October continued to be a busy month for IAA’s policy team, keeping up to date with industry news and legislative reforms on the horizon while attending meetings and regulatory information sessions. We expect we will continue to be busy, particularly responding to consultations surrounding privacy in the wake of the Optus data breach.

IAA’s Policy Officer also moderated a NetThing panel discussion on 28 October on ‘Defamation for ISPs and Other Internet Intermediaries’. Read more about it here.

As always, if you would like to discuss any of the below reforms or if there are any other policy areas/issues of concern, please feel free to shoot us an email.

Open Submissions

Telecommunications Numbering Plan Variation 2022 (No. 1) | ACMA | 4 November 2022
ACMA is proposing changes to the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 2015. Changes include CSPs requiring registration before being assigned numbers, decreasing the size of the standard unit for premium rate and mobile numbers from 100,000 to 10,000 and removal of the Location Independent Communications Services.

Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 | Attorney General | 7 November 2022
In response to the Optus data breach, the government is looking to increase penalties for serious or repeated privacy interferences, expand the Australian Information Commissioner’s enforcement powers, and provide the Commissioner and ACMA greater information sharing powers.

Draft SOCI Risk Management Rules 2022 | Department of Home Affairs | 18 November 2022
Following the recent amendment of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act earlier this year, one of the new obligations is for critical infrastructure assets to have and comply with a critical infrastructure Risk Management Program. These draft rules will set out the specific requirements of this new obligation.

Completed Submissions

5 Year Productivity Inquiry – Australia’s Data and Digital Dividend Interim Report | Productivity Commission
The Productivity Commission’s interim report for its 5 Year Productivity Inquiry sought feedback and insight into data and digital technology in Australia. Our submission primarily raised concerns about the lack of transparency and genuine consultation by government when it comes to collaborating with industry to improve the data and digital landscape. Focusing on areas including government investment, the tech skilled workforce, cyber security and the policy landscape, we called for more comprehensive planning and multistakeholder input in future works involving the Internet and telecommunications industry to ensure the accelerated growth of data and digital technology for Australia’s future.

Industry Codes of Practice for the Online Industry (Class 1A and Class 1B Material) | Online Safety
IAA submitted to Industry Codes of Practice for the Online Industry (class 1A and class 1B Material). Our response made recommendations on the reporting requirement in recognition of the limited role ISPs play on the content layer. We also made recommendations to the proposed requirement that would see ISPs responsible for notifying host providers of harmful material being posted via their servers. This requirement would see ISPs having to take reasonable steps to identify the host provider, and would not be limited to providers with whom ISPs have a partnership or other relationship, thereby being too broad and burdensome for ISPs.

The findings from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) Independent Review were released earlier this month. After consultation held in May this year, the review looked into the TIO’s compliance with the Australian Government’s benchmarks for industry-based customer dispute resolution.  

The TIO has accepted the majority of the 26 recommendations made by the review. However, it did not accept Recommendation 4 which suggested the removal of the refer-back process within the complaints handling model. IAA supports the refer-back step remaining as part of the scheme. In the absence of sufficient efforts by the TIO to guide consumers on the requirement to not only raise their complaint with the telecommunications provider first, but also give the provider a reasonable time to respond prior to raising a complaint with the TIO, it is crucial that, at the least, the TIO is able to refer consumers back to providers where it is clear that the complaint can be handled more easily and quickly directly, without TIO assistance. 

Although the review did consider the concerns raised by IAA and other industry representatives regarding this point that consumers were raising complaints with the TIO without first trying to resolve the complaint directly with the provider, it is disappointing that they seem to have missed the point. While the TIO Terms of Reference explicitly states providers must be given a ‘reasonable opportunity to consider the issues’, IAA raised in our submission that this is not always happening. Nowhere else on the TIO’s website or complaints form is there a reference to this illustrious ‘reasonable opportunity’. The review suggests that consumers making a complaint, formal or not, is sufficient, but where does the opportunity come into play for providers to consider and respond so the issue does not have to be referred to the TIO? 

If there is a gap in how industry, consumers and the TIO interpret what is a ‘reasonable opportunity’, then this is something that should be addressed so that everyone understands and uses the same process.  

We are hopeful that other recommendations made (and accepted) including the call for the TIO casework staff to collect more relevant information at the commencement of a case, increased systematic investigation and increased publication about the performance of the TIO will mean that the overall operation of the TIO will improve. Other concerns that IAA heard from our members during the consultation period to inform our submission centred on the lack of efficiency and a recurring issue where RSPs were being held accountable for network failures outside of the RSP’s control.   

IAA recognises the importance of an industry ombudsman and believes it to be a critical role in our industry. However, with the review suggesting that the TIO should play a greater function in the industry, taking on a more regulatory role instead of being primarily responsible for dispute resolution, it seems there is a need for a broader discussion within industry regarding the future of the TIO.  

You can read the review, TIO’s response and submissions on the TIO website.  

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has published guidance material regarding the carrier separation rules. The explanatory guide has been prepared following industry consultation – to which IAA responded – and is aimed to assist industry’s understanding of the superfast fixed-line broadband network carrier separation obligations.  

Read the guidance material here.