What happened
On 15 October the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) welcomed two new laws.
Tougher enforcement
The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025:
- substantially increases maximum civil penalties for corporate breaches of industry codes, industry standards and service provider determinations;
- strengthens the infringement notice framework;
- makes registered industry codes directly enforceable, so the ACMA no longer has to direct a provider to comply before acting;
- creates a telco registration scheme. As a last resort, the ACMA can use it to stop providers with serious compliance failures from staying in the market.
Outdoor mobile coverage
The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2026 sets a path for mobile voice and SMS to be reasonably available outdoors anywhere in Australia.
What the regulator said
Acting ACMA Chair Adam Suckling said the stronger penalties and enforcement tools would help the ACMA deal with serious and systemic non-compliance. He said providers that fail consumers should face consequences that reflect how serious the breach is.
Next steps
The ACMA will publish more information on how the registration scheme will work before it starts.
Why it matters financially
Higher maximum penalties and directly enforceable codes raise the compliance stakes for every Australian telco. The registration scheme adds the risk of being excluded from the market altogether. The universal outdoor mobile obligation is likely to bring new coverage costs and new commercial opportunities, particularly for partnerships with satellite operators. The ACMA's release did not give the new penalty amounts.