Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ronaldson for the question and for his very keen interest in these matters. I always appreciate his perspective on these matters. The impact of unexpectedly high phone bills, particularly as a result of premium services, such as SMS and ring tone services, is of significant concern to the community, particularly to young people. That is why in August last year I wrote to the CEO of every major service provider, indicating that the government expected the industry to develop an effective registered code of practice without delay. In that letter, I made it clear that the government expected the industry to protect consumers, especially young people, from unexpectedly high phone bills. I am very pleased to tell the Senate that the Australian Communications Industry Forum, or ACIF, did release a new industry code at the end of last week in response to the concerns that had been brought to their attention.

The revised credit management code is an important achievement in ensuring the protection of all phone users through the flexible self-regulation framework. The industry has responded positively. I am particularly pleased that equal numbers of consumer and industry representatives have now come together to develop this comprehensive set of rules. I would certainly urge young people and their parents to be very cautious about what they sign up to and to be very clear about fees and charges that are attached to these services. I am referring to premium services that are promoted to young people, such as popular SMS and ring tone services, which can certainly rack up very high bills in a very short period of time.

The revised code requires for the first time that service providers put in place a financial hardship policy together with people who are appropriately trained to assist customers, who are often very young and inexperienced, who are having difficulty in paying their accounts. This is entirely appropriate, and providers must provide ways to help limit customer spending, such as caps on expenditure, call-barring facilities or prepaid facilities. Customers must also have access to current information on the unused credit on their accounts, which was another important matter brought to ACIF’s attention.

These and other provisions in the code will address the key concerns raised in the ACMA report entitled Preventing unexpectedly high bills. ACMA is currently assessing the code, which will become enforceable once it is registered. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate industry participants, consumer bodies and ACIF for their commitment to the development of the code and to protecting consumers. I also add that it could be instructive for those opposite who criticise consultation to look carefully at what can be achieved by working cooperatively with the industry for the good of the community. It is very easy in these matters of very complex policy to shoot from the lip but, by working constructively, there are practical solutions to be found if you are willing to do the work. Unfortunately, that is not very appealing if you are a policy-lazy group of people who are more interested in sound bites and stunts than solutions. This code is a very good outcome, particularly for young people.