The ACMA carries out compliance and enforcement activities under the provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the Radiocommunications Act 1992, the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, the Spam Act 2003, the Do Not Call Register Act 2006, the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and related legislative and other instruments, including industry codes of practice.
On 20 May 2010, the ACMA released its first Telecommunications Consumer Protection Compliance and Enforcement Bulletin. The bulletin will be published quarterly, reporting on the ACMA’s work in telecommunications consumer protection compliance. This inaugural issue covers the period from January to March 2010 and examines complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, as well as current and recently completed ACMA compliance assessments.
The overall purpose of the bulletin is show the volume and subject matter of the compliance work being undertaken by the ACMA in the co-regulatory sphere of consumer protection codes and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme.
While the ACMA makes the results of its investigations in these areas public when formal compliance action is taken, other work the ACMA is undertaking, including where initial compliance is evident or where firms become compliant as a result of relatively informal liaison, is not made public. The bulletin is designed to fill that gap.
