Telecoms prices ease cost-of-living pressure as telcos support Australians in financial hardship

7 August 2025: Australian telcos are available to support Australians facing financial hardship even as telco prices remain a handbrake on cost-of-living pressures, according to industry peak body the Australian Telecommunications Alliance (ATA).

Speaking in response to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) report on financial hardship, ATA CEO Luke Coleman said telecoms providers were constantly working to improve their customer support processes to assist Australians in need – even while telco price growth remained low.

“Australian telcos recognise the essential nature of the services they provide, and are constantly seeking to improve customer support processes to keep Australians connected,” Mr Coleman said.

“It’s important to look at Financial Hardship complaints in context. Telco services do not even rank among the main contributors to rising cost-of-living, according to the latest ABS data – while the cost of housing, food, insurance and financial services, and alcohol and tobacco consistently feature in the main contributors to rising costs.”

“Similarly, the latest ABS Consumer Price Index data shows that telecoms services are consistently among the lowest for price growth – telco prices stand out for their low growth when most other household costs have increased much more significantly.”

“The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Financial Hardship Standard has been in place for one year now, so there is increased customer awareness and education about available support options – it is not unexpected that this would be reflected in the TIO’s data. At the same time, telcos are getting better at identifying customers facing financial hardship, and are improving their reporting of this data,” Mr Coleman said.

The Financial Hardship report comes at a time where telco complaints are at their lowest level in two decades. Complaints to the TIO have decreased by 66% since 2018, showing the industry is making significant inroads into improving customer service.

While all complaints should be treated seriously, the 1,997 Financial Hardship complaints received by the TIO represent a tiny fraction of total customers.

“Australians use more than 45 million mobile and broadband services, but fewer than 2,000 customers raised a Financial Hardship complaint with the TIO over the past year. In total, the TIO had under 60,000 complaints last year – an extraordinarily low number for an industry that Australians rely on every day,” Mr Coleman said. “Similarly, ACMA data shows that complaints to telcos have almost halved in the past five years – with just 2% of total services subject to a complaint.”

To better equip telcos to assist Australians facing Financial Hardship, the Australian Telecommunications Alliance has established the Enhanced Care Dialogue, an new industry working group designed to enable telcos to share their experiences and best practice in how to assist consumers in vulnerable circumstances.