Explanatory Statement
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Communications
Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999
Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026
Purpose and Operation
The Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026 (the CSG Amendment Direction) amends an existing ministerial direction to require the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to adjust the repeal date of the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2023 (the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) Standard) to 31 August 2029. It also allows the ACMA to make minor consequential adjustments. The CSG Standard is made under sections 115, 117 and 120 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
Details of the instrument are set out in Attachment A.
Background
The CSG Standard is a long-standing safeguard that provides connection, repair and appointment timeframes for fixed voice services, and scope for per consumer compensation.
A number of CSG instruments, including the CSG Standard, were subject to a thematic review in 2023 under sunsetting arrangements. Following that, the then-Minister for Communications determined to continue CSG arrangements by issuing a ministerial direction, the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2023 (the CSG Direction) in July 2023. The CSG Direction required the ACMA to make a new CSG Standard, largely based on the previous Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2011, with a number of minor changes. Other CSG instruments were also subsequently remade to continue CSG performance benchmarks and record-keeping rules. The 2023 instruments included self-repeal mechanisms to take effect in August 2026.
A public consultation process was held in March 2026 to seek views on further extending the CSG instruments and to provide opportunities for stakeholders to suggest any additional amendments. See further details below.
Authority
The CSG Amendment Direction is made under section 124 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 and in reliance on subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. That provision provides that where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument the power shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.
The CSG Amendment Direction is a legislative instrument for the purpose of the Legislation Act 2003. However, this instrument is not subject to disallowance or sunsetting, as it is substantively a direction by a Minister to a person or body (see item 2 of the table in section 9 and item 3 in the table in section 11 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015).
Consultation
On behalf of the Minister for Communications, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (the Department) consulted from 12-27 March 2026 on extending the existing CSG instruments, including the CSG Standard, for a further three years. The Department received six submissions, including from industry, consumer groups, and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). The submissions broadly agreed that the CSG framework should be extended, with the majority of submissions supporting a three-year extension. Some submissions proposed some refinements that could be considered to the CSG Standard in the short term. However, all submissions concurred that there would be merit in the Government considering larger scale reform to the scope and operation of the CSG and other related safeguards. In light of those broader concerns, the Government has decided to provide continuity for consumers by extending existing arrangements while it continues to consider broader feedback received.
The ACMA was also consulted on the proposal, given its role in enforcing compliance with the CSG Standard.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
A statement of compatibility with human rights for the purposes of Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 is set out at Attachment B.
Attachment A
Details of the Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026
Section 1 – Name of Instrument
This section provides that the name of the instrument is the Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides for the instrument to commence on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the instrument is made under section 124 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 and in reliance on subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. A note accompanies the provision to remind readers of the effect of subsection 33(3).
Section 4 – Schedules
This section provides that each instrument specified in the Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable item in the Schedule concerned, and that any other item in a Schedule to the instrument has effect according to its terms.
SCHEDULE 1 – AMENDMENTS
Item 1 of Schedule 1 inserts a new section 7 after subsection 6(3) of the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2023 (the CSG Direction).
Subsection 7(1) requires the ACMA amend the CSG Standard that was made under subsections 6(1) and (2) of the CSG Direction so that it self-repeals on 31 August 2029. The self-repeal date was previously 31 August 2026 due to paragraph 6(2)(b) of the CSG Direction. The ACMA is directed to make this change on or before 24 August 2026.
Subsection 7(2) provides scope for the ACMA to make minor changes consequential to the amendment required by subsection 7(1). This subsection clarifies that the examples specified in paragraphs (a)-(c) would be consistent with the direction in subsection 7(1).
Paragraph 7(2)(a) provides that in amending the CSG Standard, the ACMA is able to correct any grammatical, typographical and formatting errors it identifies in the CSG Standard.
Paragraph 7(2)(b) provides that the ACMA may insert additional notes to provisions in the amended CSG Standard, where it considers reasonable to help explain how any provision operates.
Paragraph 7(2)(c) provides that the ACMA may also include any transitional matters which it considers reasonable as a consequence of any repeal provision.
Attachment B
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Telecommunications Amendment (Customer Service Guarantee) Direction 2026 (the CSG Amendment Direction) amends an existing ministerial direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). As a consequence of this direction, the ACMA will need to amend the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2023 (the CSG Standard) before 24 August 2026 such that the CSG Standard will self-repeal on 31 August 2029.
The effect of the direction, once implemented by the ACMA, is that consumer protections provided under the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) scheme (which regulates the timeframes for connection, repairs and appointments for retail fixed telephone services) will continue for an additional three years.
Human rights implications
The CSG Amendment Direction does not directly engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
The instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
The Hon Anika Wells MP
Minister for Communications