Suzanne Thompson, Author at Internet Association of Australia

Welcome new Members! August 2025

Welcome to our newest Professional Members:

Darryl Boelcsfoeldi
George Coldham
Nickolas Dakis
Alan Gan
Michael Mansour
Nathan Mudie
Josie Parfitt
James Pearce
Matthew Taylor

Welcome to our IAASysters of 2025:

Vicki Apostolidis
Cassie Byrne-Quinn
Mary Ghazavi
Serena Green
Navraj Deep Kaur
Huoy Ming Leow
Serena Li
Lauren Morand
Brigitt Nagle
Mary-Lou O’Brien
Nasrin Sadiqi
Helena Singer
Tembi Tlhabane
Divya Valsarajan
Taryar Wai

Welcome to our Corporate Members:

Australian Telecommunications Pty Ltd

A big welcome to Australian Telecommunications, joining IAA as they transition from two decades as a business-only internet reseller to operating as a full ISP with their own network infrastructure. Based in Equinix SYD3 and soon expanding to a second data centre, they’re launching business-grade internet alongside telephony, managed IT, and telco services.

China Unicom (Singapore) Operations PTE LTD

We’re excited to have China Unicom (Singapore) Operations on board. As a major global carrier, their participation strengthens IAA’s international connectivity and offers new peering opportunities for our Members.

Digital Immortality Pty Ltd

We’re pleased to welcome Digital Immortality to IAA. As they expand their network presence and connect into more data centres, they join our mission of building a stronger, more resilient internet across Australia.

DigitalOcean Australia Pty Ltd

Please join us in welcoming DigitalOcean Australia to the IAA peering exchange. Known for their developer-friendly cloud infrastructure, DigitalOcean’s presence will enhance connectivity and performance for Members accessing their global platform.

Emutel

Welcome Emutel to the IAA community! Joining for both peering and broader industry engagement, Emutel adds to our diverse Member base committed to keeping traffic local and cost-effective.

Kite Plus Limited

A warm welcome Kite Plus Limited to the IAA community! Handling over 200Gbps of Tencent CDN traffic to Australian users daily, Kite Plus joins to share their content and improve connectivity for Members across our exchanges.

Turnkey Networks Pty Ltd

We’re pleased to welcome Turnkey Networks to the IAA peering exchange! As a new a carrier-neutral wholesale provider, Turnkey Networks is looking to build strong industry relationships and explore peering partnerships. We look forward to seeing them grow their network presence and connect with fellow Members.

Member, Newsletters

IAA End of Year 2025 – Perth

We’re wrapping up 2025 with a whole lot of laughs, a few strikes, and a touch of friendly competition. IAA Members and their guests are invited to join us at Strike Perth for an evening of bowling, conversation and celebration as we mark the end of another big year.

This year, we’re hosting the Tournament of Peers: a national bowl-off for ultimate bragging rights. Which exchange will top the national leaderboard? Come along and represent WA-IX as we go head-to-head with our peers across the country.

Bring your spin, swagger, or spectacular gutter balls. All levels welcome for a night of great company, drinks and something tasty to keep you going between turns. Whether you’re a regular on the lanes or just there to enjoy the night, it’s all about connection and community.

Registrations are now open on the IAA Member Portal for our Members and their guests:

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

As part of our 30 Years of Peers celebrations, we’re calling on YOU – our network engineers, internet pioneers, and tech enthusiasts! Bring along your tech relics, or messages for the future to our 30 Years of Peer event in your city.

What to Contribute?

We’re looking for small items that will help capture the spirit of who we are today and the legacy we’re building for the future.

* A piece of hardware or internet gear that tells a story
* Some company merch that will evoke nostalgia
* Photos from team events or handwritten notes predicting the future

Don’t miss your chance to leave your mark. Join us and make history!

Events, Past Events

IAA End of Year 2025 – Melbourne

Date: Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm AEDT
Venue: Strike Melbourne Central | Shop 305 | Level 3 | 211 La Trobe Street | Melbourne

It’s the end-of-year wrap you’ve been waiting for: the IAA Big Bowl-Out is coming to your city! Join fellow Members and guests at Strike Melbourne Central for a night of good vibes and great times.

This year, we’re hosting the Tournament of Peers: a national bowl-off for ultimate bragging rights. Which exchange will top the national leaderboard? Come along and represent VIC-IX as we go head-to-head with our peers across the country.

Registrations are now open on the IAA Member Portal for our Members and their guests:

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

What to Contribute?

We’re looking for small items that will help capture the spirit of who we are today and the legacy we’re building for the future.

* A piece of hardware or internet gear that tells a story
* Some company merch that will evoke nostalgia
* Photos from team events or handwritten notes predicting the future

Don’t miss your chance to leave your mark. Join us and make history!

Events, Past Events

IAA End of Year 2025 – Sydney

Date: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm AEDT
Venue: Strike Darling Harbour | King Street Wharf | 22 The Promenade | Sydney

Join us for the IAA End of Year Big Bowl-Out as we take over Strike Bowling Darling Harbour for an evening of friendly competition and good cheer.

This year, we’re hosting the Tournament of Peers: a national bowl-off for ultimate bragging rights. Which exchange will top the national leaderboard? Come along and represent NSW-IX as we go head-to-head with our peers across the country.

Registrations are now open on the IAA Member Portal for our Members and their guests:

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

What to Contribute?

We’re looking for small items that will help capture the spirit of who we are today and the legacy we’re building for the future.

* A piece of hardware or internet gear that tells a story
* Some company merch that will evoke nostalgia
* Photos from team events or handwritten notes predicting the future

Don’t miss your chance to leave your mark. Join us and make history!

Events, Past Events

IAA End of Year 2025 – Adelaide

Date: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm ACDT
Venue: Strike Rundle Place | Level 1 | 77–91 Rundle Mall | Adelaide

Game on Adelaide! IAA Members and their guests are invited to our end-of-year celebration at Strike Rundle Place for the IAA End of Year Big Bowl-Out.

This year, we’re hosting the Tournament of Peers: a national bowl-off for ultimate bragging rights. Which exchange will top the national leaderboard? Come along and represent SA-IX as we go head-to-head with our peers across the country.

Registrations are now open on the IAA Member Portal for our Members and their guests:

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

What to Contribute?

We’re looking for small items that will help capture the spirit of who we are today and the legacy we’re building for the future.

* A piece of hardware or internet gear that tells a story
* Some company merch that will evoke nostalgia
* Photos from team events or handwritten notes predicting the future

Don’t miss your chance to leave your mark. Join us and make history!

Events, Past Events

IAA End of Year 2025 – Brisbane

Date: Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm AEST
Venue: Strike Brisbane City | Wintergarden | Queen Street Mall | Brisbane

We’re rounding out the year with the IAA End of Year Big Bowl-Out. Join us for an evening of bowling and banter at Strike Brisbane City in the heart of Queen Street Mall.

This year, we’re hosting the Tournament of Peers: a national bowl-off for ultimate bragging rights. Which exchange will top the national leaderboard? Come along and represent QLD-IX as we go head-to-head with our peers across the country.

Registrations are now open on the IAA Member Portal for our Members and their guests:

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

What to Contribute?

We’re looking for small items that will help capture the spirit of who we are today and the legacy we’re building for the future.

* A piece of hardware or internet gear that tells a story
* Some company merch that will evoke nostalgia
* Photos from team events or handwritten notes predicting the future

Don’t miss your chance to leave your mark. Join us and make history!

Events, Past Events

Narelle Clark inducted into the CommsDay Hall of Fame

We’re proud to share that Narelle Clark, CEO of the Internet Association of Australia, has been officially inducted into the CommsDay Hall of Fame.

Announced at the 2025 CommsDay Summit in Sydney in June, this honour celebrates Narelle’s decades of impact across consumer advocacy, internet infrastructure, and policy. Her work has helped shape a more connected, inclusive, and resilient digital Australia.

As CEO of IAA, Narelle continues to lead with insight, integrity, and purpose championing a stronger, more community-focused internet for all.

Congratulations, Narelle a well-deserved recognition!

Blog, Industry News, News

New ACMA Compliance Obligations commencing 30 June 2025

Telecommunications providers must act now to ensure compliance with the below major regulatory changes coming into force from as early as 30 June 2025:

Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard Amendment 2025 (No. 1) – Commencing 30 June 2025
Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard Variation 2025 – Commencing 30 June 2025

Telecommunications (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Consumer Protections) Industry Standard 2025 – Commencing 1 July 2025

We have updated template packs provided on the IAA Member Portal to assist Members with their compliance obligations, but it is important Members understand new requirements arising from recent regulatory reform.

1. Expanded Complaints Handling Framework

Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard Amendment 2025 (No. 1)

From 30 June, telco providers will have to comply with new obligations in relation to handling complaints from consumers including:

New “Network Outage Complaint” Category:
A new “network outage complaint” is now explicitly defined to align with the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024. If a consumer reports loss of service and the provider suspects a network outage is occurring (either a major outage or significant local outage), the report must be treated as a formal network outage complaint

Network Outage Complaints Handling Process:
Providers must establish a separate, documented process for handling network outage complaints and publish it on their website. IAA’s Template Complaints Handling Policy has been updated to include network outage complaints, and is available on the IAA Member Portal.

Resolution Standards for Network Outage Complaints:
A network outage complaint is resolved once:
- Service is restored, and
- A bulk resolution offer (e.g. compensation or credit) is communicated (if offered)

Natural Disaster Exclusion:
Complaints related to outages triggered solely by natural disasters may be handled through standard complaint processes instead.
Improved Accessibility:
The ACMA have also introduced other changes unrelated to network outage complaints in relation to making complaints and complaints handling process more accessible. This includes, amongst other things, maintaining a direct link on the telco’s homepage and the help or support section of its website to display a list or table of each of the contact details the provider makes available to receive complaints, along with a statement that these contact points can be used to make a complaint.

2. Enhanced Communications During Outages

Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard Variation 2025

The Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard has also been updated to introduce obligations in relation to ‘significant local outages’, which commence 30 June. Please note, obligations already exist in relation to ‘major outages’.

Variation Highlights:

New defined term – ‘significant local outages’
‘Significant local outage’ is defined as unplanned adverse impact to your telco network that results in an end-user unable to establish and maintain a carriage service which affects:
- ≥1,000 SIOs in regional Australia for a period of over 6 hours;
- ≥250 SIOs in remote Australia for a period of over 3 hours.
Notification obligations in relation to a significant local outage
Carriers and CSPs must notify and communicate with select persons and groups at different stages including initial notification, regular updates, updates of material changes, and service restoration. IAA provides updated template kits including template notifications and communications that carriers and CSPs can send out in relation to both major outages and significant local outages in the IAA Member Portal.
Written Procedures
Telcos must update their public-facing Network Outage Communications Policy to include their procedures in relation to a significant local outage. A template policy is also included in the Template Kit provided by IAA.

3. New Protections for Persons Affected by Domestic, Family & Sexual Violence

Telecommunications (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Consumer Protections) Industry Standard 2025

ACMA has introduced a new industry standard to establish protections for persons affected by domestic, family and sexual violence. While the Standard commences from 1 July, telcos will have a longer timeframe to comply with many of the requirements. Below are only the compliance requirements that begin from 1 July:

Reversal of service limitation for affected persons (s 13(3)-(5)):
If a service has been limited (e.g. suspended or disconnected), and the affected person urgently requests reversal due to a DFV safety risk, the telco must urgently reverse it on first contact, or offer an equivalent service if reversal isn’t practical. However, reversal isn’t required where doing so would breach another Commonwealth law (e.g. emergency call service obligations).
Must not require affected persons to engage with perpetrator (s 15(1)):
Telcos must not require a person affected by DFV to contact or interact with the perpetrator of the DFV or the perpetrator’s authorised representative.
Information about support offered (s 16)
Telcos must publish information on their website about the support they offer to people affected by domestic and family violence. If they don’t yet offer specific support, they must publish contact details for external support organisations and indicate when their own support services will become available.
DFV Policy (s 19-20)
Telcos must develop and implement a domestic and family violence (DFV) policy, that is approved by the telco’s most senior executive, and develop supporting procedures that meet specific standards. Large providers have 6 months, and small providers 9 months from 1 July to comply.
General DFV Training (s 21)
All personnel must receive DFV training, which can be delivered internally or via an expert 3rd party. Large providers have 9 months, and small providers 12 months from 1 July to complete training, with annual refreshers of the training to be completed.
Specialised DFV Training for Customer-Facing Staff (s 22)
Personnel in customer service, or likely to deal with DFV issues must complete specialised DFV training which covers applying the telco’s DFV policy and procedures, nature of DFV and its relationship to telco services, how to identify affected persons, intersectionality and DFV, engaging with affected persons, and recognising and prioritising safety of affected persons and the safety of personnel engaging with perpetrators. The specialised DFV training can be tailored to the role of the personnel, and may be delivered internally or via an expert 3rd party. Large providers have 9 months, and small providers 12 months from 1 July to complete training, with annual refreshers of the training to be completed.
Consultation requirements (s 32)
From 1 July, telcos must consult with and consider feedback from DFV support services and either people with lived experience or organisations representing at-risk groups when developing DFV policies and procedures (s 19), and training (s 21-22). Large providers must consult directly; small providers may do so via an industry body.

A large provider means a provider with at least 30,000 SIOs, and a small prover is a provider with less than 30,000 SIO.

Please note, IAA is considering whether and how to undertake the consultation requirements on behalf of our members that fall under the ‘small provider’ category. If you are interested in being represented by IAA, please let us know by contacting policy@internet.asn.au.

What Telcos Must Do

Compliance Area	Required Actions
Complaints Handling (30 June)	Update processes and policies to handle and display network outage complaints separately. Update website to specify points of contact to make complaints. Ensure staff are trained to appropriately handle any network outage complaints as such.
Network Outage Communications (30 June)	Update internal processes to ensure communications are sent in relation to significant local outages. Update public facing policy to include communications processes in relation to significant local outages.
DFSV Protections (1 July)	Ensuring staff understand all obligations that will commence from 1 July that relate to persons affected by DFV – e.g. not requiring affected persons to contact perpetrators, reversing service limitations. Updating website to specify support information. Undertaking consultation requirements to develop DFV Policy, procedures and training. Training staff.

If you have any questions about the any of the new regulation, please contact us at policy@internet.asn.au.

Written by: Sophia Joo | Senior Policy Officer & Company Secretary

Advocacy, Blog, News

The truth about IXPs: No routing, just switching

⚡️Network Engineers & Internet Peering Enthusiasts, let's talk about something fundamental yet often misunderstood!⚡️

When we talk about the power and efficiency of the Internet, we often highlight Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) as critical interconnection hubs. And they absolutely are! However, it’s crucial to remember that a typical Internet Exchange fabric is a pure Layer 2 construct.

What does that mean in practical terms?

An IXP does NOT perform any routing for or on behalf of its peering participants.

Think of it this way:

It’s a giant, shared Ethernet switch. Your router connects to it, and its sole purpose is to forward Ethernet frames between connected participants’ routers based on MAC addresses.

Each participant is responsible for their own routing decisions. The IXP itself only influences which routes you learn from their route servers, or advertise via their route servers, based on things like attached control communities and RPKI ROA validity. This doesn’t include so-called “bi-lateral” BGP sessions with peering partners directly across the exchange, which are entirely free of IXP influence!

No IP forwarding tables, no MPLS labels, no routing protocols running within the IXP’s core fabric for participant traffic. Most IXP’s operational networks will have their own underlay routing, but that’s distinct from the participant traffic plane.

Why is this understanding critical?

– Troubleshooting: If you’re experiencing routing issues with a peer at an IXP, your focus should be on your BGP configuration, your router’s health, and the peer’s BGP configuration – not on the IXP “routing” your traffic incorrectly.

– Architecture: IXP peering is decentralised by nature. You’re effectively building direct relationships with others, not relying on a central router.

– Security: An IXP isn’t inspecting or manipulating your IP packets beyond some basic ingress filtering of “nuisance” traffic, to ensure the health of the exchange. Ultimately, the exchange simply provides physical and data link layer connectivity between networks.

– Performance: The beauty of Layer 2 is its speed and simplicity. It allows direct, low-latency communication between networks, which is exactly what IXPs want to give peers!

Next time you connect to an IXP, remember you’re essentially plugging into a massive switchboard designed for efficient, direct peer-to-peer conversations, not a traffic cop directing everyone’s data.

Written by: Matthew Kobayashi | IAA Peering Engineer

Blog, News, Technical

Categories

Welcome new Members! August 2025

Welcome to our newest Professional Members:

Welcome to our IAASysters of 2025:

Welcome to our Corporate Members:

IAA End of Year 2025 – Perth

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

IAA End of Year 2025 – Melbourne

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

IAA End of Year 2025 – Sydney

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

IAA End of Year 2025 – Adelaide

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

IAA End of Year 2025 – Brisbane

There's still time to contribute to our time capsule

Narelle Clark inducted into the CommsDay Hall of Fame

New ACMA Compliance Obligations commencing 30 June 2025

1. Expanded Complaints Handling Framework

Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard Amendment 2025 (No. 1)

2. Enhanced Communications During Outages

Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard Variation 2025

3. New Protections for Persons Affected by Domestic, Family & Sexual Violence

Telecommunications (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Consumer Protections) Industry Standard 2025

Written by: Sophia Joo | Senior Policy Officer & Company Secretary

The truth about IXPs: No routing, just switching

⚡️Network Engineers & Internet Peering Enthusiasts, let's talk about something fundamental yet often misunderstood!⚡️

What does that mean in practical terms?

Why is this understanding critical?

Sign up to IAA's mailing list

Sign up to IAA's mailing list