Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025
Wednesday 13 May 2026
Reliable telephone and internet services are key to all aspects of life in today’s world.
Telecommunications is an essential service – as critical as other core utilities like power and water – and at its best it enables Australians to fully participate in, and contribute to, society.
Modern telecommunications allows people to stay connected with friends and family and, importantly, this includes overcoming barriers that may be created by age and distance.
It provides access to important government services, including vital health services, as well as banking and retail shopping services.
It empowers us to stay informed about what is happening in the world and it assists businesses to be more productive and competitive.
Modern telecommunications enables remote study and work, revolutionising both education and labour – a shift that has accelerated and become entrenched since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This change in the way we live and work has placed even greater importance and reliance on telecommunications.
Telecommunications is fundamental to our private and public lives – and that is why the Albanese Government is committed to keeping Australians connected, no matter where they live.
This Government also believes that Australians deserve a telecommunications system that is fair, accountable and built on trust.
That is why we introduced the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard - which requires telecommunications providers to take all reasonable steps to proactively identify customers who may be experiencing financial hardship, to ensure they provide appropriate support, and to prioritise keeping customers connected.
Importantly, the standard provides that the Australian Communications and Media Authority, known by the acronym ACMA, with strong enforcement powers to ensure telecommunications companies are following through on their obligations.
The Albanese Government also established a mandatory telecommunications industry standard to further protect Australians impacted by domestic and family violence.
The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Industry Standard, which came into effect on 1 July last year, ensures victim-survivors receive better support from their telecommunications provider and it removes barriers faced when seeking help.
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 was amended last year to establish a scams prevention framework that places consistent obligations on the telecommunications, banking and digital platform sectors to prevent, detect and disrupt scams.
Speaker, the Albanese Government recently took action to strengthen our Triple Zero system following two Optus outages that affected these vital services in September 2025.
The first outage resulted in the failure of over 600 Triple Zero calls – mostly in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Tragically, three failed calls may be linked to deaths.
The second outage resulted in at least nine Triple Zero calls from the Dapto area – which is in my electorate of Whitlam – failing to reach emergency services. Thankfully, welfare checks confirmed all those who called Triple Zero during this second outage were ok.
These unacceptable outages are being investigated by the independent regulator and the Albanese Government has taken action to strengthen oversight of the Triple Zero system through legislation.
The new laws give the Triple Zero Custodian the power to demand information from telecommunications providers, through ACMA, so it can monitor Triple Zero performance, identify risks, respond more quickly to outages and make improvements. The legislation also increases the maximum penalties faced by telcos for failing to follow the Triple Zero rules to $30 million.
Other action taken by the Albanese Government to strengthen the Triple Zero system includes:
• Real time reporting of outages to ACMA and emergency services.
• New rules forcing telcos to test Triple Zero during upgrades and maintenance.
• New requirements on providers to ensure Triple Zero calls fall back to other networks.
• Mandatory improvement plans after Triple Zero outages.
• Within six months of the commencement of the laws, the Custodian, through ACMA, will issue additional performance requirements to telcos, to assure Australians of best practice.
• Ensuring telcos maintain a public register of network outages.
The Albanese Government’s implementation of the legislative amendments and new standards that I have outlined confirm that we understand the critical role telecommunications plays in today’s world – and that consumers must be protected.
Speaker, the Bill currently before the House – the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill – continues this positive work by equipping ACMA with the tools and powers it needs to protect Australian consumers from poor and harmful telecommunications practices.
The Bill will result in several important changes.
First, it increases the civil penalties the Federal Court can issue for breaches of Industry Codes and Industry Standards by 40 times.
Currently, civil penalties for breaches of industry codes and industry standards are not in line with the harm that may be caused or high enough to deter non-compliance.
The Bill amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 to 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 equivalent to just under $10 million – to align with penalties currently available for breaches of service provider determinations.
The amendments also modernise the penalty framework for industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations to allow for penalties based on the value of the benefit obtained from the conduct or the turnover of the relevant provider – allowing for penalties greater than $10 million.
The Federal Court will now have the option to issue fines for regulatory breaches, which can include:
• $10 million;
• three times the benefit gained for the regulatory breach; or
• 30% of turnover.
This penalty framework better aligns with those in other relevant sectors, like energy and banking, and under Australian Consumer Law. It more adequately reflects the telecommunications market and the varying size of the entities engaged in the market – ranging from small-to medium businesses to very large corporations – allowing the Federal Court to determine the appropriate penalty imposed on an entity for a breach.
The Bill also expands and clarifies the Minister for Communications’ authority to increase infringement notice penalties that ACMA can issue for breaches of industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations.
Speaker, this Bill establishes a Carriage Service Provider registration scheme.
Under the Telecommunications Act, there is a distinction between ‘carriers’, which operate telecommunication networks and infrastructure, and ‘carriage service providers’ or CSPs which provide a range of telecommunications services such as phone or internet access.
Currently only carriers are required to be licensed and registered with ACMA and there is no comprehensive list of Carriage Service Providers operating in the market. This omission hampers ACMA’s efforts to proactively educate Carriage Service Providers about their obligations and target compliance and enforcement activity.
In September 2023, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts released a discuss paper concerning whether a CSP registration or licensing scheme should be developed for the telecommunications industry.
The paper noted that “there has traditionally been a low barrier to enter the telecommunications market as a CSP. This low barrier has enabled a large and diverse market for the supply of telecommunications services.
However, some stakeholders have argued it has also allowed some providers to operate in a manner that causes significant consumer detriment... The market is open and competitive, with a significant number of CSPs – with estimates there may be approximately 1,500 ‘eligible CSPs’ and a much larger number of general CSPs. Telecommunications have become firmly entrenched as an essential service in general life and commerce. Against this backdrop, it is appropriate to revisit fundamental aspects of the framework, including whether CSPs should be covered by a registration or licensing scheme.”
The discussion paper noted that both Canada and Singapore operate telecommunication service provider registers or licence systems and it outlined arguments in favour of a CSP registration/licensing scheme that included:
• increasing visibility of CSPs operating in the market, which would assist regulatory agencies such as ACMA to provide education on CSP obligations; and
• facilitating an effective mechanism for ACMA to stop CSPs that pose unacceptable risk to consumers or cause significant consumer harm operating in the market.
Speaker, establishing a CSP registration scheme will increase visibility of the market and stop the operation of dodgy CSPs who pose an unacceptable risk to consumers or cause significant consumer harm.
It will also give ACMA and other Government agencies the ability to educate providers, streamline complaints and compliance processes, and create better overall market accountability.
In the energy sector, the Australian Energy Regulator has the power to exclude energy retailers from the market and has used this power to quickly prevent and stop consumer harm. ACMA’s power to exclude CSPs from the market is expected to be used as a measure of last resort, with suitable arrangements for review of decisions, avenues for re-registration, and maintaining connectivity for impacted consumers.
Importantly, this reform means CSPs that are doing the wrong thing will face consequences and consumers will be better protected.
Speaker, another amendment in this Bill will make Telecommunications Industry Codes directly enforceable by ACMA. This will incentive industry compliance and enable the regulator to take swift action to address consumer harm.
ACMA currently cannot take direct enforcement action for breaches of the Industry Codes it has registered under the Act - compliance is initially technically voluntary.
If a breach is found, ACMA can direct a provider to comply with the Code or issue a formal warning. ACMA can only take stronger enforcement action if the provider continues its non-compliance – that is, it fails to observe ACMA’s direction to comply.
The Bill introduces amendments to Part 6 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to make compliance with Industry Codes mandatory and remove the need for ACMA to direct a particular participant to comply with the Code in the first instance
These reforms will ensure ACMA is an empowered and effective regulator, and that appropriate structures are in place to drive better behaviour by telecommunications companies.
Speaker, in supporting this Bill I believe it is important to note that the Albanese Government is delivering a more connected Australia by investing in regional connectivity.
This includes $50 million for Regional Roads Australia Mobile Australia Pilot Programs, with $10 million invested in my home State of New South Wales. These pilot programs will test new and innovative solutions to increase mobile communications coverage on regional highways and major roads.
Round 3 of the regional connectivity program awarded over $115 million towards 74 projects that respond to local priorities with the objective of maximising economic opportunities and social benefits for regional, rural and remote communities. This included $7.4 million towards seven projects targeting improved connectivity for First Nations communities in Central Australia from a dedicated Central Australia stream.
Two successful rounds of the On the Farm Connectivity Program have provided over $30 million in rebates, delivering on thousands of connectivity solutions for primary producers – and $20 million has been committed to round 3 of the program.
In addition, the $55 million round 8 of the Mobile Black Spot Program is under assessment.
Speaker, it is essential that all Australians, regardless of their individual circumstances, are able to access and use telecommunications services.
Contemporary consumer safeguards and industry obligations should reflect the role of telecommunications as an essential service, especially as businesses, government, and other organisations increasingly shift to online interaction platforms.
This Bill strengthens the safeguards that protect consumers and cracks down on telecommunications providers who mistreat customers.
It ensures telecommunications providers meet community expectations by acting in good faith, providing relievable service and supporting customers.
And if they don’t do these things, then they will be accountable to the regulator.
Speaker, these are important reforms and I commend this Bill to the House.
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