Here are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
General Comment
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The big news of the week is that HealthEngine has been fined a motza for playing fast and loose with patient information and consumer reviews. Well deserved, deeply unprofessional and probably not enough in my view. It was plain deception and fraud I reckon.
Otherwise we have the usual security leaks and the OAIC telling us again how hopeless the health sector is at cyber and the usual round up of other goings on.
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Doctor booking site HealthEngine fined $2.9 million for misleading patients
By Matt Bungard
August 20, 2020 — 3.31pm
Online GP booking website HealthEngine has been fined nearly $3 million after the Federal Court found the company had engaged in misleading conduct by sharing the personal information of patients with private health insurance brokers, and by publishing misleading patient reviews and ratings.
The $2.9 million fine was handed down on Thursday. HealthEngine co-founder and chief executive Marcus Tan issued an apology on the company's website.
"When the ACCC commenced legal action against HealthEngine nearly a year ago, we acknowledged that our rapid growth over the years had sometimes outpaced our systems and processes," he said.
"We sincerely apologised that we had not always met the high expectations of the community and our customers."
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/healthengine-fined-29-million-doctoring-its-doctor-reviews
HealthEngine fined $2.9 million for doctoring its doctor reviews
The booking site also has to write a letter of apology to 135,000 patients whose personal information it passed on to insurance brokers
20th August 2020
HealthEngine will pay a $2.9 million penalty for doctoring patient reviews of GP clinics and passing on patient information to health insurance brokers.
The Federal Court of Australia approved the penalty on Thursday, bringing an apparent end to the two-year saga.
The accusations against HealthEngine began in 2018 with claims the booking business shared 135,000 patients’ personal details with nine different insurance companies which then used the information to contact them as part of their telemarketing campaigns.
The court found HealthEngine asked patients whether they wanted to receive a call about private health insurance, but in a way that implied Health Engine was doing the calling, not that it was sharing the patients’ details with third parties.
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20 August, 2020
HealthEngine hit with $2.9 penalty
Online health booking platform HealthEngine has been fined $2.9m by the Federal Court, after the consumer watchdog pursued it for sharing personal data relating to more than 135,000 patients between 2014 and 2018.
The company admitted to sharing patient personal information to private health insurance brokers, and publishing misleading patient reviews and ratings, with HealthEngine earning more than $1.8m from the insurance brokers.
HealthEngine was ordered to pay $2.9m in penalties, and contact affected customers and provide them with details of how they can regain control of their personal information.
The company also admitted that between March 2015 and March 2018, it did not publish around 17,000 reivews and edited around 3,000 reviews to remove negative aspects.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/healthengine-cops-29m-penalty-over-data-misuse-552059
HealthEngine cops $2.9m penalty over data misuse
By Justin Hendry on Aug 20, 2020 12:30PM
Admits to sharing patient information without their knowledge.
HealthEngine has been slapped with $2.9 million in penalties for sharing the personal information of over 135,000 patients with private health insurance brokers without their knowledge.
The company, which acts as an online booking engine and review platform for medical practices, has also admitted to holding back or manipulating patient reviews and ratings to inflate its positive image.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took HealthEngine to the Federal Court late last year, alleging that it had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when it provided the non-clinical personal information to private health insurance brokers for a fee.
It said the information included the names, phone numbers, email addresses, and dates of birth of over 135,000 patients, which had been shared “without adequately disclosing to customers it would do so” between 30 April 2014 and 30 June 2018.
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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/health-sector-remains-biggest-reporter-of-data-bre
Health sector remains biggest reporter of data breaches
A new RACGP resource is designed to help GPs and practice staff prepare for and respond to a cybersecurity incident.
21 Aug 2020
As the rising number of cybersecurity incidents, only a third of Australian healthcare organisations have embedded awareness and training into their policies and procedures.
It was only in May that the Federal Government warned
of cyber attackers taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to try to hack
the computer systems of hospitals, medical services and crisis-response
organisations.
As the health sector is increasingly digitised, cybersecurity incidents are
becoming more common, from attempts to steal data or intellectual property, to
preventing computers or networks from operating.
Such an incident in general practice can have a ‘tremendous’ impact, according
to Dr Steven Kaye, Deputy Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Practice
Technology and Management (REC–PTM).
‘If there’s an intrusion that disrupts their computer systems of whatever sort
– it can be electrical, it can be intentional hijacking – there’s an enormous
disruption to the practice,’ he told newsGP.
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Identity scams spike as card fraud falls for the first time
Tom Burton Government editor
Aug 20, 2020 – 6.29pm
Card fraud is declining but scammers are turning to stealing personal credentials as COVID-19 has seen a large switch to online services.
New data from the finance industry showed card fraud cost Australians $464 million last year, down from a peak of $576 million in 2018.
According to finance industry body AusPayNet the decline in card fraud has seen fraud rates drop from 75 cents per thousand dollars of card spend, to 56.6 cents, levels last seen in 2014.
This followed a series of Reserve Bank warnings to card issuers and merchants to stem surging card fraud, most notably in situations where the card is not physically presented for the transaction, such as for e-commerce.
This is known as CNP fraud and represents 87 per cent of all Australian card fraud and fell for the first time in 2019. CNP fraud cost $403 million in 2019, down from a peak of $489 million in 2018.
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https://www.miragenews.com/electronic-prescriptions-rolling-out-to-support-melbourne/
August 17, 2020 8:00 am AEST
Electronic prescriptions rolling out to support Melbourne
– Joint communique – 17 August, 2020:
To support those people most at risk from COVID-19, the rollout of electronic prescriptions across Greater Melbourne will be expanded beyond the current communities of interest.
This follows successful testing since May 2020. Electronic prescribing is being implemented in General Practices and Community Pharmacies across Australia. To date, this has occurred through a managed approach of testing and continuous improvement across a growing number of ‘communities of interest’.
Given the current COVID-19 crisis in Melbourne the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia are working together with the Australian Department of Health and the Australian Digital Health Agency to support doctors and pharmacists in the Greater Melbourne area to access this new technology faster. This will support a safer and more convenient supply of medicines for patients.
Previous communications have stated electronic prescriptions should only be written or dispensed as part of the communities of interest trials. This is now being expanded to the Greater Melbourne area. If you have made the preparations outlined below, you can and should commence electronic prescribing in Greater Melbourne, starting with the patient’s preferred choice of how they receive their prescriptions and medicines.
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https://thewest.com.au/politics/melbourne-to-get-electronic-prescriptions-ng-s-2025396
Melbourne to get electronic prescriptions
Mon, 17 August 2020 3:31AMAs coronavirus-hit Victoria extends its state of emergency, the federal health department is expanding the rollout of electronic prescriptions to support a safer and more convenient supply of medicines for patients.
In a joint communique with the Australian Digital Health Agency, the Department of Health says the expansion of the rollout follows successful testing since May 2020.
Given Melbourne's COVID-19 crisis, they are working with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia to support doctors and pharmacists in the Greater Melbourne area to access this new technology faster.
"This will support a safer and more convenient supply of medicines for patients," they said in the statement.
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https://ajp.com.au/news/e-scripts-being-expanded-across-melbourne/
E-scripts being expanded across Melbourne
Pharmacies in the greater Melbourne region with software capability can now commence dispensing e-prescriptions, the Australian Digital Health Agency has announced
While previous communications stated electronic prescriptions should only be written or dispensed as part of ‘communities of interest’ trials, this is now being expanded to the greater Melbourne area, the Federal agency has announced.
The ADHA said the decision to expand e-prescribing capabilities across the city was made to support people most at risk from COVID-19.
It follows successful testing since May 2020, when Australia’s first paperless electronic prescription was prescribed and dispensed in Victoria.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/app-review-heart-foundation-smart-heart-guidelines
App Review: Heart Foundation Smart Heart Guidelines
You can bookmark pages and tools and write your own notes
20th August 2020
HF Smart Heart Guidelines does basically what it says on the app store entry, plus a little bit more.
Developed by the National Heart Foundation of Australia, in conjunction with the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, the app puts key guidelines on heart failure, AF and acute coronary syndrome on your smartphone.
The designers could have simply republished the text of the guidelines, but they have taken extra steps to make the app quick and easy to use.
There is the ability to bookmark pages and tools, search the full text of the app or search the index entries.
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http://medicalrepublic.com.au/prescribing-software-update-switches-all-brand-names-to-generics/33214
17 August 2020
Prescribing software update switches all brand names to generics
Posted by Ruby Prosser Scully
Prescriptions will soon name drug’s active ingredients by default, rather than brand names, in a move aimed at reducing medication errors and saving the health system money.
The legislation was introduced one year ago, with software providers given 12 months to make the transition. However, a chaotic year of bushfires, pandemic and the introduction of eScripts has prompted an extension to the deadline.
Instead of a November 1 changeover, the Department of Health suggested the deadline would be 2021.
Doctors don’t have to worry about googling the name of the active ingredient for every script, said John Green, medications specialist at the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA).
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/real-time-gp-data-to-be-used-for-australian-covid-19-management/
Real time GP data to be used for Australian COVID-19 management
Led by the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre, the project will compile data from 500 practices to map the impact of the pandemic on the country's health system.
By Asha Barbaschow | August 17, 2020 -- 01:12 GMT (11:12 AEST) | Topic: Innovation
Data from general practices across New South Wales and Victoria is being compiled to build a real-time reporting system that shows where and how COVID-19 is impacting Australia's health system.
The project is led by the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), which is comprised of three Primary Health Networks in Eastern Melbourne, Gippsland, and South Eastern Melbourne, along with Macquarie University, Outcome Health, and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.
South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network CEO Dr Elizabeth Deveny said the project will use the data to guide the group's decision-making. It will comprise de-identified data from 500 practices.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/why-covidsafe-app-might-not-be-such-technodud-after-all
Why the COVIDSafe app might not be such a techno-dud after all
This is the story of how it helped find 544 close contacts from one positive case
17th August 2020
On 1 August, NSW Health broke some reassuring news: It had been found that the much-maligned COVIDSafe app does do its thing.
In case the debate has passed you by, the COVIDSafe app was introduced by the Federal Government a few months back.
It uses Bluetooth to identify when two people who have both downloaded the app spend more than 15 minutes within 1.5 metres of each other.
If somebody with the app is subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus, they are asked to release their data to public health authorities, who can then call these close contacts to tell them to self-isolate.
The app has been download 6.9 million times, but has been criticised for not finding enough cases that would not have been found by conventional contact tracing.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/health-dept-stands-by-covidsafe-app/
Health dept stands by COVIDSafe app
Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter
14 August 2020
The federal Health department has stood by COVIDSafe at a Senate hearing, despite confirming it was yet to identify a new close contact in Victoria, where contact tracers stopped using the app entirely for a week during the outbreak of the state’s second wave of COVID-19.
The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 briefly turned its attention to COVIDSafe on Friday morning, with senators searching for answers as to why the app appears to have been little help to the Australian state worst hit by the virus.
Health department officials also revealed that there would soon be better reporting on the use of COVIDSafe around the country in order to meet “community expectations”.
COVIDSafe had been of “limited use” in Victoria due to the way contact tracing is conducted in the state, Health department associate secretary Carolyn Edwards said at the hearing, and officials stopped using it entirely for about a week as cases started to grow.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/greg-hunt-welcomes-ausdocs-gp-petition-telehealth
Greg Hunt welcomes AusDoc's GP petition for telehealth
The 30-page petition has been signed by 2340 doctors
19th August 2020
By Paul Smith
The Federal Minister for Health has accepted the 'Don’t Hang Up on Telehealth' petition, declaring that he wants telehealth reform to become the “abiding legacy” of the COVID-19 response.
Signed by 2340 doctors, the 30-page petition includes their personal stories documenting the differences that telehealth is already making to patients’ lives.
In his letter to Australian Doctor, Mr Hunt said that by making telehealth a key weapon in the fight against the pandemic, the government had delivered “10 years of reform in 10 weeks”.
“I warmly welcome your petition supporting the continuation of Medicare funding for telehealth,” he said.
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ANSC August 2020 Update: RPA Women and Babies/Canterbury Hospital
RPA Fetal Medicine Unit (FMU) will soon be going digital - Electronic transmission of ultrasound reports
RPA FMU offer a range of ultrasounds obstetric services, including FAS, NT, and Growth/Wellbeing scans, and understand the importance timely reporting has during a women’s pregnancy. As of September 2020, RPA FMU will be launching Electric Transmission of Reports via Healthlink. This system will allow all FMU reports to be digitally sent directly to referring GPs, eliminating the need for the prehistoric fax machine. This time saving system adheres to the strictest of privacy laws, allowing results to be shared not only quicker, but more securely.
With this new system, they are utilising the latest in reporting communication technology to ensure all patients receive the best possible care throughout their journey.
They hope this will significantly improve communication and patient care in a timely manner.
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Public hospitals using the My Health Record system
91% of public hospital beds across Australia are using the My Health Record system. The Agency continues to work in close partnership with state and territory jurisdictions to enable and enhance use of the My Health Record system across the public hospital sector.
Check the list below to see whether your local public hospital is using the My Health Record system.
Public hospitals registered and using the My Health Record (PDF, 322KB)
Note: This list is indicative only and current as at 30 June 2020. Please confirm with public hospital directly as to their level of interaction with the My Health Record system.
A summary of public hospitals by state and territory jurisdiction and by bed numbers is provided for reference below.
Page last updated 20 August 2020.
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Private hospitals using the My Health Record system
The Agency continues to support and work with organisations across the private hospital sector in Australia to enable and increase use of the My Health Record system. As at 30 June 2020, 67% of private hospitals (with inpatient facilities) and 16% of day hospitals/surgeries were registered for the My Health Record system, with 53% and 5% respectively actively using the My Health Record system, respectively.
Check the list below to see whether your local private hospital or day hospital/surgery is using the My Health Record system.
Private hospitals (inpatient and day surgery) registered and using the My Health Record (PDF, 410KB)
Note: This list is indicative only and current as at 30 June 2020. Please confirm with the private hospital or day hospital/surgery directly as to their level of interaction with the My Health Record system.
A summary of private hospitals (with inpatient facilities) and private day hospitals/surgeries by group is provided for reference below.
Page last updated 20 August 2020.
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MEDIA RELEASE
19 August 2020
Project to create roadmap for Queensland’s digital health future
Digital
health is the future – and a new project will help Queensland’s health workers
and their partners understand the current technology used in various health
care settings in the state, so they can build a data-driven roadmap for digital
transformation.
The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is supporting this
collaboration between Queensland Health, the University of Queensland and
not-for-profit Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
“COVID-19 has shown us that digital healthcare is the future, but the challenge
is – how do we get there in a way that’s effective and delivers value for
money?” said Associate Professor Clair Sullivan from the Centre for Health
Services Research at the University of Queensland.
“This project is about centring our digital transformation around the consumer
by understanding their journeys across the care continuum, recognising what
health outcomes are important, and learning how digital technology can help us
achieve these better outcomes for our consumers,” she said.
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Warring Victorian Liberals spring a data leak
Police will be asked to investigate a massive data breach in the Victorian Liberal Party, one which could spark a federal intervention in the increasingly dysfunctional branch.
The private details of hundreds of party members have been leaked to discredit key federal and state MPs across Melbourne, sparking an internal investigation into the release of the highly confidential information.
The Liberal Party has since been inundated with complaints from members who are being cold-called to discuss their private political affairs, including how their memberships were paid and who paid for them.
One Liberal MP said the leak appeared to be the “biggest in Australian political history” and that it would fuel demands for national intervention in the party’s Victorian branch.
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August 17, 2020 6:12 am AEST
North Coast GP recognised for fostering wellbeing amongst colleagues and patients
Royal Australian College of GPs
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has awarded New South Wales North Coast GP Dr Ashlea Broomfield the 2020 Eric Fisher Award.
The annual award is given to the NSW or ACT early career GP who has a strong focus on the emotional wellbeing of their patients and colleagues.
It was established in honour of the late Dr Eric Fisher who was a strong role model for his colleagues and held several key leadership positions throughout his 67 year medical career. He was passionate about the work of young GPs and believed that emotional well-being has a significant impact on a patient’s health and recovery.
Dr Broomfield, who was the recipient of the RACGP GP Registrar of the year in 2015, completed her medical studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and moved to Coffs Harbour to attend the UNSW Rural Clinical School (RCS). She achieved her fellowship with the RACGP in 2016.
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e-health tool targets mental health of those with intellectual disability
Friday, 14 August, 2020
UNSW Sydney’s Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN) has launched an innovative e-health tool to support the mental health assessment of people with intellectual disability and communication difficulties.
Funded by NSW Health, MySigns is a web-based application that adds to the scarce e-health tools available to people with intellectual disability. Despite the fact that those with intellectual disability are more likely to experience mental health issues than people without, access to mental health services for this group is poor.
3DN’s Professor Julian Trollor, UNSW’s Chair of Intellectual Disability Mental Health, said there are many e-mental health tools available for the general population.
“It is crucial that we also consider the mental health needs of people with intellectual disability and begin to incorporate these into digital health initiatives,” he said.
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Northern Territory’s digital health developments & lessons for other health systems
Dean Koh | 18 Aug 2020
In the fifth episode of the HIMSS Australia Digital Dialogue Series, hosted by Tim Kelsey, Senior Vice President, HIMSS Analytics International, guest speakers A/ Prof Didier Palmer, Director Emergency & Trauma Centre, Director, Division of Emergency Medicine at Royal Darwin & Palmerston Hospitals and Dr Hugh Heggie, NT Chief Health Officer and Executive Director Public Health and Clinical Excellence Department of Health at the Office of the Chief Health Officer, Northern Territory Government discussed digital health developments at NT, and lessons that other health systems can learn from the Territory.
Digital health developments at NT
“Digital health in the Territory has been driven by need – it’s been driven by need for services to a wide community, many of which are Aboriginal people, and one of the biggest things in my life is been living and working with them,” said Dr Heggie.
He said that a primary electronic (health) record was created some 20 years ago, which was initially limited to regions but later was able to be used on mobile devices. With a range of services in primary healthcare delivery, there needed to be a way of allowing visibility of (health) information about a person, and that led to the shared electronic health record in NT, allowing view from government funded and non-government funded Aboriginal community controlled services.
“We got the funding to start a territory-wide, single health record for all sites and services across NT that was live. This is important because when everybody can see the information about a particular person, then we can provide good care and not miss things,” he added.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/521900/Pandemic-prompts-thousands-to-use-eMental-health-tools-.htm
Pandemic prompts thousands to use eMental health tools
Sunday, 16 August 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Thousands of Kiwis are using eMental Health tools to deal with
stress, anxiety and other issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A range of eMental health support was rolled out across New Zealand after the
first Covid-19 outbreak, with Ministry of Health funding confirmed until
October.
In mid-April the government announced that digital tools Mentemia, Melon and Staying on Track were being funded by the initial $500m Covid-19 response health package. Other digital services have also been funded, such as the Getting through together campaign, Youthline and the Aroha chatbot.
All services contacted by eHealthNews.nz report a significant surge in uptake and reach and experts believe the digital transformation in delivery of mental health and wellness services will be sustained long-term.
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Ministry signals data and digital funding in Covid-19 recovery
Thursday, 20 August 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
The Ministry of Health is looking to provide targeted data and
digital funding to DHBs through the Covid-19 recovery phase to help lock in
digital transformation driven by the pandemic.
A letter sent to DHB chief executives and signed by director general of health
Ashley Bloomfield, deputy director data and digital Shayne Hunter and deputy
director general DHB performance, support and infrastructure Michelle
Arrowsmith, says, "we are currently assessing options to provide some
targeted data and digital funding through the Covid-19 recovery phase."
The initial focus will be on planned care and data sharing and
the Ministry will work with DHB representatives to determine how best to apply
the targeted funding.
MoH is also working on a revised set of principles to guide annual planning for
the Ministry and DHBs to realign data and digital investment and these will be
in place for next year's planning process.
The pandemic has led to increased use of telehealth and more safe and secure
data sharing between clinicians and across organisational and regional
boundaries.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/cruise-operator-carnival-hit-by-ransomware-551880
Cruise operator Carnival hit by ransomware
By Juha Saarinen on Aug 18, 2020 12:28PM
Guest and employee personal data taken.
Carnival PLC, which owns nine of the world's largest and best-known cruise lines, has announced that it has suffered a ransomware attack that encrypted some IT systems.
In a filing [pdf] to the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission watchdog, Carnival Corporation and PLC said it suffered the attack on August 15 this year.
User and employee data was stolen by the unnamed ransomware gang, which Carnival said could open up the company to legal action.
"We expect that the security event included unauthorised access to personal data of guests and employees, which may result in potential claims from guests, employees, shareholders, or regulatory agencies," Carnival added.
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Respiri (ASX:RSH) signs product referral deal with Australian Patients Association
ASX:RSH MCAP $101.1M
Jessica De Freitas Markets Reporter jessica.defreitas@themarketherald.com.au
19 August 2020 15:30
- eHealth software solutions company Respiri (RSH) has secured a product referral agreement with the Australian Patients Association (APA)
- The APA is an independent charity that supports around 1.1 million Australian patients and protects their rights and interests
- Under the agreement, the APA will provide patient referrals to Respiri once its wheezo device is launched in October
- In exchange, Respiri will pay the APA a small commission on device sales
- This deal follows the recently announced partnership between Respiri and the APA to support patients living with asthma through Respiri's wheezo experiential program
- Company shares are up 3.23 per cent and are trading for 16 cents
eHealth software solutions company Respiri (RSH) has secured a product referral agreement with the Australian Patients Association (APA).
The APA is an independent charity that supports Australian patients and protects their rights and interests. The APA is connected with 1.1 million Australian patients and 15,000 healthcare practitioners.
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InterSystems Helps SA Health Prepare for Potential Second COVID-19 Wave
InterSystems-based Health Information Broker Provides Rapid Interoperability Between Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance and Workflow Systems to Boost Contact Tracing Capacity
SYDNEY, Australia, August 20, 2020 – InterSystems, a creative data technology provider dedicated to helping customers solve the most critical scalability, interoperability, and speed problems, today announced that the South Australian Department for Health and Wellbeing (SA Health) has used InterSystems interoperability software and support to rapidly interface its Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance system (NIDS) to a new workflow system to help prepare for a potential second wave of COVID-19.
Integration between the workflow system and NIDS – which receives notifications of infectious disease cases from testing laboratories and maintains a central record – is provided by SA Health’s Health Information Broker (HIB), a state-wide health information exchange based on InterSystems technology. With these capabilities, South Australia is well prepared to scale up its public health efforts to meet the challenges of a new pandemic.
With available resources in short supply, the HIB support team asked InterSystems to help meet an urgent deadline to integrate the Salesforce-based workflow system to get it up and running quickly. “We raised a case with InterSystems and within hours were partnered with a contact,” said Steve Korossy, Integration Manager for SA Health. “InterSystems took an active, altruistic interest in our challenges and invested many long hours in overcoming them at no financial charge or penalty.”
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https://itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/acma-proposing-new-rules-for-broadband-service-failures.html
Thursday, 20 August 2020 11:35
ACMA proposing new rules for broadband service failures
Australia’s telecommunications regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has announced that it will soon consult on rules to assist consumers when their fixed broadband telco fails to meet retail service levels.
The ACMA made its announcement on Thursday following the ACCC’s recommencement of its NBN wholesale service standards inquiry examining rebates to be made payable by NBN Co to access seekers in connection with failures to meet service levels and the possible pass-through of these rebates to consumers.
The ACMA says it has been working with the ACCC on the implications of such wholesale rebates at the retail level, and that it considers it is important that consumers:
· receive the benefit of rebates paid by NBN Co for wholesale service level failures that affect them
· can easily access information about retail service level commitments offered by their telco, consistent with the Australian Government’s Consumer Safeguards Review findings.
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ACMA drafting rules to require telcos pass on NBN fault rebates to customers
New rules to be drawn up by ACMA as the ACCC reopens its NBN wholesale standards inquiry, and NBN proposed to pay for slow copper connections.
By Chris Duckett | August 20, 2020 -- 03:49 GMT (13:49 AEST) | Topic: Networking
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has said it will require the rebates paid by NBN for failing to meet its wholesale service levels to be passed onto customers by retailers.
As it currently stands, NBN pays rebates to retailers and there is no requirement for consumers to receive any of the rebate itself, despite consumers needing to see some benefit. For instance, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) previously said one benefit could be a replacement service.
The ACCC last year said it did not want a general pass through requirement that would force retailers to hand rebates to customers, with the one exception being missed appointment rebates.
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https://itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/accc-restarts-inquiry-into-nbn-pricing,-service-proposals.html
Thursday, 20 August 2020 11:09
ACCC restarts inquiry into NBN pricing, service proposals
The competition watchdog, the ACCC, has recommenced its inquiry which is considering a proposal from National Broadband Network operator, NBN Co, that aims to address concerns about service standards for wholesale NBN products and the pricing of entry-level NBN services.
Two Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiries examining these issues were paused in April 2020 to allow the telco sector to focus on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic - and the Commission is now seeking feedback on both the NBN pricing and service proposals.
“These inquiries were launched in response to concerns that NBN access terms were limiting competition and efficiency and risked making NBN products unaffordable for some consumers,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“We are now seeking feedback on NBN Co’s proposed access arrangements with respect to each inquiry. Our current view is that NBN Co’s proposals are reasonable but we want to hear from others.”
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-agrees-to-pay-up-for-slow-internet-poor-service-552041
NBN Co agrees to pay up for slow internet, poor service
By Ry Crozier on Aug 20, 2020 10:54AM
Now that the rollout is largely complete.
NBN Co has agreed to pay daily rebates on slow, congested and underperforming services, as well as for missed appointments and service faults, in a drastic U-turn.
The changes could be in place as early as December when the network operator’s new wholesale broadband agreement - WBA4 - is anticipated to be live.
The present agreement, WBA3, ends November 30. Its negotiation caused so much controversy that it led to two long-running inquiries by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which were brought off a COVID-related hiatus today.
Within these inquiries, the ACCC previously raised the prospect of fining NBN Co for failing to meet service levels.
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https://itwire.com/security/nbn-co-launches-community-education-campaign-on-scam-threats.html
Wednesday, 19 August 2020 13:07
NBN CO launches community education campaign on scam threats
National Broadband Network operator NBN Co has launched a community education campaign focusing on the threat of scams and warning that scammers are increasing their focus to “deceive Australians”, with new and variations of common NBN themed scams emerging in recent months.
As part of National Scams Awareness Week, NBN Co will host information sessions across the country and will leverage the latest insights and intelligence from Scamwatch in order to raise awareness about the most common and emerging scam trends and share tips about how to stay safe.
The campaign by NBN Co follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissson (ACCC) Scamwatch ‘Targeting Scams’ report which noted that NBN themed scams were the most commonly reported scam type via the Australian Communications and Media Authority, with the ‘Nicole from nbn' robocall scam the most prolific example.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/vocus-bucks-downward-trend-on-nbn-margins-551959
Vocus bucks downward trend on NBN margins
By Ry Crozier on Aug 19, 2020 12:30PM
Mainly through focused cost reduction.
Vocus has reported an $2.30 increase in the average margin per NBN user across FY20, appearing to buck downward pressure experienced elsewhere in the sector through a combination of NBN price reductions and cost-cutting on its own end.
The telco said its NBN average margin per user (AMPU) increased from $21.30 at the end of FY19 to $23.60 at the end of FY20. Average revenue per user (ARPU) was also up $2.60 for the year.
FY20 marked the first time that Vocus’ NBN margins came in above its copper margins, at least in the second half.
Vocus Group managing director and CEO Kevin Russell said the second half also marked the first time the company’s Dodo brand had experienced net subscriber growth in three years.
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High prices must stay if the NBN is to keep evolving, says CEO
John Davidson Columnist
Aug 18, 2020 – 12.00am
Telstra's record-low profit margins from selling broadband internet connections should be seen as proof the National Broadband Network is achieving its goal in creating competition in the internet market, NBN Co says.
Retailers such as Telstra complain NBN's wholesale internet prices are so high it is almost impossible to sell its services at a profit.
But NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue defended the prices, saying it was vital the broadband network kept generating sufficient cash flow so it could continue to reinvest. The network still needed to "evolve", despite having just completed its initial rollout, he said.
The NBN is a "living, breathing entity" that needs cash to keep evolving, says NBN Co CEO Stephen Rue.
Announcing a 14.4 per cent full-year profit dip last week, Telstra boss Andy Penn described NBN wholesale pricing as a "headwind" that will make it difficult for the telco to continue to pay a 16¢-a-share dividend. The profitability of reselling NBN fixed-line internet services was just 1.8 per cent – a record low, Telstra said.
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Monday, 17 August 2020 10:26
Telecoms customers ‘satisfaction’ with services holds up despite impact of pandemic
Despite significant impacts on Australia’s telecommunications services and infrastructure by the Covid-19 pandemic, customer satisfaction improved slightly during the most recent quarter, according to a new report by telecoms lobby group Communications Alliance.
According to a Roy Morgan survey published by Communications Alliance the percentage of surveyed telecommunications customers who were satisfied/neutral about their overall customer experience improved marginally to 84%.
The most recent wave of the survey – undertaken on a regular basis since 2013 – took place in July 2020, and reflects what CA says is “changed customer usage patterns and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on network demand”.
The survey found that satisfaction with complaint handling dipped in the January and April quarters, reflecting the disruption during the bushfire season and early part of the pandemic, but bounced back to a satisfied/neutral measure of 75% during the July quarter.
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Enjoy!
David.
