The report reveals the TIO continues to see systemic issues involving one-size-fits-all processes, providers failing to meet or understand their legal obligations, and poor sales practices. These issues can lead to unintended consequences for consumers, including financial pressure and significant distress.
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The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman welcomes the assistance package for low income families and small businesses announced by NBN Co today (Friday 17 April 2020).
Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, as a proportion of services in operation (SIO), were 9.0 complaints per 10,000 for report participants, for the period April to June 2017. This is up from 8.4 for the period January to March 2017.
About the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) provides a free and independent dispute service for small business and residential consumers who have an unresolved complaint about their telephone or internet service in Australia.
You can order a range of informative materials from us such as posters, brochures, and flyers. View the complete suite of materials we have available to order.
Bob learns how the TIO can help
16 November, 2020
My time as Ombudsman has been both challenging and rewarding – in almost equal measure! But every challenge has presented an opportunity to learn, adapt, and grow.
When I started in 2016, we had reduced our complaint handling resourcing in response to a five year decline in complaints. We needed to rebalance the organisation to be really focused on delivering our fair, independent, and accessible service. We changed our organisational structure, and fundamentally shifted to empower our people and bring out the best in them.
A revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Austral
Australian Consumers made 112,518 new complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) in the last financial year (July 2015 to June 2016).
The Government’s response supports a range of telco sector improvements and identifies the critical role the TIO plays in the sector. Specifically, the TIO will support the delivery of its recommendations:
Residential consumers, small businesses and telecommunications providers will benefit from changes to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s Terms of Reference, introduced Wednesday 25 October, 2017.
The updated Terms of Reference strengthen the obligation on phone and internet providers to work with telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, provide information and comply with decisions of the Ombudsman to resolve a complaint.