The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s (TIO) latest six-monthly update report shows an overall decrease in complaints about the industry.
The number of complaints between July and December 2018 decreased by 27.7 per cent on the corresponding period in 2017, and by 26.9 per cent on the January‑June 2018 period.
This was despite 631,000 NBN services being activated during the period.
Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Mitch Fifield said the numbers confirmed that efforts to improve the consumer experience were working.
“This continues the downward trend observed over the last 12 months and shows the measures put in place by regulators, as well as the efforts of industry, are continuing to deliver results,” Senator Fifield said.
However, he said “one complaint is a complaint too many” and stressed the need for continued improvement.
He said the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Australian Communications and Media Authority were continuing to work with the TIO to implement recommendations of Part A of the Consumer Safeguards Review.
With the exception of complaints in the property category, the TIO registers complaints against the party with whom the consumer has the contractual relationship, usually the retail service provider.
This means that even though a complaint may be about a service delivered over the National Broadband Network (NBN), it is not necessarily NBN Co or the network that is at fault.
