Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the bills and move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (DEREGULATION) BILL 2014

The purpose of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Deregulation) Bill 2014 (the Bill) is to contribute to the Government's deregulatory agenda to reduce red tape for industry and individuals and streamline the delivery of public interest telecommunications services by reducing bureaucratic duplication and enabling clear lines of accountability.

The Bill includes:

Abolition and transfer of TUSMA ( Public interest telecommunications services )

TUSMA was established as a statutory agency dedicated to the implementation and administration of telecommunications service agreements and grants within its own legislative framework.

In line with the Government's current policy to consolidate smaller agencies to reduce administrative and governance costs, the Government, as part of the May 2014 Budget, announced its intention to abolish TUSMA, transfer TUSMA's responsibilities to the Department of Communications and transfer provisions relating to the assessment and collection of the Telecommunications Industry Levy to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (Consumer Protection Act).

The abolition and transfer of TUSMA's responsibilities to the Department of Communications will:

Further to the Bill, the Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Amendment Bill 2014 makes consequential and transitional changes to the Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Act 2012, reflecting the transition of the assessment and collection of the industry levy from the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Act 2012 to the Consumer Protection Act.

Deregulatory Measures

The Bill also includes a number of deregulatory measures through amendments to key provisions in the:

Do Not Call Register Act 2006

Telecommunications Act 1997

Do Not Call Register

The Bill amends the DNCR Act by implementing an indefinite registration period for the Do Not Call Register and the 9.3 million numbers currently registered on it.

The Do Not Call Register is a popular consumer protection measure introduced by the Howard Government with over two-thirds of Australian households with a fixed line telephones and over four million mobile telephone numbers now registered.

The extensive consultation undertaken by the Government also supports this position with consumers overwhelmingly preferring an indefinite registration.

The amendment will allow consumers to register their telephone, mobile phone and fax numbers indefinitely, avoiding the need to re-register every eight years saving $3.4 million a year over a ten year period in administration costs.

The current exemptions for political parties and charities to make telemarketing calls remain intact and are not impacted by the amendments.

Pre-selection

The Bill also relaxes the obligations on telecommunications companies in Part 17 of the Telecommunications Act to provide pre-selection.

With competing carriers now able to bundle access calls and the uptake of consumers choosing bundled services, the use of pre-selection has declined considerably in recent years with approximately 30 000 customers still using these services.

In this context, the cost of requiring pre-selection capability to be built into platforms is not justifiable and can act as a deterrent to these platforms being used for voice services.

The Bill will limit pre-selection to legacy networks (public switched telephone and integrated services digital networks only).

This will not reduce pre-selection for existing customers, but will reduce costs to the telecommunications industry.

The Government anticipates that these changes will also increase flexibility in the delivery of telephony to Australian consumers.

A new ministerial power will be created to enable, by legislative instrument, particular telecommunications networks to be either excluded or included within the redefined scope of pre-selection.

These changes to pre-selection are a measure of a healthy and highly competitive telecommunications market in Australia.

The amendments in the Bill will limit pre-selection to legacy networks thus reducing costs to the telecommunications industry by an estimated $3.2 million a year.

Telephone sex services

This Bill will also repeal Part 9A of the Consumer Protection Act that regulates the supply of telephone sex services via a standard telephone service.

These provisions are now out-dated due to advances in technology, the evolution of the telecommunications market and changes in consumer behaviour.

The Government is not reducing the level of protections and community safeguards for content. The strong content rules established by the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 will remain in place.

E-marketing

The Government also proposes to remove the arrangements for the ACMA to register e-Marketing codes under Part 6 of the Tel Act.

In June 2014, the ACMA deregistered the eMarketing Code because its relevance had significantly diminished since it was first registered some nine years ago.

In line with this rationale, the Government considers the e-marketing provisions in Part 6 are also no longer relevant and it is unlikely that any future codes dealing with e-marketing activities will be necessary.

The interests and rights of consumers will not be lost by removing these provisions. The regulatory regime established by the Spam Act 2003 will address any future e-marketing issues.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

The Bill also makes some minor amendments to the publishing requirements in Part 6 of the Consumer Protection Act. It removes antiquated "gazettal" publishing requirements to bring them into the 21st Century.

These changes reflect consumer reliance on web-based information and modern-day publishing practices.

Customer Service Guarantee

Lastly, the Bill also includes minor amendments to streamline and improve the operation of the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) to help reduce the compliance burden on industry without impacting on the protections the CSG provides for consumers.

The proposed amendments and deregulatory measures in the Bill are the result of extensive consultation that began almost twelve months ago.

There has been extensive and close consultation between industry, consumer groups, government agencies and the Department of Communications as the Bills have been developed.

This involvement has been crucial to the deregulatory measures you see before your today. I thank all those who have been involved and for their commitment.

This Bill delivers real reform in the Communications portfolio through better regulation to lower the cost burden on industry and consumers with expected deregulatory savings of $6.71 million a year.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS (INDUSTRY LEVY) AMENDMENT BILL 2014

The Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Amendment Bill 2014 (the Bill) makes consequential and transitional amendments to the Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Act 2012 to move the assessment, collection and recovery of the Telecommunications Industry Levy from the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Act 2012 to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

These amendments are necessary to ensure an industry levy will continue to be collected when the Telecommunication Universal Service Agency (TUSMA) is abolished and its functions transferred to the Department of Communications.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority will continue to collect this levy from telecommunications carriers who earn $25 million or more in an eligible revenue period.

This industry levy contributes to meeting the cost of delivery several public interest telecommunications services including:

Transferring TUSMA's functions and responsibilities to the Department will help ease the cost burden on business by modestly reducing the amount of the Telecommunications Industry Levy.

By clearly delineating policy and regulatory responsibilities—and making administrative savings which will result in a modest levy reduction—these changes within the Communications portfolio are making a positive contribution to the Government's programme of cutting red tape and streamlining public services.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 115(3), further consideration of these bills is now adjourned to 9 February 2015.