Ombudsman welcomes new domestic, family and sexual violence rules

Today the Government announced the Telecommunications (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence) Industry Standard 2025 (DFSV Standard). The rules will be rolled out in stages, with most set to become mandatory from 1 July 2025. The DFSV Standard raises the bar for consumer protections for victim-survivors, including by requiring telcos to:

• tell victim-survivors if they have a specialised staff or team. The victim-survivor must also be able to request an on-the-spot transfer to the specialised staff or team
• offer victim-survivors a new account that is not linked to the perpetrator and offer privacy, safety and security protection options on the account. This could be a PIN, password, verification codes sent to a safe number or email, or in-app verification
• not restrict, suspend or disconnect a victim-survivor where they have expressed a safety concern
• urgently reconnect the victim-survivor’s services where the victim-survivor requests it and expresses a safety concern, or offer equivalent services to keep the victim-survivor connected if reconnection is not practical
• consider whether any other person (such as a perpetrator) could have contributed to a victim-survivor’s debt before taking any credit management action (including suspending or disconnecting services).
   

Quotes attributable to Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert:

“The new rules ensure that some of Australia’s most vulnerable people are getting the meaningful support they deserve and are now entitled to expect.”

“Now when a victim-survivor calls their telco, they can be connected to specialised staff right away. This change is critical and will make a difference for victim-survivors struggling to get tailored support. We’ve seen too many complaints like this, and it can make a bad situation much worse.”

“I’m pleased to see mandatory obligations on telcos to support victim-survivors to stay connected when there is a safety concern and when they need it most. Guardrails like this are essential for preventing further harm to victim-survivors. We’ve seen complaints where victim-survivors were at risk because they couldn’t contact support teams or emergency services, or where their security cameras stopped working after their internet has been cut off.”

ENDS

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