The 14 recommendations set out in our report Responsive Engagement: Involving Consumers and Citizens in
Communications Industry Rule-making, are:
Recommendation 1: Industry schemes could consider adopting the following range of measures to facilitate the participation of consumers and citizens in their rule-making processes:
- Publishing all consultation documents on a single website hosted by a government regulator such as ACMA which should also publicise these engagement opportunities (via its communication channels)
- Issuing marked-up (redline) versions of proposed rules
- Publishing statements explaining how consultation processes have shaped the rules they have adopted and writing directly to individuals explaining if their comments were accepted or rejected, and if rejected, why
- Involving consumers and citizens during the ‘formative stage’ of rule-making by seeking their input into issue papers, including the formulation of any questions they pose
- Soliciting customer participation by advertising opportunities to comment on draft rules in bill messages and/or via email
- Using information layering and plain English explanations of terminology.
Recommendation 2: If industry schemes experience difficulties reaching a critical mass of individual consumers or citizens, they could tailor their consumer and public engagement practices so that an adequate range of consumer and citizen views is solicited.
Recommendation 3: Industry schemes could provide consumer and public interest organisations with easily accessible, plain English summaries of proposed rules and related background for distribution to consumer and citizen stakeholders.
Recommendation 4: Industry schemes could develop libraries of submissions made by consumer and public interest organisations, and a regulator such as ACMA or the eSafety Commissioner could develop an electronic repository, accessible by all industry schemes, of submissions made by consumer and public interest organisations.
Recommendation 5: Industry schemes could seek the input of consumer and public interest organisations during the ‘formative stage’ of rule-making by seeking their input into issue papers, including the formulation of any questions they pose.
Recommendation 6: Schemes could make greater use of surveys and focus groups, compensating participants for their time, and consider making use of citizen juries and/or deliberative polling.
Recommendation 7: All industry schemes could consider appointing consumer and public interest representatives to their working committees when drafting and/or revising rules with a significant impact on consumers and citizens.
Recommendation 8: Industry schemes could seek to engage consumer and public interest organisations when they identify and frame issues.
Recommendation 9: All industry schemes should (at an absolute minimum) be expected to publish their rules in draft and provide consumers, citizens and related organisations with an opportunity to make written submissions.
Recommendation 10: The legislative frameworks that underpin co-regulatory rule-making in the media, online and telecommunications sectors should be harmonised through the setting of standard, minimum requirements for consumer and citizen consultation.
Recommendation 11: When developing codes of practice under a co-regulatory legislative framework, industry schemes could seek to build on the input from representative bodies by conducting some form of direct engagement with consumers and citizens where this might address known gaps in representation.
Recommendation 12: The extensiveness of industry public consultation for co-regulatory codes should turn on the impact the proposed rules are likely to have on consumers and the wider public; ACMA could set expectations of industry to assist in this.
Recommendation 13: ACCAN’s remit could be expanded to include customer-related aspects of content service provision; the Government should then provide ACCAN with the additional funding it needs to perform this new function.
Recommendation 14: ACCAN’s remit could be expanded or a similar body could be funded to provide representation of citizen interests in the communications industry, including in their interaction with digital platforms.