According to CA’s Complaints-in-Context Report, there was one TIO complaint for every 3,226 services in operation (SIO) on the networks of participating communications providers in the October to December 2023 quarter – or 3.1 complaints per 10,000 services.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, welcomed the results, and said that “the sustained low level of complaints is testimony to telcos’ efforts to compete on customer service, reliability and value”.

“It is particularly pleasing to see the industry maintain low complaint levels given the significant rise in complaints in a number of other industry sectors,” Stanton notes.

The Complaints in Context Report was introduced in the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code 2019 to increase transparency and competition in the areas of customer service by providing meaningful, comparable, and public complaints data.

“It details the complaints received by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) per 10,000 SIO, creating an index that allows comparison of the customer service and complaint handing performance of different service providers, regardless of their size,” notes CA.

“It is mandatory for the 10 telco providers identified by the TIO as having the largest (absolute) number of phone and internet complaints in the previous financial year to participate in reporting. Telcos may also participate voluntarily.”

CA notes that the TCP Code – which is mandatory and enforceable – is currently under review, and as part of the review, “consideration is being given to other reporting metrics that can, like the complaints-in-context reporting, contribute to better consumer outcomes.”

More information about complaints-in-context reporting is available here.

A copy of the TCP Code can be found here and details of the review and revision process are available here.

Communications Alliance says it encourages any RSP interested in joining the index to contact it (email: info@commsalliance.com.au).”