Search

Leigh’s experience of Australia’s bushfire season is all too familiar. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has published a factsheet detailing information for bushfire affected consumers and the help available from phone and internet providers.

Closer to home, Leigh shares his experience as a Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer, and what he witnessed firsthand fighting the fires in Grafton NSW.

Leigh joined Strike Team 14-21, a convoy of CFA and New South Wales Rural Fire Service volunteers tasked with halting the fire heading towards Grafton’s town.

Thu-Trang joins the Board as a Director with Consumer Experience, replacing Gordon Renouf who retired on 25 February 2024. 

Thu-Trang brings more than two decades of experience to the TIO Board in social justice advocacy, strategic leadership, and regulatory expertise in private and public sector organisations in Australia and overseas. She serves as a Commissioner on the Victorian Building Authority Board and Victorian Liquor Commission, Board Director at auDA (au.Domain Administration Ltd.), and as a Board Director at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand. 

Every year the TIO receives more than 2,300 complaints from consumers who are unable to pay their phone or internet bills due to financial hardship. The TIO’s Systemic Investigation Team looked into these complaints to shine a light on the consumer experience and challenges faced by telcos when dealing with consumers in financial hardship.

In this 30-minute webinar, we will share:

This content is under review and may not reflect current legislation and Codes.

Complaints we receive involving consumers with different needs include claims that a provider:

The TIO has long advocated for a modernised USO that considers the essential nature of mobile services, including in our submission to the 2024 Regional Telco Review. A modernised Universal Service Obligation (USO) should reflect how Australians are using and relying on telco services in practice. 

Including mobile services as a baseline entitlement for Australians will better reflect community expectations around broader and more reliable access to mobile services. 

Directed by a small team of TIO Dispute Resolution Officers, the project saw 75% of complaints resolved in a single conference call, and 91% of complaints resolved with a small amount of follow up work. In addition, a high proportion of the remaining complainants agreed on a pathway to resolution during the conference call.

“I’m delighted to be leading the TIO’s work in this new capacity,” Wendy said. “I know this role as Assistant Ombudsman is integral to our provision of a quick, fair and accessible complaint resolution service for telco consumers. I really look forward to working with consumers, members, regulators, industry stakeholders and of course, my fantastic teams of dispute resolution professionals.”

Complaints as a proportion of telcos’ services in operation (SIO) were almost 13 per cent lower in the December quarter 2015 and 27 per cent lower compared to the same time the previous year, according to the telecommunications Complaints in Context report, released today.

The total complaints per 10,000 SIO for all participating telcos was 4.8, a decrease of 12.7 per cent compared to July-September 2015.

This month, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman signed revised Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The refreshed agreements outline a clear and transparent approach to collaboration and information sharing with the two regulators that will benefit consumers and the telco industry.