30 November 2021 - Internet Association of Australia

At Long Last, We Meet Again!

Members in NSW, WA, SA and VIC would have received their invitation to enjoy an afternoon or evening with our board members and staff to celebrate the end of the year. The decision to organise these events was only very recently made, and events in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne have been confirmed and invitations have been sent!

We appreciate that some states are in the early days of recently returned freedoms and are aware that not everyone will be racing to attend in-person events. However, if you would like to attend the event in your state, please head over to our events page for more information.

Events, Member

UTS Research into Industry Engagement in Co-regulatory Rule-making

Dr Karen Lee, Senior Lecturer in the UTS Faculty of Law, is undertaking research into the ways in which codes of practice are drafted; and why industry participants choose to engage in or disengage from in code development.

Using the development of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (C628: 2019) as a case study and interviews with differently situated members of the telecommunications industry, the research seeks to identify the consultation mechanisms used; the difficulties encountered when soliciting engagement; the barriers to participation (if any) that industry participants of all sizes might experience; the effect these mechanisms and barriers might have on the code development process, and measures that might be taken to alleviate or overcome these barriers in order to enhance the responsiveness of industry rule-making activities.

For further information about the project (UTS ETH21-6356), please contact Dr Lee at karen.lee@uts.edu.au.

Industry News, Member, News, Newsletters

NetThing – Round Table Recap

We proudly sponsored the NetThing event this year and hosted a round table, Internet as an Essential Service. Alongside representatives from across the internet industry, civil society and government, we discussed the nature and implications of the internet as an essential service.

The discussion began with participants unpacking the definition of ‘essential service’, with various understandings raised, including a minimum level of guaranteed connectivity, specific data service obligations for internet providers and retailers and consumer safeguard provisions. We then discussed the necessity of broadband services for Australians today, especially in a post-COVID-19 world, and the wider implications for ISPs and RSPs. Overall, it was noted that the definition of essential services varies, and varies from state to state, which in turn changes the conversation, both for industry obligations and consumer rights.

As the roundtable ended, participants shared their perspectives on the importance of regulation throughout this process, especially when addressing market failures and facilitating equity.

We would like to thank all who watched our round table and would like to further extend our thanks to the incredible participants. Your knowledge and insights made the round table constructive, meaningful and interesting.

If you missed out, please head over to the NetThing YouTube channel to catch up. Feel free to jump forward to 2 hours and 30 minutes to our session. Enjoy!

News, Newsletters, Past Events, Sponsorship

Supporting Fellow Women in Tech

Earlier this month, some of our Admin Team attended the Women in Technology WA (WiTWA) Tech [+] Conference. The event drew a large crowd of women eager to create change for women in the tech industry. They enjoyed the variety of inspiring, motivating and enthusiastic speakers and even had the opportunity to engage in an interactive Lego play session! Starting with a beautiful welcome to country, the day was broken into three parts: digital transformation and disruption, how women will change the tech future, and IQ, EQ and Adversity Quotient.

Thank you, WiTWA, for having us; we look forward to your next fantastic event!

News, Newsletters, Sponsorship

Thank you, David

We would like to express our thanks and appreciation to David Hooton for his service to our Board as Chair over the past two years. As the Chair, he has helped the association achieve many things, including the transition to a company limited by guarantee.

We are pleased to inform members that David will continue to serve on the Board as a nominee of corporate member, Field Solutions. We are very fortunate to have him remain on the Board!

Governance, Member, News, Newsletters

Annual General Meeting Recap

Another virtual AGM this year kicked off with Matthew Enger’s Acknowledgement of Country. The Chair, David Hooton, officially opened the meeting just after 5pm AEDT acknowledging the previous AGM minutes, thanking the staff and the Board for all their hard work and extending a special thanks to Matthew McDonough and Washif Ahmed for their service to the Association.

Deputy Chair, Matthew Enger, provided a quick report of the audited financials and the motion that Crunch Auditing be adopted as the IAA auditors for FY 21-22 passed.

CEO, Narelle Clark, provided an update from the operational staff that looked back over the past year. The report was a testament to what a busy year it has been, providing insights drawn from our IX statistics and finishing off with thoughts for the future.

Returning Officer, Kitty Hibble, announced the nominees and election results for the Board Election, with both Daryl Collins and Richard Thompson being elected for three-year terms and Nate Garr a one-year term.

If you would like to view any of the documents contained in our AGM pack, including our beautiful Annual Report, please head over to our website.

We would like to thank all the members who voted in the election and attended the meeting. We hope to see you at the next AGM, who knows, and it may even be in person!

Member, Newsletters, Past Events

Network Change Embargo Period Reminder

We would like to remind members that our network change embargo period is from 22nd December 2021 through to 10th January 2022 inclusive. During this time, we will not be provisioning any new services or changing any existing services. Rest assured, support staff will be on call to deal with urgent issues or network emergencies should they arise.

If you have any orders or change requests, please submit them by 10th December 2021.

Member, Newsletters, Technical

Farewell, Washif

It was with much sadness that our team farewelled Washif Ahmed, who joined Ausgrid as a Network Engineer. Washif joined us in 2019 and has been an asset to our technical team right from the outset. His caring and kind nature, fantastic work ethic, knowledge, skills and abilities and funny memes will be greatly missed. We wish him all the best with his future career.

Newsletters, Technical

Open Submissions

Privacy Act Review | Attorney General’s Department | 10 January 2021

The AGD is consulting on proposals for reform and questions on the Privacy Act 1988 Discussion Paper. This will focus on aspects including on the scope and application of the Privacy Act, whether a statutory tort should be introduced for privacy invasions, the effectiveness of enforcement powers and mechanisms under the Privacy Act and the feasibility of an independent certification scheme to monitor compliance.

Superfast Broadband Access Service Access (SBAS) Determination Inquiry Discussion Paper | ACCC | 10 December 2021

The ACCC is in the process of confirming a final access determination for SBAS, following which a provider needs to ensure access to a declared service on the request of an access seeker. The inquiry will consult on price and non-price terms and conditions of access to the service, whether the Regional Broadband Levy should be absorbed by SBAS providers or passed onto RSPs and users and whether network providers should disclose network service quality and reliability indicators to RSPs. It also inquires about exemptions from the access determination applying to small scale operators (with less than 12,000 end users) and competition-based exemptions.

Consumer Data Right – Telecommunications Draft Designation Instrument | Treasury | 13 December 2021

The Treasury is seeking feedback on the Draft Designation, which outlines the datasets and data holders to be covered by the CDR.

Telecommunications Service Provider (Customer Identity Verification) (CIV) Determination 2021 | ACMA | 15 December

The CIV Determination imposes carriage service providers (CSPs) to introduce two-factor authentication for all customer interactions at high-risk of fraud. Although Communications Alliance released a Code covering similar ground earlier, this Determination is more specific on definitions (of high-risk interaction) and the process for identity verification. It also requires CSPs to collect information to show their compliance.

Advocacy, News, Newsletters

Categories