Extending the Customer Service Guarantee rules

A direction from the Minister for Communications requires us to amend the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2023 (CSG Standard) to extend its end date by 3 years from 31 August 2026 to 31 August 2029. 

This means that important consumer safeguards will continue to apply, including rules that set out:

• how quickly telcos must connect or repair landline voice services
• timeframes for meeting appointments with customers. 

A minor change to the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Record-Keeping Rules 2023 will also be made to clarify that these rules will continue to apply to telcos for as long as the CSG Standard remains in place.

The minister has already amended the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee – Retail Benchmarks) Instrument 2023 so that it ends when the CSG Standard ends. 

What these instruments do

The CSG framework:

• gives operational effect to the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2023
• specifies the timeframes carriage service providers (CSPs) must meet for connections, fault repairs and appointment keeping
• establishes customers’ rights to compensation when those timeframes are not met
• defines the services, features and faults covered by the CSG Standard and those excluded, such as mobile and internet services and customer equipment
• outlines the circumstances when exemptions may apply, including during mass service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other events beyond a CSP’s control, or if customers give up their CSG rights
• establishes record‑keeping and reporting obligations, including annual compliance reporting and performance benchmarks for CSPs, enabling the ACMA to monitor industry compliance.

Proposed changes

We propose to extend the operation of both instruments for a further 3 years by making the following minor changes:

• CSG Standard: Amend section 5 ‘Repeal of this standard’ to replace the existing self‑repeal mechanism with a fixed end date of 31 August 2029.
• CSG Record Keeping Rules: Amend Note 1 in section 5 to reflect the updated repeal date of the CSG Standard. 

No changes are proposed to:

• the substantive obligations
• performance standards
• exemptions
• record keeping or reporting rules.

The proposed changes are marked up in the draft instruments above for ease of review. 

To view the marked-up changes to the draft instruments, you will need to download the Word documents. Viewing in your browser may not show the marked-up changes.

We welcome your feedback on the draft instruments and proposed changes by 5 pm (AEST) on Friday 12 June 2026. 

Click on the 'Upload submission' button above to send us your views.