Industry codes and resources

What are industry codes?

The telecommunications industry has a set of minimum standards for service providers called industry codes of practice. Created by the industry, these codes contain rules about various situations involving telecommunications.

These rules can help service providers understand consumer complaints and decide on the appropriate way to resolve complaints and may also help providers identify recurring and systemic issues and improve their practices generally.

The code the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman most frequently refers to is the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code. This is "a code of conduct designed to ensure good service and fair outcomes for all consumers of telecommunications services in Australia" (Communications Alliance).

Industry codes and TIO complaints

We use codes to help understand and resolve complaints.

During referral, if the complaint suggests a code rule may not have been followed by a service provider, we may record the code rule as a "possible" issue on the complaint record.

During conciliation, we raise code issues with providers and consumers to help them settle on a resolution for a complaint.

For complaints that proceed to investigation, we collect information and evidence about identified code issues. We assess that material so we can formally decide if there has been a breach of code rules.

How we share information about industry codes

The telecommunications industry and other bodies use our code data to monitor industry performance and improve industry practice.

For TIO members, we publish monthly reports on possible code issues and confirmed breaches of code rules on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman member portal.

We also report on code data to:

Australian Communications and Media Authority

Australian Telecommunications Alliance

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network