On 12 February 2025, the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 (Bill) was introduced into Parliament. The Bill proposes a range of new enforcement powers for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
What changes are proposed?
The Bill proposes to:
Introduce for the first time a requirement for carriage service providers (CSPs) to register with the ACMA, with associated oversight of registered CSPs by the ACMA.
Allow the ACMA to enforce industry codes directly, rather than having to first issue a direction to comply.
Increase pecuniary penalties for breaches of industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations.
Allow the minister to increase the amount payable for the full range of infringement notices able to be issued by the ACMA.
Registration of CSPs
CSPs are subject to a range of obligations under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth). However, they are not required to be licensed (unlike carriers) or otherwise registered with the ACMA.
The Bill proposes to establish a CSP registration scheme, pursuant to which:
CSPs will not be able to provide listed carriage services unless they are registered with the ACMA.
Carriers and wholesale CSPs will be prohibited from providing listed carriage services to CSPs which are not registered.
This registration scheme will only apply to CSPs declared by the minister or eligible CSPs which are required to join the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) scheme, that is:
CSPs which supply:
standard telephone services, where any of the customers are residential customers or small business customers
public mobile telecommunications services
carriage services that enable end-users to access the internet.
Carriage service intermediaries which arrange for the supply of any of the above services.
As part of the CSP registration scheme, the ACMA will also be empowered to:
Exclude CSPs which pose unacceptable risk to consumers or cause significant consumer harm from operating in the market by refusing applications for registration – that said, this is only 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 customers.
Impose such conditions on the registration of CSPs as it believes are reasonably necessary to promote compliance.
The intention behind the proposed registration regime is to create a comprehensive list of CSPs supplying relevant services, increasing visibility and facilitating more effective regulation.
It is estimated that over 1,500 eligible CSPs will need to apply for registration, such that a transitional period is contemplated.
Industry codes
Currently, to enforce industry codes the ACMA must first direct a provider to comply with remedies such as pecuniary penalties, enforceable undertakings and infringement notices only becoming available if there is non-compliance with a direction to comply.
The Bill proposes making compliance with registered industry codes mandatory and directly enforceable by the ACMA, aligning the position with industry standards.
Pecuniary penalties
Under the current regulatory regime, maximum pecuniary penalties for contravention of civil penalty provisions vary substantially for breaches of directions to comply with industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations.
The Bill proposes to align the maximum penalties that can be ordered by a Court for individual contraventions for each of the above to be the greater of:
30,300 penalty units (~$10 million)
three times the benefit obtained by the contravening conduct
30% of the adjusted turnover of the body corporate during the breach turnover period for the contravention.
This is substantially higher than current penalties, which can be as low as $250,000 and have been criticised by the ACMA, TIO, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and consumer groups for not being comparable to severity of breach or harm caused, or high enough to deter non-compliance.
The proposed framework for maximum penalties is comparable to those under other regulatory regimes, such as energy, banking and the Australian Consumer Law.
Infringement notices
On the current legislative drafting, the minister is only able to increase infringement notice penalty amounts via determination for breaches of general carrier licence conditions and carriage service provider rules, but not other civil penalty provisions (including breaches of industry standards).
The Bill proposes to allow the minister to increase infringement notice penalty amounts for any breach where the ACMA can already issue infringement notices, but does not alter the existing infringement notice regime more broadly (for instance, by expanding the contraventions for which the ACMA can issue infringement notices).
How should businesses prepare?
If passed (as is expected), businesses supplying (or possibly supplying) carriage services should:
Carefully consider:
Whether they are CSPs for the purposes of the TIO scheme, in which case they will also need to register with the ACMA – this may also be an opportune time to conduct an audit of compliance with the many and onerous CSP obligations, given that there will be increased regulatory scrutiny going forward.
Whether their wholesale customers are CSPs for the purposes of the TIO scheme due to the prohibition on supplying listed carriage services to unregistered CSPs.
Ensure vigilance in complying with relevant regulatory obligations in light of the increased risk profile, including:
potential for exclusion or conditions to be imposed by the ACMA
greater enforceability of industry codes
higher maximum penalties
scope for infringement notice penalty amounts to be increased for a broader range of provisions.