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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman are continuing joint efforts to tackle scams relating to mobile phones, SMS and email.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has received complaints from consumers who had their mobile phone numbers transferred without their knowledge and then had large amounts of money transferred from their bank accounts.

Published in early February, the TIO’s submission to Treasury and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts (DITRDCA) supports the introduction of a mandatory scams Framework and sector specific codes for responding to scams.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman welcomes the Victorian government’s “It’s Ok to Walk Away” campaign launched today, and the government’s commitment to empowering Koori consumers to identify high pressure sales tactics. 

Whilst these can’t be revealed in full yet, here’s a sneak peak into our ‘M’ value – Make it easy. For consumers, this means ensuring the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman offers a dispute resolution service that is accessible to everyone.

New Assistant Ombudsman of Early Resolution James McDonald explains his goal to make the TIO the most accessible dispute resolution service.

We have resources available to help you learn about who we are, what we do, and how you can make a complaint with us. 

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• Record number of 197,682 new complaints, an almost 18% increase on previous year. This reversed the almost 5 per cent decrease in new complaints we reported in 2009-10.


• New complaints about Vodafone mobile services almost tripled to over 32,000, peaking in January 2011 (more than 5,700). While Vodafone complaints took a downward turn in February 2011 (more than 4,200), their complaint levels in June 2011 (almost 2,800) were still more than double the number received in June 2010.

The updated CHPs aim to strengthen existing procedures, address pain points and provide all parties who engage with the TIO clear pathways to timely and fair resolution. These changes are a key component of the TIO’s Fairness Commitment.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s changing and why these updates are important.

1. Referral Response Trial

   A voluntary six-month trial that asks telcos to provide responses to the TIO about the referrals we send in the first stage of our complaints process.  

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced Dodo, iPrimus and Commander have agreed to offer remedies to their customers who were misled about maximum speeds they could achieve on certain NBN plans.

The ACCC is responsible for enforcing this undertaking.

Dodo, iPrimus and Commander have until 27 April 2018 to notify affected customers by email or letter.