Michelle Rowland
Greenway · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“Failure to comply with the identity verification requirement in ART proceedings would result in the tribunal being required to dismiss the matter.”
“Courts must retain a high degree of discretion in the management of proceedings. This means that the FCFCOA will also be able to extend time for satisfying the identity verification requirement or dispense with the requirement altogether where appropriate.”
“The bill provides safeguards for vulnerable applicants of the ART and will notapply these changes to reviews relating to social security, veterans entitlements, the National Disability Insurance Scheme or aged care where written reasons may play an important role.”
“Improving ART efficiency and operations The bill makes amendments to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024and other Commonwealth legislation to expand tribunal powers, improve tribunal processes, increase efficiency, avoid administrative delays, and aid the management of caseload surges and backlogs—particularly in migration matters…”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Administrative Review Tribunal (the ART) commenced operation on 14 October 2024, replacing the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal as Australia's primary federal merits review body.”
“It will provide an important touchpoint, and a further opportunity to protect the integrity of the merits and judicial review systems through identification checks.”
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“The member is right that there is a complete lack of flexibility when it comes to the Universal Service Obligation. That is why in 2023 I announced that this government would undertake a full consultation into how a reform could be undertaken here and how it could best benefit, in particular, those living in regional Australia. I also pay tribute to the member for Kennedy, who has been a staunch advocate for reform in this area. We have undertaken that consultation on the scope of services, and clearly there needs to be change. This has been strongly endorsed by every stakeholder in the area, be it the National Farmers Federation, ACEM or the industry themselves. That is encouraging, I would say to the member for Mayo and everyone in this place. But this is an area long overdue for reform.”
“I thank the member for her question. I appreciate throughout this term the advocacy that she has provided for her constituents with her constructive engagement with me on a variety of communications matter across the portfolio. For the benefit of members, USO stands for 'Universal Service Obligation', and Telstra is designated as the universal service provider. Basically, this is a requirement that has not changed since it was put in place. It applies to landline services and, taken on a reading, a pretty basic data service. The intention of the National Broadband Network, when it was conceived by Labor, was to ensure that we had not only broadband capacity across Australia but a wholesale-only access network vertically integrated that would provide competition in the regions. This is where it matters.”
“They reflect the Albanese government's commitment to making sure Australians are appropriately protected and supported in their interactions with telecommunications service providers. Importantly, these reforms have received strong support from stakeholders, including the: This comprehensive support, from consumer groups, regulators and industry alike, demonstrates the importance of these commonsense reforms and is representative of close engagement with these key stakeholders over the past year in particular. I thank them for their ongoing engagement and support and acknowledge the important work they do. Noting this level of strong support for these reforms, and the important outcomes they enable for Australian telco consumers, I encourage all representatives in this place to give it their support as well.”
“The schedule will also modernise the penalty framework for these instruments to allow penalties based on the value of the benefit obtained from the conduct or the turnover of the relevant telco—allowing for greater penalties in certain circumstances. Overall, this penalty framework better aligns with those in other relevant sectors like energy and banking, and under the Australian consumer law. Schedule 4 of the bill expands and clarifies the authority of the Minister for Communications to increase any infringement notice penalty the ACMA can issue for breaches of telecommunications rules. Taken together, the reforms in the bill strengthen consumer protections and enhance compliance and enforcement of telecommunications consumer safeguards, for the benefit of the whole community.”
“Currently, the ACMA cannot take direct enforcement action against breaches of industry codes, no matter how significant, without first issuing a direction to comply, and the ACMA can only take further action if noncompliance continues. The proposed changes remove this two-step enforcement process so that the ACMA can act quickly and appropriately to address consumer harm arising from code breaches and hold telcos to account. Schedule 3 will increase the maximum general civil penalty for breaches of industry codes and industry standards from $250,000 to 30,300 penalty units, which is currently $9.9 million. This aligns with penalties currently available for breaches of service provider determinations, meaning the penalty amount for these three types of regulatory instruments will be aligned.”
“Increased visibility of the market will provide improved pathways for the ACMA (and other government agencies) to educate carriage service providers on their regulatory obligations, streamline complaints and compliance processes and create better overall market accountability. Empowering the ACMA to stop providers operating in the market will provide a deterrent for significant noncompliance and increase trust by consumers in registered providers—including new or smaller ones. Schedule 2 of the bill will make industry codes directly enforceable. This allows the ACMA to take immediate and appropriate action to address consumer harm and will incentivise industry compliance.”
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill will improve compliance and enforcement of telecommunications consumer safeguards and constitute a comprehensive package of reforms to those arrangements. They will help to ensure that the ACMA is an empowered and effective regulator and that appropriate incentive structures are in place to drive better behaviour by telcos. The bill improves compliance and enforcement of consumer safeguards in several important ways. Schedule 1 will establish a carriage service provider registration scheme. The scheme will increase visibility of carriage service providers and enable the ACMA to stop providers who pose unacceptable risk to consumers or cause significant consumer harm from operating in the market.”
“The Albanese government understands how critical telco services are for everyone, including those facing vulnerable circumstances, people living in our regions, First Nations Australians and those who rely upon connectivity to support their families and provide services to their communities. Accordingly, we want to ensure that the telco industry is working for Australians, that they have the best consumer safeguards in place to protect their interests, and that there is a strong, clear recourse if telcos do the wrong thing. Nobody wants an industry that sees penalties as the 'cost of doing business'. We've listened to wideranging feedback from industry, regulators, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and consumer advocates to develop these reforms.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Albanese government is committed to putting Australian consumers at the heart of the telecommunications industry. We want to ensure that all Australians have access to reliable, high-quality and affordable telecommunications services, supported by a strong regulatory and consumer safeguards framework . That is why this government has been actively reviewing the telecommunications consumer protection framework and making appropriate changes. This includes implementing new rules to better support consumers who are experiencing financial hardship and, more recently, directing the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, to make new rules to support people who are experiencing domestic, sexual and family violence.”
“It gets better because, as was only reported in the last few days, the Greens' largest individual donor—this is as recent as a couple of days—was Gold Coast gambler and mathematician, Duncan Turpie, who donated about $275,000. In early 2024, the Brisbane Times reported that Turpie had donated $472,088 to the party since—”
“I find it interesting that the honourable member, who is a member of the Greens political party from Queensland, should ask this when the Queensland Greens have accepted over nearly half a million dollars in donations from a highrolling gambler. This is despite pushing for a ban on political donations from the gambling industry. Even more interesting about this is that the honourable member is one of three members from Queensland who have benefited from this, and the spokesperson for the Greens is saying, 'Our campaigns are entirely funded by people who believe in our vision and platform.' So, of course, constituents in the seats of Brisbane, Griffith and Ryan should be well aware of where that money is coming from to fund the honourable member's campaign.”
“I thank the member for her question, which goes to a number of matters, including gambling advertising, including the issue of time, and, as I see it and as I've seen reported from her colleague Senator Hanson-Young, including questions around the interests of the community and the interests of members of parliament. I think it's important to first point out, considering it's so contemporaneous, that Senator Hanson-Young was out there today basically talking about prioritising—this is what she accuses—prioritising the interests of the community over the interests of the gambling lobby and those making money off this parasitic dangerous industry.”
“I'll take this opportunity to highlight that Telstra has now established a dedicated 3G helpline. The number is 1800990853, and I have formally requested weekly reports from the carriers so I can continue to monitor this. I remind members that, if they do have particular concerns, my door is open. I'll be happy to meet with the member after this so we can go through that, but that's open to all members in this place.”
“It is very true that there are multiple complaints from customers, particularly in regional areas, who've seen fortuitous coverage diminished and who have seen their services overall being challenged. The question is: how can that be improved? I'm happy to inform the member that, whilst it is obviously concerning to hear those reports happening in regional areas, I am monitoring this very closely. I've made the expectation that the 3G switchover would deliver on these benefits clear to service providers. The ACMA and the ACCC have been highlighted in this, not only in terms of the technical requirements, but also for the representations that are being made to customers about coverage pre and post switchover, because, as many consumers know, those coverage maps don't always match what they actually receive.”
“But you are right that those technical benefits won't be realised if people don't have coverage under that new technology. This was also the first switchover to occur during what we call the 'internet of things', where there are so many connected devices and so many people are reliant on it. So I completely acknowledge the member's concern. It is very real. On 17 December, I convened industry regulators, mobile carriers and consumer groups to look at the lessons learned from the 3G switchover, and I can give her some insights into what we are doing following that. The government has stressed to the carriers that the benefits of the 3G switchover really need to be demonstrated, and, whilst it is a fact of physics that the switchover is complete, there needs to be a focus now on the consumer welfare. The member is right.”
“I thank the member for Indi for her question. I know how seriously she takes these issues of connectivity in her community. I also want to take the opportunity to extend my appreciation to members across the chamber, particularly in regional areas right across the aisle who prior to the 3G switchover assisted in disseminating important information about that to their local communities, which is very important. For context, the spectrum is what we call a scarce resource. It's used but not consumed. It's valuable. It can be redeployed in other ways, and the evolution of the various forms of mobile technology, from CDMA to 2G and now the 3G network being switched over, enables the refarming of that spectrum to ensure that it's capable of doing more and actually delivering technical benefits.”