This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Transport & communications
Phone and internet retailers would have to join a new public register, giving the Australian Communications and Media AuthorityThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. a clearer view of who is operating in the market.
No comprehensive list of telecom providers and a two-step enforcement process left ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. unable to quickly target non-compliant providers or directly enforce key consumer protection codes. The bill creates a provider registerThe new public list of telco providers that would give ACMA a clearer view of who is operating in the market., lets ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. act directly on code breaches, block risky providers, and impose stronger, more consistent penalties.
Australia already had a telecommunications consumer protection framework, and the Albanese government had tightened some related consumer rules, but ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. still lacked a complete view of providers and often had to use a slower two-step process before enforcing key industry codes. The bill was introduced in February 2025 to close those gaps with a provider registerThe new public list of telco providers that would give ACMA a clearer view of who is operating in the market., faster direct enforcement and stronger penalties, and the House passed it in March 2025 as part of a broader push to make telcos more accountable to customers.
The main criticism was that the bill might still be too weak to fix chronic telecom failures, especially in regional areas, unless providers face firm mandatory obligations and real penalties rather than broad promises. That concern was raised most clearly by Barnaby Joyce, while broader parliamentary debate otherwise showed only limited and mostly conditional reservations rather than organised opposition.
Hon Michelle Rowland MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Labor, Liberal Party, Nationals.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
43 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
Phone and internet retailers would have to join a new public register, giving the Australian Communications and Media AuthorityThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. a clearer view of who is operating in the market.
The Australian Communications and Media AuthorityThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. would be able to stop a telecom provider from operating if it poses an unacceptable risk to consumers or causes serious consumer harm.
Telecom companies would have to follow registered industry codes from the start, and the Australian Communications and Media AuthorityThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. could act without first issuing a warning direction.
Big breaches of telecom consumer protection rules could draw much larger court penalties, including amounts linked to the benefit gained or a company's turnover, not just a fixed maximum.
The Communications Minister would be able to raise infringement noticeA formal penalty notice ACMA can issue for some breaches without going straight to court. penalties across a wider range of telecom breaches, but only up to a set share of the court penalty for that breach.
There is currently no comprehensive list of CSPs, which hampers the ACMA’s efforts to proactively educate CSPs about their obligations and target compliance and enforcement activity. Establishing a CSP registration scheme will increase visibility of the market and provide the ACMA (and other Government agencies) the ability to educate providers, streamline complaints and compliance processes, and create better overall market accountability.Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) explanatory memorandum
The amendments to the Tel Act will empower the ACMA to stop CSPs operating in the market who pose unacceptable risk to consumers, or cause significant consumer harm. This will provide a deterrent for significant non-compliance and will increase trust by consumers in registered CSPs, including new or smaller CSPs.Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) explanatory memorandum
Amendments to Part 6 of the Tel Act make compliance with industry codes mandatory and remove the need for the ACMA to direct a particular participant to comply with the code in the first instance.Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) explanatory memorandum
Item 5 inserts a new paragraph 570(3A) which determines the penalty amounts in subsection 570(3B) apply to breaches by a body corporate of service provider determinations, industry codes and industry standards, that is, an amount not more than the greatest of: 30,300 penalty units; 3 times the benefit obtained; or 30% of the adjusted turnover of the body corporate during the breach turnover period for the contravention.Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) explanatory memorandum
Item 3 repeals and replaces subsection 532G(3) to limit the extent to which the Minister for Communications can increase infringement notice penalties to a proportion of the pecuniary amount a court could apply in relation to the relevant civil penalty provision. This better reflects norms regarding the application of infringement notice penalties in Commonwealth Laws, and is a significant reduction from the current cap of 18,000 penalty units currently within Part 31B. Therefore, while the amendments expand the range of contraventions for which the Minister can increase infringement notice penalties, in the process of bringing clarity and consistency to those arrangements, the amendments simultaneously reduce the amount that can be increased to below that originally specified by the Parliament on introduction of the infringement notice framework.Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) explanatory memorandum
Context
Australia already had a telecommunications consumer protection framework, and the Albanese government had tightened some related consumer rules, but ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. still lacked a complete view of providers and often had to use a slower two-step process before enforcing key industry codes. The bill was introduced in February 2025 to close those gaps with a provider registerThe new public list of telco providers that would give ACMA a clearer view of who is operating in the market., faster direct enforcement and stronger penalties, and the House passed it in March 2025 as part of a broader push to make telcos more accountable to customers.
Consumer safeguards existed but ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. still had major enforcement gaps
The explanatory memorandum said ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. lacked full visibility of carriage service providers and could not directly enforce key industry codes quickly enough under the existing arrangements.
Australian Parliament House ↗Government introduces the bill to strengthen telco consumer protection
The minister said the bill would put consumers at the centre of the telecommunications industry by creating a provider registerThe new public list of telco providers that would give ACMA a clearer view of who is operating in the market., enabling direct code enforcement and increasing penalties.
Hansard ↗Government says it had already tightened some telco consumer rules
During debate, government speakers said earlier changes had included new rules for consumers in financial hardship and stronger complaint-handling protections before this bill added tougher enforcement powers.
Hansard ↗House passes the bill
The House agreed to the bill at third reading, completing its passage through that chamber and advancing the planned crackdown on non-compliant providers.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
Considered by scrutiny committee (27/03/2025): Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2025
Considered by scrutiny committee
APH bill page notesKey criticism
The main criticism was that the bill might still be too weak to fix chronic telecom failures, especially in regional areas, unless providers face firm mandatory obligations and real penalties rather than broad promises. That concern was raised most clearly by Barnaby Joyce, while broader parliamentary debate otherwise showed only limited and mostly conditional reservations rather than organised opposition.
No party represented in the debate opposed the bill outright, but some support was conditional on stronger enforcement or limited red tape.
May still be too weak to change provider behaviour
The sharpest criticism was that the bill would not mean much if it still left telecom companies with vague obligations or too much room to avoid meaningful consequences. Critics worried regional consumers would keep suffering poor service unless enforcement was hard-edged and mandatory.
Stronger powers should not become heavy compliance burden
A narrower reservation was that stronger consumer protections should not come with unnecessary red tape for providers. This was framed as an implementation risk rather than a reason to oppose the bill’s consumer-protection goal.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Michelle Rowland supports the bill and says it will strengthen consumer protections by giving the regulator stronger compliance and enforcement powers over telcos.
Read in Hansard ↗Violi says the coalition will support the bill because it strengthens consumer protections, gives ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. stronger enforcement powers and lifts penalties for telcos that breach the rules.
Read in Hansard ↗Burnell supports the bill and says it is a much-needed modernisation that gives ACMAThe regulator that would get new powers to register telco providers, enforce codes directly, and stop risky providers from operating. stronger enforcement powers and much higher penalties to deter telcos from mistreating consumers.
Read in Hansard ↗Repacholi supports the bill and says it will give the regulator stronger enforcement powers, higher penalties and a registration scheme so telecommunications providers can be held accountable for poor service and consumer harm.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
17 speakers · 18 contributions · 16 support · 1 unclear
“In closing, this is a much-needed modernisation of consumer protections in this country. As I've pointed out, this is a welcome enhancement to ACMA's capabilities and the penalty framework they can enforce in order to ensure telcos are deterred from doing the wrong thing. It also incentivises these companies to educate themselves about their obligations and to conduct themselves appropriately. This is significant in itself.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Albanese government's stated ambition is to make Australia the most connected continent. Minister Rowland has stated that this is not just about infrastructure. It also must come with the long-term interest of consumers, which is about safeguards as well, and this is the mechanism to achieve it. I congratulate the minister for all the extraordinary work she has achieved for our country. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is another way that the government is putting consumers at the centre of the telco industry. It's going to beef up enforcement and compliance. It's going to establish a carriage service provider registration scheme, increasing the visibility of the carriage service providers, and enable ACMA to stop providers operating in a market who they believe pose an unacceptable risk to consumers or who cause significant harm. It will increase the visibility in the market. No-one wants to get rid of the market, but we want to make sure that the market works better. It will provide improved pathways for ACMA and other government agencies to educate carriage service providers on their regulatory obligations and to streamline complaints and compliance processes. And I think it will create a better situation in terms of the market overall. We do live in a free enterprise economy, and we want to make sure that that market works for everyone fairly and justly. At the moment, it doesn't. Empowering ACMA, under this legislation, to take greater powers and greater tools to rebalance the unequal situation between consumers and telcos is a very important thing, and the legislation is a very worthy piece of legislation that deserves support.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The reforms proposed in this bill go to the compliance and enforcement regime for consumer safeguards that constitute this comprehensive package of improved arrangements. This is about equipping the watchdogs with the powers that they require. More importantly, we need to do our job and inform the consumers about what rights they have when it comes to signing up with new telcos or when things do go wrong and they cannot find a way through it. We need this bill, and that's what this bill is doing.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Labor's competition and consumer agenda is an ambitious one. We make no apologies for that. We established the competition taskforce within Treasury, which has spearheaded the biggest reform of our merger laws in 50 years and a revamp of national competition policy, curtailing the abuse of non-compete clauses. There's work to deal with the problems that the supermarket duopoly can cause for both shoppers and suppliers. Labor's supermarket reforms are about ensuring a fairer deal for farmers and a fairer deal for families. This bill before the House is about ensuring a better deal for telecommunications customers. Everything this government does is focused on the best interests of Australians, and I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We work really hard to try and resolve issues that the people in Macquarie face. They might be service issues or they might be infrastructure issues.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This is another step in putting consumers at the heart of regulation that we do, and I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I also rise to speak in favour of the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, which will give effect to a number of significant reforms to boost the enforcement powers and penalties available to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, and complement a host of other initiatives the government is taking to better protect consumers.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is a very important one to my community and I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Labor support the Australian public, we support consumers and we are committed to protecting consumers. I commend the Minister for Communications for bringing forward this important legislation. I commend the government for its ongoing commitment to protecting consumers. I urge all members of the House to support this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I rise in support of the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, a vital piece of legislation that will ensure Australian consumers are placed at the heart of the telecommunications industry. This bill is about fairness, accountability and consumer protection.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This is what this bill will support, and this is why I'm so incredibly happy to support this fabulous bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Michelle Rowland on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Minister's second reading speech
Michelle Rowland supports the bill and says it will strengthen consumer protections by giving the regulator stronger compliance and enforcement powers over telcos. She argues the reforms are commonsense, widely supported by stakeholders, and should be backed by the House.
“Noting this level of strong support for these reforms, and the important outcomes they enable for Australian telco consumers, I encourage all representatives in this place to give it their support as well.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Rowland supports the bill and says it will give the regulator stronger tools to protect telco consumers, enforce industry codes, and impose tougher penalties on providers that breach their obligations. She says the reforms are needed to create a more targeted and equitable compliance regime and calls on members to support the bill.
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 is about delivering a stronger, better targeted and more equitable compliance and enforcement regime for the telecommunications sector. The Albanese government has listened to feedback from industry, regulators, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and consumer advocates to develop these reforms. Most importantly, we've listened to Australians. These reforms will ensure the right settings are in place to incentivise telecommunications service providers to comply with the law and provide quality services to consumers. They reflect the Albanese government's commitment to making sure Australians are appropriately protected and supported in their interactions with telecommunications service providers. I call on members to support the bill.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 is a significant step towards achieving this commitment. The bill aims to amend the Telecommunications Act 1997 to establish a carrier service provider registration scheme, make industry codes directly enforceable by ACMA and amend existing arrangements relating to the application of penalty amounts for infringement notices and civil penalties.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The bill before us takes consumer rights seriously and vastly improves the compliance enforcement regime for users.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The reforms proposed in the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 go to the compliance and enforcement regime for consumer safeguards and constitute a comprehensive package of improvements to those arrangements.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
6 speakers · 4 support · 1 mixed · 1 unclear
“As this is a bill to deal with consumer safeguards—and I had a fundamental part in bringing about consumer safeguards back in 2005—it is disappointing that we just get these weasel words.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We are supporting this bill because it will give consumers greater protections. It will create a register of carriage service providers. It will enable the direct enforcement of industry codes, which is crucial. It will amend the existing two-step process for the application of penalty amounts for infringement notices. This is a really important one: it will increase the maximum penalty for breaches of the code from $250,000 to $10 million. That's important because it means that, if providers are doing the wrong thing and they are letting their consumers down and letting our communities down, there is a significant cost that they will bear from these penalties.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill establishes a carriage service provider registration scheme to increase visibility of providers operating in the market and enables the Australian Communications and Media Authority to stop providers which pose an unacceptable risk to consumers. As the member for Spence outlined in his contribution, there are penalties for those providers not doing the best thing by their customers and consumers, and, to that end, I think that's good. I agree with him wholeheartedly. During the sale of Telstra, I know that, back on 15 September 2005, my predecessor, Kay Hull, crossed the floor because she was concerned that the universal service obligations by Telstra would not be met.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The coalition will support the bill. It strengthens consumer protections, streamlines enforcement activity and provides greater visibility of operators in the market.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 has some worthy aims. It seeks to ensure telecommunications businesses do not treat consumer protection provisions and specifically their penalties as a cost of doing business.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill creates a register of carriage service providers, enables the direct enforcement of an industry development code, increases the maximum penalty amount from $250,000 to $10 million and amends the existing two-step process for the application of penalty amounts for infringement notices. It's a bill which enjoys support across the parliament. Obviously, doing more to increase transparency to make sure that, where there are abuses, we can act upon them is something that everyone wants to see in this place. Anything which enhances consumer safeguards and does so in a way that is sensible and doesn't put a huge red-tape burden in place is obviously something that we would support.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
Considered by scrutiny committee
Considered by scrutiny committee (27 Mar 2025): Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2025
APH bill page notes
