-step process will be.

If you look at the bill and if you look at the legislation and the extra powers that ACMA will have under this bill, it gives ACMA more teeth through more weapons and more tools. I think it incentivises those telcos to educate themselves to make sure they behave, and they've really got to not just communicate with their consumers but fulfill their obligations to those consumers. They need to boost their compliance and improve their functioning, and there needs to be fairness in the sector. There's an incredible imbalance of power between telcos and consumers, so ACMA needs to be that body that brings in some sort of equilibrium to the sector and rebalances that imperfect power arrangement between consumers and telcos.

This bill is another way that the government is putting consumers at the centre of the telco industry. It's going to beef up enforcement and compliance. It's going to establish a carriage service provider registration scheme, increasing the visibility of the carriage service providers, and enable ACMA to stop providers operating in a market who they believe pose an unacceptable risk to consumers or who cause significant harm. It will increase the visibility in the market. No-one wants to get rid of the market, but we want to make sure that the market works better. It will provide improved pathways for ACMA and other government agencies to educate carriage service providers on their regulatory obligations and to streamline complaints and compliance processes. And I think it will create a better situation in terms of the market overall. We do live in a free enterprise economy, and we want to make sure that that market works for everyone fairly and justly. At the moment, it doesn't. Empowering ACMA, under this legislation, to take greater powers and greater tools to rebalance the unequal situation between consumers and telcos is a very important thing, and the legislation is a very worthy piece of legislation that deserves support.

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