Media Advisory—Public hearing
in Townsville
What: Public hearing—part of the ACMA’s Reconnecting the Customer
public inquiry
When: Monday 8 November from 09.30am until.12.30pm
Where: Riverway Arts Centre 20 Village Boulevard, Thuringowa Central
As part of its Reconnecting the Customer public inquiry into customer service and complaints-
handling in the Australian telecommunications industry, the Australian Communications and
Media Authority is holding a public hearing in Townsville, one of a number being held around
Australia.
The hearings will consist of a series of verbal submissions—with Q and A— from industry,
consumer organisations and individuals.
In Townsville this includes:
Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE
Atwood Marshall Lawyers
Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network (ICAN)
Townsville Community Legal Service
Office of Fair Trading
Townsville Multicultural Support Group Inc
Townsville City Council
Observers have also been encouraged to attend.
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Donald Robertson, Media Manager, on (02) 9334 7980, 0418 86 1766 or media@acma.gov.au
Amy Cassanet, Communications Adviser on (03) 9963 6965 or media@acma.gov.au
Backgrounder
Public inquiry
In 2007–08, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) identified customer service
related issues as the leading source of complaints by consumers for the first time. In 2008–09,
while complaints about billing issues generated the highest number of complaint issues overall,
complaints about customer service issues were the second highest, increasing by 72 per cent.
For the same period, the growth rate for complaints-handling issues was the highest at 130 per
cent.
This rise in complaints occurred against a backdrop of an increasingly convergent and complex
telecommunications environment for consumers.
The ACMA is undertaking the Reconnecting the Customer public inquiry largely in response to
these matters.
The ACMA’s Reconnecting the Customer strategy is intended to materially improve customer
service and complaint related outcomes for Australian telecommunications consumers. The
strategy has three key elements:
Public inquiry
Review of industry’s Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (TCP
code)
Regulator’s forum
The scope of the public inquiry
The inquiry will address four main areas:
Are there systemic problems in the Australian telecommunications sector with respect to the way
it deals with its customers?
If there are problems, what are the causes?
What are the potential solutions to any problems?
What is the best strategy going forward for addressing customer service and complaints-handling
issues in the converging communications environment?
Contributors to the public hearings are invited to address these questions or relevant, related
matters of customer service in the telecommunications industry. More information about the
scope of the enquiry can be found in the Reconnecting the Customer consultation paper,
available on the ACMA website.
Public hearings
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is holding public hearings in October and
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