Telcos Call For “Tell Us Once” Reporting System

The Australian Telecommunications Alliance (ATA) has urged the Productivity Commission to tackle the growing burden of business reporting, warning that businesses are spending increasing time and money navigating overlapping reporting requirements instead of investing in better networks, services, and products for consumers.  

In its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into business reporting requirements, the ATA argues that governments typically design reporting rules one at a time, but businesses must implement them all at once. The result is growing layers of duplicative reporting, inconsistent data requests, competing compliance deadlines, and costly system changes. 

ATA CEO Luke Coleman said reporting should deliver public value, but governments need to understand the real cost of reporting requirements – which are ultimately reflected in the price of services. 

“Every dollar spent navigating duplicative reporting requirements is a dollar that can’t be invested in better coverage, improved network resilience, and better telecoms services for Australians.” 

“Businesses don’t experience red tape one form at a time. They experience it as a growing stack of reporting obligations competing for the same people, systems, and resources. The real cost isn’t submitting a report – it’s building the systems, processes, and controls required to produce it.” 

The ATA is calling for governments to adopt a simple principle: collect information once and reuse it wherever possible. 

The submission recommends a whole-of-government “tell us once” framework, mandatory assessments of the cumulative cost of new reporting arrangements, and better coordination of regulatory reforms across government departments and agencies. It also calls for common reporting standards, greater use of information already held by government, and regular reviews to remove outdated or low-value reporting requirements. 

“When business are forced to provide the same information multiple times in different ways, it creates unnecessary costs, consumes resources, and adds little value for Australians,” Mr Coleman said. “Government should start with a simple question: do we already have this information? If the answer is yes, businesses shouldn’t have to provide it again.” 

The ATA has proposed the telecommunications sector as a case study for the Productivity Commission, arguing it provides a practical example of how reporting obligations accumulate across multiple regulatory frameworks and create hidden compliance costs. 

The submission is available on the ATA’s website.