Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In 2025, Optus agreed to a fine of $100 million for engaging in unconscionable conduct with consumers—conduct that included selling telecommunications goods and services that consumers did not want, that consumers did not need, that consumers could not use and that consumers could not afford. In some cases, this included selling products where there was no Optus coverage. If we've learnt one thing, if we know one thing to be true, it is that, in this country, when you pick up the phone there is an expectation—a reasonable one—that you can get through.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission originally brought the court action against Optus. The ACCC indicated that many of the consumers were vulnerable, were experiencing disadvantage, were financially dependent or unemployed, didn't have English as a first language, or were First Nations people from regional and remote areas. In short, many of those most heavily impacted were the most vulnerable Australians in our nation. These tactics are fundamentally unethical. Targeting individuals who are already vulnerable, whether due to financial hardship, language barriers, unemployment or geographic isolation, indicates a calculated exploitation of those least equipped to advocate for themselves. In a fair, just and decent place, these practices have no place.

The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 is another important step forward in this government's ongoing commitment to ensuring that every Australian, regardless of their circumstances or their postcode, can stay connected and rely on a telecommunications system that is equitable, is held responsible and fundamentally is built on trust. This bill was first introduced in February 2025 and passed the House without amendment. It was considered by the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills but lapsed when the 47th Parliament was prorogued. It is an important bill because telecommunications connectivity is central to our lives and to everything we do. It's something that we all hold in common, no matter whether you live in regional Queensland or in the cities. Wherever you live, telecommunications are important. This infrastructure powers how we live, how we work and how we connect to each other on a daily basis. I'm talking about instantaneous personal connections via mobile calls, text messaging and video chats and about sharing the important moments of our lives with our friends, with snaps online.

Today's workplace looks very different to when I first started working. Now we have high-speed internet enabling us to work from home, hold virtual meetings and collaborate in the cloud. The same technology makes telehealth appointments possible. It sends us alerts during emergencies and has transformed our classrooms. As technology drives forward and makes what we previously thought was impossible a reality, we need to make sure that there are safeguards so that all Australians can enjoy that tech in a way that is accessible. Telecommunications are no longer the luxury that we thought of them as many years ago. They are a necessity which underpins our economy. In rural and remote communities, they are simply a lifeline. In urban centres, they are the backbone of innovation and they help drive productivity. For vulnerable Australians, they are often the only means of accessing critical support services, and that connection plays such a vital role in preventing social isolation.

Yet, despite the importance of telecommunications, too many Australians have experienced poor service, misleading practices and a lack of accountability from telecommunications providers. The reforms in this bill will change that. This bill empowers the telecommunications industry regulator, ACMA, with the tools it needs to protect consumers and to hold providers to account. Currently, civil penalties for breaches of industry codes and standards are capped at $250,000. That figure is woefully inadequate, and something needs to be done about it. It does not reflect the scale of harm that can be caused by noncompliance, nor does it serve as a meaningful deterrent. That's why this bill amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 to increase the civil penalty by 40 times, to nearly $10 million. This approach aligns telecommunications penalties with those in other sectors such as energy and banking, and it ensures that penalties are proportionate to the impact of the offence. The civil penalties framework will be revised so fines for regulatory breaches can be either $10 million, three times the benefit gained from the regulatory breach or 30 per cent of organisational turnover. It's a big stick, and sometimes we need a big stick to protect Australians.

The bill also expands the authority of the Minister for Communications, allowing for the increase of infringement notice penalties that ACMA can issue for breaches of industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations. ACMA will also be able to directly enforce telecommunications industry codes, which will incentivise industry compliance and also enable a swift response in the event of consumer harm.

The bill establishes a carriage service provider registration scheme. A CSP is any entity that uses carrier facilities to supply communication services, like the phone or the internet, to consumers. There is currently no comprehensive list of CSPs operating in the market, and this lack of visibility hampers ACMA's ability to educate providers, it hampers their ability to monitor compliance, and it hampers their ability to respond to consumer complaints. The new registration scheme will change that. It will increase transparency, it will increase accountability, and it will give ACMA those powers to exclude dodgy providers who pose unacceptable risks to consumers. Ultimately, it will provide consumers with greater confidence in the providers that they choose.

Under the amendments to the Telecommunications Act, CSPs who pose an unacceptable risk for consumers or cause major consumer harm can be stopped from operating by ACMA. They can be shut down. This power will be used as a measure of last resort, with safeguards in place to ensure fairness, review rights and continuity of service for affected customers. This reform mirrors successful models in other sectors, such as the energy market, where regulators have used exclusion powers to prevent consumer harm. It will be a deterrent to providers and have the great benefit of increasing consumer trust and of increasing trust in everyday Australians and sending that clear message that, if providers do the wrong thing, there will be serious consequences. There will be a crackdown, and that is what the Australian people and consumers deserve.

Another crucial reform in this bill is the move to make telecommunications industry codes directly enforceable by ACMA. Under current law, compliance with these codes is technically voluntary. ACMA can issue a direction to comply, but stronger enforcement only follows if that direction is ignored. This two-step process delays action and weakens the accountability that we talked about and that is so important. This bill removes that loophole. It makes compliance mandatory from the outset, allowing ACMA to take swift action and to address consumer harm. This change will incentivise better behaviour across the industry and ensure that consumers are protected from the moment the breach occurs.

This bill builds on a series of reforms already rolled out by the Albanese Labor government. We have delivered a new industry standard requiring telecommunications companies to provide support to customers experiencing financial hardship. Another new industry standard requires these companies to support and assist consumers who are experiencing domestic, sexual and family violence, and this came into effect on 1 July. Earlier this year, the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 was amended to place obligations on the telecommunications, banking and digital platform sectors to prevent, detect and disrupt scam activity. In October last year, the government passed a very important reform—the telecommunications legislation amendment. Labor brought this bill and the Triple Zero Custodian and emergency calling powers to this House as a matter of urgency after an outage in the Optus network in September which affected the triple 0 system. The cause was a network firewall upgrade, and the result was that emergency services calls for customers in South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and parts of New South Wales did not connect. I can only imagine the emotions and the extreme distress you would go through in the midst of an emergency if your call to triple zero did not connect, yet this is what happened, with tragic consequences. During the 13 hours the system was offline, approximately 600 calls to triple zero failed. It is devastating that these failed calls were linked to at least three deaths.

Labor's reforms boil down to a simple premise, one which we all agree on: when there is an emergency, you need to be able to rely on your triple zero call connecting—not sometimes, not often, but always. The Triple Zero Custodian framework is now enshrined in law and formally establishes a statutory role responsible for overseeing the end-to-end operation of Australia's emergency call service. This reinforced a key recommendation of the review into the Optus outage in November 2023. It strengthened the oversight, ensuring the obligations being placed on telecommunications providers are being met. The legislation has reduced the possibility of outages with tragic consequences, as there is greater accountability and government scrutiny. The Albanese Labor government is utterly serious about telecommunications providers taking responsibility for their services.

This legislation also implemented a new civil penalty regime. It established enforceable obligations with meaningful sanctions in the event of a service provider failing to provide information or failing to act. Crucially, there are now also new requirements for providers to ensure their triple zero network is backed up by other networks, and there will also be a mandatory improvement plan after an outage that affects triple zero.

In line with these reforms, there are substantial investments to deliver a more connected Australia. The Albanese government will deliver $55 million for round 8 of the Mobile Black Spot Program and $50 million for the Regional Roads Australia Mobile Program pilot. These projects will road-test innovative solutions to improve mobile communications coverage on major regional roads. A further $115 million is being directed to 74 projects as part of the Regional Connectivity Program, and over $30 million in rebates is available through the On Farm Connectivity Program. These investments are improving coverage, boosting economic opportunities and enhancing social outcomes in regional, rural and remote communities.

This bill has been shaped by extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including ACMA, the Australian Telecommunications Alliance, the ACCC and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. Stakeholders have consistently expressed strong support for the bill's objectives, recognising the urgent need for reform and the benefits that it will bring. This bill empowers the regulator to do what we need it to do—to ensure that, in the face of unfairness, every Australian is protected.

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