Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill. Every Australian deserves reliable, quality and affordable telecommunications no matter where they live. In 2026, connectivity is not just a nice-to-have. It's not a luxury. It's a necessity. In this day and age, we rely on communications for basic daily activities, like using a credit card or checking the news. Many of us rely on telecommunications to work, to get an education and to stay in touch with our loved ones. In rural and regional areas, many Australians even rely on telecommunications to see a doctor through telehealth. In 2026, a quality, reliable telecommunications service should be a given, and yet it isn't. That is unacceptable, and that's why we've brought forward this bill. This is yet another part of a bigger picture of bringing all telcos up to standard.

Poor connectivity is one of the most pressing issues faced by constituents of my electorate. Gorton is one of the fastest-growing electorates in the country. In fact, we have the area with the fastest growth rate in the country in Fraser Rise and Plumpton. In the matter of a decade, dozens of new estates have popped up and whole new communities have been established. These are beautiful communities filled with young families and new migrants who want to feel connected, supported and proud of the place they live. They believe in the west and they're committed to making these suburbs the best places to call home.

But, while my constituents are investing in Melbourne's outerwest, the infrastructure they depend on simply hasn't matched, meaning that in peri-urban suburbs in my electorate—namely, in the Mount Atkinson area—residents are lucky to have one or two bars of service. This is a huge issue for residents of Mount Atkinson, many of whom work online, who have family overseas they need to contact or who need the peace of mind that they can call their child on the bus to school. But, most pressingly, the poor quality of their telecommunications services has interfered with their ability to call emergency services. It's truly unacceptable that in a country like Australia, where we have some of the highest living standards in the world, there are communities that cannot reliably call triple zero in an emergency.

Making matters even worse, some areas in my electorate still don't have the NBN infrastructure at all. In others, developers have engaged alternative broadband providers that often fail to meet minimum expectations for speed, data and reliability. When the fixed line service isn't strong, families end up relying heavily on mobile towers just to get basic connectivity. Those towers are lifelines. When the towers are not there or the service they provide is not quality or reliable, these communities suffer greatly.

I am passionate about making sure this situation improves as quickly as possible. I'm proud to say that, through round 2 of the Peri-Urban Mobile Program, the Albanese government is funding new mobile towers in my electorate and high-growth outermetro communities. I'm also proud to be supporting this amendment, which better regulates telcos to make sure they are accountable for providing quality, reliable telecommunications services to every Australian.

But I know there's still more to do, and that's why I'll keep advocating for the constituents in my electorate to get the connectivity they need as quickly as possible. Right now, I'm proud to be launching a mobile connectivity survey in my electorate so we can work with the community to gather their data on mobile black spots. We intend to use this data to engage with stakeholders so that we can address this issue. I know how important this issue is to my community, and I'll keep working until it's resolved.

Telecommunications is essential to the lives of every Australian. In 2026, the importance of quality, reliable, affordable telecommunications services really can't be understated. The amendment before us is about recognising the importance of telecommunications services as essential services and treating them as such, holding telcos accountable for providing good services to every Australian, giving our telecommunications regulator the tools it needs to crack down on telcos that are not meeting this standard and making sure the industry is transparent so that we can oversee and regulate the conduct of every provider.

As the member for Gorton, I'm incredibly passionate about making sure that, when it comes to telecommunications, no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. Seeking to better regulate the telecommunications industry when it comes to essential infrastructure and services like telecommunications is incredibly important. The telecommunications amendment is part of a broader piece of work this government is doing to put consumers back at the heart of the telecommunications industry. The truth is that, for some time now, not all telcos have been putting consumers first, and the results have been devastating.

In recent years, a number of network outages have seen consumers unable to make triple zero calls. The Optus network outage last September saw lives lost. The telcos involved did not have the proper systems in place to manage the network outages and minimise harm, and when these outages occurred they didn't fulfil their duty to keep consumers informed and ensure they were looked after while the systems were restored. These incidents are indicative of a broader issue to do with the lack of consideration for consumers shown by not all, but some, of the telco companies.

Some telcos have failed to provide adequate support and information to consumers experiencing financial hardship and vulnerability. They've taken liberties with customers, including breaching public safety rules by failing to upload their information to the integrated public number database used by emergency services. Just two months ago, Optus was ordered to pay $100 million in penalties for unconscionable conduct for putting undue pressure on vulnerable customers to buy products and then pursuing them for debts related to these purchases. That incidents like these are still happening in our country, and that some of our telco companies have not fulfilled their duty to ensure consumers are at the core of everything they do, is disgraceful, and this government will not stand for it.

The bill before us updates the Telecommunications Act 1997 to strengthen enforcement of and compliance with consumer safeguards. It does this in three ways. First, it increases the maximum civil penalties the Federal Court can issue for breaches of industry codes and standards by 40 times—from $250,000 to almost $10 million. Right now, the penalties are too low. They don't reflect the real harm caused when telcos fail to meet basic standards, and they don't deter companies from doing the wrong thing. The fact is that major telco providers can absorb a fine of $200,000 pretty easily, and, because of this, it hasn't been working as a deterrent for breaches of industry codes and standards. Under the bill before us, if a telco commits a serious breach—for example, if their triple zero service goes down and they haven't put proper failsafe systems in place to keep emergency calls flowing—the Federal Court can now issue a fine of up to $10 million.

In the most serious cases, the penalty can go even further. It can be set at three times the benefit the company gained from the breach or 30 per cent of the company's turnover, whichever number is higher. This means telcos won't be able to treat penalties as pocket change any more, and the punishment will finally fit the harm done. It also brings telecommunications in line with other major sectors that provide essential services to Australians, like energy and banking, where dodgy operators face real consequences when they fail the public. Telecommunications are essential services, and they need to be held to the same standard as other essential services.

Second, this bill delivers faster enforcement of industry codes. Right now, ACMA's hands are tied. Even when a telco commits a serious breach, ACMA cannot act straight away. It must first issue a formal direction to comply, then it has to wait and see whether the telco decides to comply or not. ACMA can only take real action if the company breaks the rules again. This process is slow and ineffective. It delays consequences for wrongdoing. The result is that Australians are left exposed while regulators jump through hoops. Families, businesses and communities affected by breaches are left waiting for providers to be penalised, while providers get yet another chance to fix something that should have never gone wrong in the first place.

The bill before us cuts through all of this, removing the two-step process entirely. Industry codes will now be directly enforceable. That means, if a provider breaches the rules, ACMA can act immediately—no delays, no waiting, no repeat failures before something happens. This empowers the regulator to protect Australians in real time. It makes sure complaints are taken seriously from the start.

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