Consumer Consultative Forum

The ACMA was required to establish a Consumer Consultative Forum under section 59 of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005.

The CCF is chaired by the ACMA’s Member Chris Cheah and meets two to three times a year. The most recent CCF meeting was held on 10 May 2013.

Scope

The CCF's function is to assist the ACMA to perform its functions in relation to matters affecting consumers¹.

Aims of the CCF

The aims of the CCF are to:

• provide a forum to engage demand-side and supply-side interests on communications consumer issues;
• ensure that the ACMA has access to representative perspectives on issues affecting consumers; and
• within the context of overall consumer interests, position the interests of systematically disadvantaged consumers.

The CCF will provide the ACMA with informed and representative advice, from multiple perspectives about consumer issues relating to communications services.

The CCF will encourage active and open discussion by key participants in the communications industry and assist in informing the ACMA about communications services issues.

The CCF will also play a key role in assisting the ACMA in the hosting of an annual consumer summit.

To achieve these aims, the CCF will have a balanced membership of workable size which allows representatives of key consumer sectors to discuss issues with representatives of industry organisations, and regulators and policy makers.

Terms of Reference

The CCF will provide information and advice to the ACMA on matters affecting consumers of communications services, including:

• current and future demand for services by consumers;
• priority issues affecting long-term end use of communications services by consumers;
• appropriate responses to addressing these issues in a co-regulatory environment;
• effective methods of informing consumers on issues affecting them; and
• specific advice on consumer issues, where required, relating to reviews, projects and other activities being undertaken by the ACMA.

Current membership

Consumer representatives:

• Teresa Corbin, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Association (until August 2014);
• Heron Loban, James Cook University (until February 2014);
• Nicole Lawder, CEO, Homelessness Australia (until February 2014);
• Professor Julian Thomas, Professor of Media and Communications, Swinburne University of Technology (until February 2014);
• Rex Lai, President, Chinese Association of Victoria (until August 2014);
• Stella Avramopoulos, CEO, Kildonan Uniting Care (until February 2014); and
• Narelle Clark – President, Internet Society of Australia (until August 2014).

Representatives from industry bodies:

• Chris Althaus, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association;
• John Stanton, Chief Executive Officer, Communications Alliance;
• Peter Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Internet Industry Association.

Regulatory and Government representatives:

• Delia Rickard, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission;
• Simon Cohen, Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman;
• Keith Besgrove, First Assistant Secretary, Telecommunications Network Regulation and Australia Post, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy;
• Chris Cheah, Member, Australian Communications and Media Authority (Forum Chair).

Further information

Contact Darren McClelland via email darren.mcclelland@acma.gov.au or phone (03) 9963 6880.

Notes:

^1. Consumers are defined for the purposes of the Forum as persons with a financial relationship with the service provider.