Reaching out

Regulators and government

Regulators and government departments are key stakeholders and we continue to assist them when they make enquiries to our office. The agencies responsible for regulating the telecommunications industry are the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The government department that the TIO most frequently deals with is the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE).

Generally, enquiries from the regulators and DBCDE are about complaint data about specific issues. The volume and diversity of complaints reported to our office, and the detail in which those complaints are recorded, means that we are well equipped to provide information about the types of telecommunications issues that are frustrating consumers.

One such issue during 2008/09 was mobile premium services (MPS). During the development of the new MPS Code, which came into force on 1 July 2009, a number of stakeholders including the ACCC and the ACMA approached the TIO for data about the types of complaints we were receiving. As well as providing complaint data to the regulators, we also published findings from a survey of more than 500 consumers who had complained to our office about MPS. This survey informed a number of stakeholders during the code development process, including the peak industry body, Communications Alliance.

The TIO now provides more sophisticated MPS complaint data to the regulators as well as to industry. We see our role of supplying complaint data to key stakeholders as an important step in helping identify and address issues of concern for consumers.

The TIO continues to participate in regular forums convened by the ACMA, including the Consumer Consultative Forum. In October 2008, the Deputy Ombudsman presented at a debt collection forum hosted by the ACCC in conjunction with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The forum was aimed at identifying areas of concern around debt collection practices and the ACCC and ASIC’s work in this area is continuing. The TIO continues to participate in roundtable discussions involving the ACMA, the ACCC and DBCDE.

The TIO provided credit management complaints data as part of its submission to an on-going enquiry by the ACCC and ASIC.

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