Member for Barker Tony Pasin has joined 16 government MPs from across Australia to support a Private Members Bill which will see telecommunications companies made accountable for continued poor service in both metropolitan and regional areas.

The exposure draft of the Telecommunications Reform (Telstra, NBN and other Providers) Bill 2021 is now open for comment.

Proposed changes include:

• A Universal Mobile Service Obligation – Australians, regardless of where they live, should be able to use a mobile phone to make a call or access the internet inside their home or at their workplace.

• A Customer Service Guarantee will mean that no caller to a telco will be left on hold for more than five minutes. ‘No service, No fee’ provisions mean that anyone who is without service at their home or business for more six hours between 8am and 8pm over a month gets that month of service for free.

• The Bill will require telcos to be transparent about their customer service. It will require telcos to publish details of the number of customer complaints in their annual reports. Telcos will have to advise prospective customers of their standing in the Ombudsman’s customer service league table before finishing a contract.

• Telco execs will be held personally accountable for their poor customer service and failure to meet the needs of customers. Telco executive bonuses will be contingent on customer service improvements.

• The Bill will make telcos and their executives, financially liable for preventable deaths caused through their inaction. When a coroner finds that a death would have been prevented had the telco acted differently, significant financial penalties will be applied to the company and its executives.

Mr Pasin said a functional mobile phone service was no longer a luxury, rather a necessary business tool and in the case of regional communities it is also a key piece of safety equipment.

“As technology has changed so have community expectations and government should reflect those changes when determining the nature of the Universal Service Obligation,” he said.

“There are 399 mobile blackspots in Barker alone and despite the availability of significant government subsidies to address this need, very little is being done by our telecommunication companies.

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not speak to a constituent who complains to me about having to pay for a mobile phone service they are unable to use for much of the time. I can confidently say it’s the number one issue raised with me by constituents.

“I for one think the executives of our nation’s Telcos need to think long and hard about their commitment to rural, regional and remote Australians.

“They are very quick to adopt rural imagery in their promotional material but very slow to match that with improved infrastructure and better services.