MOBILE PHONES

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about mobile phones.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: With the impressively sophisticated array of mobile phones on the market and more complex plans and contracts available, a decision about which phone and service option may be best for the individual is not getting any easier, particularly for young people. Will the minister inform the council about the new mobile telephone booklet for young consumers?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:16): I am pleased to announce a new booklet to help young consumers make informed decisions about purchasing and using mobile phones. The Office of Consumer and Business Affairs has seen an increase in complaints relating to mobile phones over the past three financial years, with approximately 160 complaints lodged with OCBA in the past financial year relating to mobile phone services and equipment.

The majority of complaints related to faulty handsets, premium services and phones not performing as described by the trader; and, in many cases, the trader had not fulfilled their legal responsibilities to follow up warranty issues on behalf of the consumer. Data compiled by OCBA has shown that, with respect to many of the complaints, both the trader and the consumer were not clear about their respective rights and responsibilities. In order to remedy this OCBA, together with other states and territories, is working to ensure that consistent information about warranty rights and responsibilities is being conveyed to consumers and traders across Australia.

One of the ways this is being done is through this new booklet or brochure. The booklet will be available from next week and is targeted at an audience of young people aged between 16 and 30—though all mobile phone users can obviously benefit from reading it. The brochure provides information on key issues, such as understanding contracts and obligations that come with the phone, consumer warranty rights, what to do if the phone is lost or stolen, an understanding of how premium SMS and call services work and the potential costs.

Some of those costs are quite hidden—as young people and their mums and dads have discovered—when they have downloaded items, and on the next bill appears these outrageous costs associated with those functions. It has caused quite a degree of family disharmony. Other information provided includes common SMS scams, concerns relating to network coverage, the potential cost of smart phones that can access the internet, how to dispose of old and broken mobile phones safely and who to contact if consumers cannot find a resolution to problems they may encounter.

The brochure is compact but information rich. It aims to distil some of the complexity into quite user-friendly, straightforward and simple advice that consumers can easily comprehend and arm themselves with. It will be available online via the OCBA website and also in hard copy. It will be distributed through Service SA, community information centres and educational institutions in order to provide a balance of information for those who are most likely to be the target of aggressive marketing by this industry and who, sometimes, are easily pressured into making very poor decisions that can end up being very expensive ones.