Issue No 14 : 5 June 2023

ACOMM 2023 Awards - Book your seats!

The awards will be presented at the 17th Annual ACOMMS Dinner to be held on 27th July 2023 at the Hilton, Sydney.  BOOK YOUR SEATS HERE: https://acomms.com.au/2023/register/

Majority of Industry Online Safety Codes Accepted for Registration

Communications Alliance welcomed the recent announcement by the eSafety Commissioner to register five of the eight industry Online Safety Codes. The Commissioner declined to register two Codes and reserved her decision on one of the Codes.

“We are very pleased that the codes developed by industry, including Communications Alliance and our members, were approved for registration. The Commissioner’s decision recognises the substantial safeguards that the codes provide for Australians against the most harmful types of content on the internet”, said Christiane Gillespie-Jones, Director Program Management and Communications Alliance’s driving force in the development of the Codes.

Commenting on the Relevant Electronic Services and Designated Internet Services Codes, Ms Gillespie-Jones said: “While we believe that these Codes would have also been worthy of registration given their potential to lift content safety across a very broad range of services and providers of all sizes, we will now focus on the creation of practical and balanced measures for these industry sections through the eSafety-led Standards development process.”

Ms Gillespie-Jones also noted that Communications Alliance, in cooperation with the other industry associations responsible for the Code development, will continue to work closely with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to deliver a revised Search Engine Services Code. The Commissioner had deferred her decision on this Code by four weeks to allow the sector to reflect recent announcements in relation to generative AI.

Background:

The Online Safety Act 2021 (Act), which came into effect in January 2022, requires the development of codes by industry associations to regulate certain types of harmful online material, known as Class 1A and 1B material with reference to Australia’s classification scheme. This includes material promoting child sexual abuse, terrorism, extreme crime and violence, crime and violence, and drug-related content. 

The eight codes, developed by industry and submitted to the eSafety Commissioner for registration in March 2023, cover participants across eight key sections of the online industry specified in the Act: providers of social media, messaging, search engine and app distribution services, internet and hosting service providers, manufacturers and suppliers of any equipment that connects to the internet, and operators of all websites that can be accessed by Australian users. 

On 1 June 2023, the eSafety Commissioner released a decision on the draft codes:

• Social Media Services Code
    
• Apps Distribution Services Code
    
• Hosting Services Code
    
• Internet Carriage Services Code
    
• Equipment Code

Codes rejected for registration:

• Relevant Electronic Services Code
    
• Designated Internet Services Code

(eSafety will develop Standards.)

Decision reserved:

• Search Engine Services Code

(Industry invited to revise Code within four weeks to reflect recent announcements in relation to generative AI.)

New Working Committee on Call Interconnection using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)

Communications Alliance is seeking Expressions of Interest for representatives for the new Working Committee on SIP Interconnect (WC110).
 
The Working Committee is to develop a new Guideline for the interconnection of calls that:   

• Use the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP);
    
• Are inside Australia i.e. where the point of interconnection is in Australia;
    
• Are carried on a Carrier/CSP public telecommunications network.

Membership of Communications Alliance Working Committees is on a voluntary basis. It is expected that Working Committee members both attend regular meetings and contribute time outside the meetings.

The Information Pack, nomination form and Terms of Reference for WC110 are available from:
https://www.commsalliance.com.au/Activities/committees-and-groups/wc110-sip-interconnect

Information packs are also available from Communications Alliance, telephone (02) 9959 9111, e-mail info@commsalliance.com.au

Nominations are requested by 5.00 p.m. AEST on Tuesday 13 June 2023.

New Local Number Portability and Number Management – Use of Numbers By Customers Industry Codes Registered

Following the scheduled review of the C540 Local Number Portability (LNP) and C566 Rights of Use of Numbers industry codes, Communication Alliance welcomes the registration of the 2023 revised versions of both codes.

C540:2023 Local Number Portability (LNP) industry code contains obligations for carriers and carriage service providers relating to operational arrangements which enable a customer to retain and use the same Telephone Number when changing provider and sets minimum acceptable practices (including Standard Hours of Operation, activation targets and timeframes) to allow this to happen.

The 2023 version of the LNP code includes new service metrics, reduced porting times and changed arrangements to Quarantine Disconnected Ported Telephone Numbers.

C566:2023 Number Management – Use of Numbers By Customers has seen the merging of the previous C566 Rights of Use of Numbers and C554 Rights of Use of Premium Rate Services industry codes. The Code is designed to clarify the rights and obligations of all parties in relation to the activities that arise from a carriage service provider Holding Numbers and Issuing Numbers to customers for their use.

Changes to the C566:2023 code version include alignment of arrangements, for Number Quarantine and the Give Back of Ported local and mobile numbers, use of numbers relating to Issue, transfer, Assignment, Churn and Disconnection and improved traceability of Assigned numbers through new record keeping rules. Important support arrangements have also been included to assist customers affected by domestic and family violence situations.

Communications Alliance would like to thank all those involved in the working committees for their time and efforts and encourage industry to familiarise themselves with the newly registered codes. Both codes include delayed commencement dates for certain obligations to ensure industry has time to develop, test and implement the changes which will see benefits for all customers.

New Members

Communications Alliance is pleased to welcome the following new member:

Current Consultations

Below is a list of currently open telecommunications-related consultations being conducted by Government and other organisations that provide an opportunity for you to have your say.