IAA Newsletters
We’ve rolled out a set of practical improvements to the IAA Member Portal, designed to give Members greater control, faster service changes, and better visibility over their connectivity.
Change request rollbacks
Members can now roll back changes made to their services directly within the Portal.
While requests are still actioned by our network team, this feature provides an extra layer of confidence when making changes and is an important step toward fully automated provisioning.
Faster peering activation
The Portal is now integrated directly with our route servers for peering services.
When ordering a new peering service, a Member’s BGP session details are deployed on demand, meaning new peering can be active as soon as the service is provisioned, rather than waiting up to 24 hours as before.
Updates to existing peering services (such as AS-SETs and prefix limits) are also applied immediately.
Smarter cross connect reminders
When Members upgrade or cancel ports, the Portal will now issue reminders to cancel old cross connects with their data centre provider.
There are mutual benefits here as Members can ensure they aren’t paying data centres for cross connects they aren’t using any more, and we can make more efficient use of our data centre cabling.
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This year, the IAA Convergent Event Series is going back to where it all began as we relive the stories, tech, and moments that shaped how we connect.
Across 2026, we’ll be hosting Convergent events in some genuinely fascinating venues, including communication and technology museums around the country.
Expect behind-the-scenes tours, nostalgic throwbacks, iconic hardware, and plenty of “remember when?” moments, alongside the good conversations and familiar faces that make Convergent what it is.
It’s a chance to step away from the day-to-day, enjoy a relaxed evening with industry peers, and reflect on how far the internet and our community have come (with drinks and nibbles in hand, of course).
We’re kicking off the series in Sydney with an exclusive visit to the NBN Discovery Centre, with Melbourne, Brisbane, and more to follow.
Spots are limited for each event.
Learn more and register via the IAA Member Portal:
IAA Convergent Sydney
Date: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM AEST
Venue: NBN Discovery Centre | 100 Mount St | North Sydney | Sydney
IAA Convergent Melbourne & VIC-IX 15th anniversary
Date: Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM AEST
Venue: National Communication Museum | 375 Burwood Rd | Hawthorn | Melbourne
IAA Convergent Brisbane & QLD-IX 15th anniversary
Date: Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM AEST
Venue: Queensland Communications Museum | 3 Oriel Road | Clayfield | Brisbane
Followed by: Hamilton Hotel | 442 Kingsford Smith Drive | Hamilton | Brisbane
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IAASysters NZ is just around the corner, taking place in Christchurch on Wednesday, 25 March 2026, followed by a two-day conference. Thanks to NZNOG for their support in hosting once again!
For Aussies, there’s still time to be involved in IAASysters 2026 in Brisbane (2–4 September 2026). Each year we have 10 funded places available, and we’re inviting applications, nominations, and sponsors to support women in the internet industry to attend right now!
Applications close Friday 24 April 2026, 5:00 pm AEST.
Apply, nominate or sponsor now!
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We hope you enjoyed some time off during the festive season because there are plenty of regulatory updates for the year ahead! Our policy team was busy responding to consultations before the year-end period, and has jumped straight back to policy work in the new year on various regulatory reform matters that will affect our Members.
Online safety
We released guidance material on the Online Safety Code obligations for ISPs, available to Members via the IAA Member Portal. The Phase 2 Code came into effect for ISPs on 27 December 2025, so make sure you’re compliant!
Telco Domestic and Family Violence Standard
We are continuing to work with WISPAU and domestic and family violence expert organisations to find the best way to deliver template and training material for our Members to be compliant with the new DFSV Standard, which you can read about in this newsletter item. The ACMA also recently updated its guidance material to reflect changes to the definition of ‘urgent complaint’ and has also published templates to notify the ACMA of privacy breaches in relation to an affected person in accordance with the DFSV Standard:
Public Register of Outages
The ACMA is currently consulting on amendments to the existing Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard (CCO Standard) to introduce a new Public Register of Outages in accordance with directions from the Minister for Communications.
Telecommunications providers will have to establish and maintain an outage register on their websites that is publicly available and compliant with accessibility requirements. The register must be operational by 30 June 2026. We will update the template materials provided in the IAA Member Portal on the CCO Standard to include the outage register requirements once these amendments come into effect.
Record keeping rules
Following its 2025 Review of the various record keeping rules in the telecommunications sector, the ACCC released its final report. As per its findings, the ACCC will be establishing a new Wholesale and Networks Record Keeping Rules to come into effect in late 2026, and a new Retail Record Keeping Rules to commence in 2027. The ACCC will be consulting on these RKRs in the coming months.
Completed submissions:
Open consultations:
ACMA – Proposed public register of telecommunications outages | 18 February 2026
As always, please get in touch to share any thoughts on any of the open consultations and/or previous submissions as we really appreciate your feedback.
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To support Members in meeting their obligations under the Telecommunications (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Consumer Protections) Industry Standard 2025 (the DFSV Standard), IAA is partnering with WISPAU to engage Good Shepherd to deliver targeted and practical training and compliance materials.
Who the DFSV Standard applies to:
Compliance with DFSV Standard is mandatory for all carriage service providers that supply telecommunications services to consumers. Consumers includes individual customers, business customers with an annual spend of less than $40,000 who did not have a genuine or reasonable opportunity to negotiate their contract, and not-for-profit organisations acquiring services not for resale.
Smaller providers with under 30,000 services in operation are required to meet the full extent of obligations by 1 April 2026. However, smaller organisations can rely on industry representative bodies such as IAA and WISPAU to undertake the consultation requirements. IAA and WISPAU are proposing to do this on behalf of our members to provide:
- template DFSV Policy;
- template DFSV Procedure;
- template DFSV Statement;
- training to be delivered by Good Shepherd:
- foundational webinar for all personnel covering core requirements of the Standard, understanding domestic and family violence in the telecommunications context, and the DFSV Policy (early March)
- tailored workshop for specialised DFSV teams and escalation staff focusing on trauma-informed practice and hypothetical scenarios (late March)
While there is no obligation for Members to undertake training via IAA, the DFSV Standard does require providers to have a DFSV Policy, DFSV Procedure and DFSV Statement in place, as well as for the training of all staff, and specialised training for customer-facing personnel.
In addition, these materials and training must be developed in consultation with expert organisations. IAA and WISPAU is undertaking this work to assist small ISPs efficiently meet these consultation and training requirements on behalf of our Members who meet the small organisation threshold.
You can read more on the compliance obligations on our website.
Costs
Pricing is to be confirmed, and will depend on participant numbers. The more participants will reduce the cost per participant/entity.
Expression of interest
If you are interested in attending the training and accessing the template materials, please register your expression of interest by completing the webfrom by COB Friday, 13 February 2026 to assist with finalising dates and pricing.
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Welcome to our newest Professional Members:
Naresh Balasubramanian
Chris Buckridge
Sandra Davey
Thomas Dunn
Thomas Fernandes
Arsh Kataria
Craig Lomans
Kent Plummer
Stephen Schwetz
Tim Stockman
Welcome to our Corporate Members:
Acronis
We’re pleased to welcome Acronis ANZ Pty. Ltd. as a new Member of IAA.
Acronis is part of the global technology company known for its cyber protection and data-security solutions, including backup, disaster recovery and integrated cybersecurity for businesses and service providers. They are joining our NSW-IX as part of their network strategy.
VERNet
Join us in welcoming VERNet to our VIX-IX peering network.
A long-standing Victorian telecom carrier, VERNet designs and operates a large fibre network serving universities, research, health and community sites across Victoria. They joined to support IAA’s advocacy work.
Vytal
Welcome Vytal Group to IAA as a new Corporate Member.
Through its Dialplan brand, Vytal Group delivers business-grade internet and voice solutions with reliable connectivity and WA-based support to organisations across Western Australia. Their network also participates in peering and industry-level interconnects.
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Well, the big news from the last quarter was the ACMA’s rejection of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code, after an intensely negative campaign from consumer groups. The revised TCP Code had incorporated a significant number of changes, however the submitted version was deemed insufficient protection, and we now seem to be on a headlong path to direct regulation. Frankly, I have my doubts that the requested changes are what actual consumers genuinely want: how many consumers are keen to undergo a credit check, with all the privacy implications for a debt of a mere $300? How many want to see the inevitable price rises that come with an increase in regulatory compliance? How many want to receive a string of messages regarding their bills?
There is also increased pressure to frame the TCP Code using terms to reflect telecommunications being ‘essential’ when there is presently no agreed – or even proposed – definition of what essential means in the context of telecommunications. Is it truly essential to be able to stream any film to every location you might conceivably be in on every handset you could possibly choose? Or are there more rational measures that properly facilitate emergency communications? Is simply enabling services at a community level via libraries, schools, and other facilities enough? This debate has barely started, let alone concluded who will ultimately pay for it.
In the meantime, we’ve also held our AGM, attended a range of other events, and held our IAASysters program again. I hope you’ve all had a chance to read our annual report and marked all the great achievements of the IAA Team. Once again, I also look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible at the end of year events.
Congratulations are also in order to the winning Directors in the face of such great candidates in the election, and many thanks to those who weren’t successful, but offered their time to the Association. Thank you also to those who participated in the AGM and cast their votes in the election.
Happy peering!
Narelle
Question from the desk
Each newsletter, I will pose a question to Members, because your perspective is important. Please email me with your thoughts and opinions. Over to you:
How do you think we should measure the delivery of internet access if it is declared ‘essential’?
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The AGM provided an overview of another solid year for the Association. One focused on stability, strong financial performance, and continued growth in our network capacity and services.
Members heard reports from Chair Matthew Enger and CEO Narelle Clark, reflecting on milestones including:
- Continued expansion of 100G capability across SA-IX and WA-IX
- Successful rollout of new Member Portal features, including billing automation
- Ongoing advocacy on critical infrastructure and consumer protection regulation
- Celebrating 30 Years of Peers and a record year of engagement across our events and IAASysters programs
A resolution was passed confirming Crunch Auditing as auditors for FY25-26.
Board election
The following candidates were nominated for election to the IAA Board:
- Nathan Brookfield
- Paul Day
- Matthew Enger
- Emma Mondy
- Aftab Siddiqui
- Karla Stokes
- Diego Torre
You’ll find more details on the newly elected Board Members in this item.
Finally, thank you to David Hooton
This year we also farewelled David Hooton, who joined the IAA Board in 2017 and served as Chair from 2018 to 2021.
David’s experience with internet exchanges abroad and his commitment to mentoring both Board and staff have left a lasting mark on the Association. His steady leadership helped guide IAA through its transition from WAIA to a truly national body.
We extend our sincere thanks for his years of dedication and service.
Didn’t make it or want to go over the finer details again?
The AGM 2025 is now uploaded onto our YouTube channel and you can find a copy of our Annual Report on the IAA website.