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Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

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Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman May 2012 Table of contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 7 Recommendation 1: Improved regulatory framework ........................................................................ 7 Recommendation 2: Compliance incentives ........................................................................................ 7 Part 1: Regulatory Compliance incentives....................................................................................... 7 Part 2: Referral of non-compliance to the ACMA ........................................................................... 7 Part 3: Public reporting of non-compliance and binding decisions and non-binding recommendations ............................................................................................................... 8 Part 4: Improving industry’s Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) mechanisms ................................. 8 Recommendation 3: Systemic issues ................................................................................................... 8 Recommendation 4: Governance structure ......................................................................................... 9 Part 1: Unitary governance structure .............................................................................................. 9 Part 2: Transparency of the TIO board ............................................................................................ 9 Part 3: Statutory review .................................................................................................................. 9 Recommendation 5: Jurisdiction ......................................................................................................... 9 Recommendation 6: Public accountability and reporting .................................................................10 Part 1: Complaints statistics ..........................................................................................................10 Part 2: Fair and reasonable policies and procedures ....................................................................10 Part 3: Escalation of complaints ....................................................................................................10 Part 4: Publication of information about the TIO’s performance .................................................11 Recommendation 7: Awareness and training ...................................................................................11 Part 1: Enhanced awareness of the TIO’s existence and role .......................................................11 Part 2: Enhanced staff training ......................................................................................................11 The TIO role in the telecommunications industry .................................................................................12 Improved regulatory framework .......................................................................................................13 Review of TIO scheme against DIST benchmarks ..................................................................................17 Effectiveness ......................................................................................................................................17 Compliance incentives ...................................................................................................................19 Options to improve regulatory enforcement ................................................................................21 Page 2 of 116 Incentives for greater compliance with the TIO scheme ..............................................................26 Better incentives for internal dispute resolution ..........................................................................35 Systemic issues ..............................................................................................................................41 Independence ....................................................................................................................................50 Governance and management of TIO scheme ..............................................................................51 Governance structure ....................................................................................................................51 Transparency in governance structure..........................................................................................58 Government involvement in TIO ...................................................................................................60 Transparent reviews ......................................................................................................................61 Jurisdiction.....................................................................................................................................64 Accountability and fairness ...............................................................................................................75 Public accountability and reporting ..............................................................................................76 Public reporting about complaint handling ...................................................................................76 Consistency and transparency in policies and procedures ...........................................................81 Efficiency ............................................................................................................................................85 Public accountability and reporting (cont). ...................................................................................86 Appropriate processes ..................................................................................................................86 Timeliness of complaint outcomes and measuring performance .................................................93 Accessibility .......................................................................................................................................97 Awareness and training .................................................................................................................98 Awareness .....................................................................................................................................98 Accessibility and ease of use .......................................................................................................107 Staff training ................................................................................................................................108 Appendix 1—Background to TIO scheme............................................................................................111 Appendix 2—List of submissions received in response to discussion paper ......................................112 Appendix 3—List of other issues raised by submissions .....................................................................113 Page 3 of 116 © Commonwealth of Australia 2012 The material in this discussion paper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – 3.0 Australia license, with the exception of: · the Commonwealth Coat of Arms · this department’s logo · content supplied by third parties. More information on this CC BY license is set out at www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ Enquiries about this license and any use of this discussion paper can be sent to the Director of Consumer Policy and Privacy, GPO Box 2154, Canberra ACT 2601, or by email at [email protected] Attribution Use of all or part of this paper must include the following attribution: ‘Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, © Commonwealth of Australia 2012’ Third-party copyright Wherever a third party holds copyright in material presented on this website, the copyright remains with that party. Their permission may be required to use the material. This department has made all reasonable efforts to clearly label material where the copyright is owned by a third party. Using the Commonwealth Coat of Arms The terms of use for the Coat of Arms are available from www.itsanhonour.gov.au/ Page 4 of 116 Executive summary The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) plays a critical role as the alternative dispute resolution scheme for the telecommunications industry. Since its establishment in 1993, the TIO has performed well at resolving individual complaints between consumers and carriage service providers (CSPs). In recent years it has dealt with huge increases in the number of complaints. In 2010, the TIO received 167 955 complaints, double the 85 188 complaints it received in 2007. This increase resulted in the Ombudsman’s office growing from 100 employees in 2007 to 230 employees in 2010. It is a credit to the TIO board, council and Ombudsman that despite the pressure of this increased workload the TIO has continued to provide a high-quality dispute resolution service. Since the inception of the TIO in 1993, the telecommunications environment has changed substantially. The TIO began operation in a narrow market of three licenced carriers (Telecom Australia, Optus and Vodafone) and a small number of service providers.
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