No 17: 18 September 2024

New CEO of Communications Alliance Commences

Comms Alliance has welcomed the arrival of its new CEO, Luke Coleman, who commenced in the role on Monday 16 September.

"Digital infrastructure is the foundation of the modern economy, and this is reflected in the huge amount of activity Comms Alliance is undertaking for our members right now," Luke said. "It's been a baptism of fire following a massive couple of weeks in the co-regulatory space - enhancing the Telecoms Consumer Protection Code, fighting scams, making Triple Zero more resilient, improving online safety… this is an industry that never stops delivering services our customers can trust, and that all Australians can rely on."

"I'm looking forward to meeting as many of our members as possible over coming months, and I always welcome your views - Comms Alliance exists to serve our members and to make your voice heard. I've been blown away by the depth of expertise and industry knowledge in the Comms Alliance team, supported by an army of specialists from across our membership. A huge thanks to Christiane Gillespie-Jones for your service as Acting CEO following the departure of outgoing CEO John Stanton, who led Comms Alliance for an incredible 14 years."

Luke has previously worked in roles including head of government and corporate affairs at Vocus, as an adviser and later chief of staff to two former Ministers for Communications, as public affairs and communications manager for a major equipment vendor, and as editor in chief of industry publication, Communications Day.

Luke can be contacted on l.coleman@commsalliance.com.au

CA Submission on the Proposed Annual Carrier Licence Charge

In a short submission to the ACMA on the proposed Annual Carrier Licence Charge (ACLC) 2023-2024 and proposed cost recovery of the government’s new Fighting Scams measure, CA suggested that the ACLC funding model is out of date and requires wholesale review.

The submission observed that the telecommunications sector has evolved dramatically since the ACLC was introduced in 1997, with almost all aspects of our lives facilitated by telecommunication services. The regulatory response has increasingly been to regulate the telecommunication sector without considering whether it might be more appropriate or effective to regulate those services or sectors using the network, and to charge the carriers for the costs of this regulation, even where others are the primary beneficiaries of it. The submission raised particular concerns in relation to the cost recovery proposals around fighting scams, noting that the industry has already invested considerably in scam prevention by proactively developing enforceable anti-scam rules (contained in the registered Industry Code C661:2022 Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs ) and regulatory costs associated with the development and enforcement of additional regulatory instruments that (also) apply to the banking and digital platform sectors ought to be recovered from those sectors, not through the ACLC.

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.
Communications Alliance members interested in contributing to an industry submission (if one is being developed in response to a specific consultation) should contact us.

Consultations

Proposed Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024

ACMA - Closing 20/10/2024

1800 MHz and 2 GHz bands outside of spectrum licensed areas – review of arrangements

ACMA - Closing 11/10/2024

Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 

AGD - Closing TBC

Proposals Paper for introducing mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings Voluntary AI Safety Standard

DISR - 4/10/2024

Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Scams Prevention Framework Explanatory Memorandum

Treasury - 3/10/2024