Phone and Internet Companies Face Fines up to $4.6 Million if They Do Not Register
Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Topics
carriage services consumer protection criminal penalties industry regulation industry standards service provider registration telecommunications
Introduced by: The Hon Anika Wells MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Anika Wells ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Albanese government is committed to keeping Australians connected, no matter where they live—from the Pilbara to Palm Island, from Broome to Bendigo. We believe in a simple principle: no-one held back, no-one left behind. To do that, we must crack down on the mistreatment of telecommunications customers.”
Anne Webster NAT
“I rise this morning as the shadow minister for regional communications to speak on this bill.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 may appear to be about abstract regulation and technical changes, but in reality it is about fairness and keeping us connected.”
Melissa McIntosh LIB
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 makes changes to the Telecommunications Act to strengthen consumer safeguards, something we should all agree is a top priority.”
Anne Stanley ALP
“I rise to make my contribution to the debate on the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025. The introduction and passage of the enhancing consumer safeguards bill delivers on the Albanese Labor government’s commitment to keeping Australians connected no matter where they live by strengthening telecommunication consumer protections.”
Susan Templeman ALP
“This is the second time I’ve spoken on this bill, because it’s one of those matters that we considered prior to the election, but it wasn’t able to be dealt with by the parliament at that time. That’s a shame, because this is about trying to bring in enhanced protections for consumers.”
“Janelle Ruggeri and Graeme Kruger just brought along to my office some very impressive young people: Nathan Crawley, Emily Marston, Sarah McCaskie, Thomas Hatty and Daniel Andreazza from Griffith and Tocumwal. They’re not from my Riverina electorate per se, but they certainly are from the geographic area of Riverina. They are rice growers.”
Alison Penfold NAT
“The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 makes changes to the Telecommunications Act to strengthen consumer safeguards, something we should all agree is a top priority.”
“It’s fair to say that, without telecommunications connectivity, living life would be very difficult. Telecommunications connectivity is required to participate in family and personal life, in education, in sport, in business and, importantly, in the community. Therefore, no matter where you live, connection is fundamental.”
Andrew Gee IND
“I support the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 because I believe it can make a positive contribution towards holding telecommunications companies to account, and I think that aspect of it is supported. But I come from country Australia, and, in the Central West of New South Wales, mobile phone coverage is not what it should be.”
Mary Aldred LIB
“I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, a bill that the government says will strengthen consumer protection and ensure Australians can rely on their mobile phones when it matters most.”
“In 2025, Optus agreed to a fine of $100 million for engaging in unconscionable conduct with consumers—conduct that included selling telecommunications goods and services that consumers did not want, that consumers did not need, that consumers could not use and that consumers could not afford. In some cases, this included selling products where there was no Optus coverage.”
Tom Venning LIB
“Thanks to the previous speaker for their contribution, but I must say we are not comparing apples with apples. It’s well and good to put rules and regulations around existing services, but what happens when those services are getting worse or that service doesn’t exist at all? That is the reality faced by too many rural, regional and remote Australians.”
Madonna Jarrett ALP
“I rise to support the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025. Telecommunications is no longer about making a phone call. It’s about how we work, how we learn, how we do business, how we entertain and how we stay safe. In Brisbane and across the country, connectivity underpins almost every part of our daily lives.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill. Every Australian deserves reliable, quality and affordable telecommunications no matter where they live. In 2026, connectivity is not just a nice-to-have. It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity.”
Gabriel Ng ALP
“I rise today to speak on the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025. Telecommunications are essential to the infrastructure of modern Australia. They allow people to stay connected with family and friends. I needed it to keep in touch with my daughter when she was walking to school this morning.”
Ed Husic ALP
“It probably comes as a surprise to people that, during a sitting week, this building will house between 4,000 and 5,000 people. It’s a phenomenal number. It’s the size of a small suburb. Imagine us turning up on the Monday of budget week and finding out that the wi-fi didn’t work.”
Jodie Belyea ALP
“Telecommunications is no longer a luxury or a nice-to-have; it’s an essential national infrastructure—like electricity, water and banking—that underpins work, education, emergency information and participation in our economy. Because it is essential, the power imbalance matters.”
Steve Georganas ALP
“It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, an important bill, because these are reforms that are designed to ensure that the Australian Communications and Media Authority is not just a regulator in name or a toothless tiger.”
Tim Ayres ALP
“I table revised explanatory memoranda relating to the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering an Efficient and Trusted Tax System) Bill 2026. I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted.”