Controversies

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• The telco started the legal action against John Ieraci in the Federal Court of Australia on September 30, the day before he was meant to start at Vocus.

• Telstra has gone to court to block a former senior executive from participating in any product development related to security and managed services for rival telecommunications provider Vocus.

Company response

• Remediation — Telstra

  We self-reported these issues to Acma and took steps to correct them.

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• We self-reported these issues to Acma and took steps to correct them.

• Telstra failed to correctly upload nearly 50,000 customers’ choices to have their number unlisted in the database, meaning those numbers were publicly identifiable.

• Telstra has paid $2.5m in fines for failing to list close to 50,000 people as private numbers to prevent them being listed in public phone directories.

Company response

• Remediation — Telstra

  the telco will provide remediation to affected consumers, improve its existing compliance program, review and expand its Indigenous telephone hotline and enhance its digital literacy program for consumers in certain remote areas.

• Refund or compensation — Telstra

  Telstra previously said it had taken steps to waive the debts arising from the unconscionable conduct, refund money paid and put in place steps to reduce the risk of similar conduct in the future.

• Apology — Telstra

  Again, I want to apologise to all of the Indigenous customers affected by this.

• Apology — Telstra

  In a statement, Telstra CEO Andy Penn apologised to the Indigenous customers affected by his company’s conduct.

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• According to the ACCC, Telstra admitted it acted unconscionably when sales staff at five licensed Telstra-branded stores in Alice Springs, Casuarina and Palmerston, Arndale and Broome signed up 108 Indigenous consumers to multiple post-paid mobile contracts, which they did not understand and could not afford, between January 2016 to August 2018.

• Now, Federal Court judge Justice Debra Sue Mortimer, has handed down a judgment ordering Telstra to pay the proposed pecuniary penalty of $50 million within 30 days from 13 May, along with the ACCC’s costs related to the case and other expenses incidental to the proceedings.

• “This conduct included manipulating credit assessments, misrepresenting products as free, and exploiting the social, language, literacy and cultural vulnerabilities of these Indigenous customers,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.

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• Horizon Power was also ordered to pay $1,516.40 in costs, after earlier pleading guilty to breaching the Electricity Regulations 1947.

• Regional electricity provider Horizon Power was fined $40,000 by the Perth Magistrates Court on 4 February 2020 for incorrect work in Kununurra that caused a fire and the telecommunications equipment at various properties to become potentially unsafe.

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• Telstra has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty over the sale of mobile plans to more than 100 Indigenous Australians, which left them in thousands of dollars of debt.

• The penalty, which was accepted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission but requires Federal Court approval, would be the second-largest fine in the history of Australian consumer law.

• Telstra has paid a $1.5 million penalty for failing to allow consumers to keep existing local phone numbers when changing telephone companies.