Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) Internet access is now an essential service and has been declared as such in several countries, including Canada, Spain, and Finland,

  (ii) regulation of telecommunication services, including fixed-line, mobile and broadband services, must treat telecommunications as an essential service,

  (iii) the 2016-17 annual report of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman reported 158 016 complaints, representing a 41 per cent increase in complaints, and

  (iv) the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman received approximately double the number of complaints received by Ombudsman offices covering other essential services, including energy, water and financial services; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) bring forward the intended Review of the Telecommunications Consumer Safeguards Framework (Safeguards Review), including review of the industry self-regulatory arrangements set out in Part 6 of the Telecommunications Act 1997,

  (ii) closely monitor the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code reviews process and direct the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to make an industry standard to drive better customer service and industry practice if the process fails to deliver effectively, and

  (iii) ensure that the direction to the ACMA to implement new broadband consumer protections, as announced by the Minister for Communications (Senator Fifield) on 21 December 2017, is enacted swiftly.