Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
The organisation’s mission to champion consumer rights by advocating for fair, transparent, and accountable telecommunications policies.
Latest News
Chris’s triple-zero calls were met with silence. Now out of hospital, he wants Optus to know lives are at stake
Comments
The Guardian
23 September 2025
As governments condemn Optus for failing the Australian people, consumers worry the telco has ‘not learned from its previous experience’. ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said it was “astounding” that emergency services alerted Optus to the outage, rather than the other way.
Optus failure resulted in over 600 triple-zero calls ignored
Interview
Sky News Australia
22 September 2025
Optus is facing significant consequences after failing to notify authorities or customers of an outage to over 600 triple-zero calls in South Australia. Carol Bennett joined Sky News to continue coverage of the outage
Albanese says he’d be surprised if Optus boss wasn’t considering his future
Comments
The Sydney Morning Herald / The Age
22 September 2025
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would be “surprised” if Optus chief executive Stephen Rue was not considering his position, as Carol Bennett urges the federal government to use its powers to appoint an independent technical expert to oversee Optus.
What do we expect when corporate executives run our telcos?
Interview
ABC
22 September 2025
The latest Optus outage has pulled back the curtain on an alarming reality — Australians simply can't trust the lifesaving triple-0 network when they're desperately dialling for help. ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said the government needs to act immediately: "We absolutely need to shore up the system now and ensure that Australians can have confidence that the emergency service system will work when they need it."
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
ACCAN is the peak national consumer advocacy organisation for communications.
Fair Call
Campaign
Telcos are writing the rules that are meant to hold them accountable. It's no surprise they’re failing consumers. The Telecommunication Consumer Protection (TCP) Code is supposed to set rules for how telcos treat their customers. It covers things like sales practices, billing, credit checks, and customer service.
After over a decade of reviews, breaches, and ongoing consumer harm, it’s clear the Code isn’t working.
The latest draft, developed by industry body Communications Alliance, has serious flaws. Despite ongoing feedback from consumer groups, regulators, and some telcos themselves, key issues remain unresolved — especially when it comes to the sales practices used by telcos which result in real consumer harm.
We believe enough is enough.
No Australian
Left Offline
The supporters of No Australian Left Offline want affordable broadband. Affordable broadband is a home internet service that enables all Australians to be online regardless of their personal circumstances or where they live, without putting them into financial stress.
With all Australian government services to be available online by 2025, it’s more important than ever that there is No Australian Left Offline.
Over one million Australians will continue to have access to essential government services with affordable broadband.
No Australian
Left Offline
The supporters of No Australian Left Offline want affordable broadband. Affordable broadband is a home internet service that enables all Australians to be online regardless of their personal circumstances or where they live, without putting them into financial stress.
With all Australian government services to be available online by 2025, it’s more important than ever that there is No Australian Left Offline.
Over one million Australians will continue to have access to essential government services with affordable broadband.
