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New Peak Consumer Body
Print this pageFactors Identified by SETEL.
- There are a number of currently unfunded organisations seeking to secure a presence in a new representative structure.
- There is an antipathy towards business interests in the consumer arena.
- Some organisations with narrow & highly specialised issues feel that they will not gain a sufficient voice in a larger, merged organisation.
- That could also be the case for small, micro & home businesses – there is a view that SETEL is only accepted in the consumer fold, by some, with a degree of reluctance.
An option for SETEL would be a business users' alliance, a separate business stream, similar to that which was proposed to be established with ATUG in 2007. ATUG plays a key role in high-level consumer representation in telecommunications but it is unclear where they would fit in to the proposed process of the peak consumer body model. Their possible non-inclusion would result in inefficiencies & the lack of synergies of operating in concert with other consumer bodies.
SETEL sees merit in the establishment of a new peak consumer body, primarily concerned with telecommunications (& ICT) issues, along the following lines:
Consumer Representation in ITC
- Create a new umbrella organization comprising a Federation of all existing organizations (i.e. an ACOSS model), is creatively funded (i.e. gets all the s593 funding with a multi-year agreement) and it manages allocation of funding such as s593-type grants for smaller organisations.
- Receipt of Commonwealth grant funding is not a prerequisite for membership.
- It allocates funding for research projects if such form of funding is specifically included in the overall grant provision.
- It sources grants from other sources for tasks such as code development & casework.
- It sources funds for training programs to increase the cohort of skilled consumer representatives.
- It sources funds from other sources to assist with consumer representation generally & in other industry sectors.
- It has the capacity to seek commercial support for programs including conferences & seminars on consumer issues.
- Interaction with Federal & State regulatory agencies on matters concerning consumers & ICT would be an important component of its activities.
Core components - less administration & fewer bodies for DBCDE to deal with, longer funding periods, perhaps less administrative responsibilities for consumer bodies, greater operational certainty and fewer periods of organisational downtime.
All existing organisations can remain in place. Some may elect to vary their mode of operation if requirements for being an incorporated body or similar are removed. There could be opportunities for centralising some or all administrative tasks of member organisations. A centralised grant acquittal and auditing process could apply.
New organisations can be included following a registration process to determine the level & validity of interest in ICT issues affecting their constituencies.
The governing body would comprise representatives from defined classes of consumer interest so a broad spread of influence can be obtained.
An independent chair is recommended.
Opportunities exist for separate co-ordinated research and representation activities affecting a larger number of organisations with similar interests.
Synergies apply to the identification of issues & collation & dissemination of information on a range of topics applicable to a majority of member organisations.
- Document ID: 83666 |
- Last modified: 9 May 2008, 8:58am