Senator the Hon Helen Coonan

Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

Deputy Leader of the Government  in the Senate

Launch of the office of Postal Industry Ombudsman

Sydney

Monday 10 July 2006

Thank you John [McMillan, Commonwealth Ombudsman] for the opportunity to speak today.

It is a real pleasure to be here with you this morning for the official launch of the office of Postal Industry Ombudsman.

We have a strong record of delivering improved and expanded postal services to the Australian people, and the introduction of a Postal Industry Ombudsman will ensure that the suite of services available to Australian consumers of postal services is even more comprehensive.

There is a proverb that seems quite appropriate at this time: “Between saying and doing there is a long road.”

And it has certainly been a long road that has finally led to today’s launch.

Election Commitment

As many of you know, it was the Government’s 2001 election policy, Delivering for the Future, that foreshadowed the establishment of a dedicated Postal Industry Ombudsman. 

The key features of the 2001 election policy commitment were to provide consumers with a recognisable, dedicated and independent entity to deal with complaints about the provision of postal services and that it would be industry funded.

I am pleased to say, that after extensive public consultation and passage through the Senate that those key features have been incorporated into this scheme.

History of the PIO

In October 2002, the Government released a discussion paper seeking comment on issues and options for the proposal.

Both the public and the postal industry were involved in developing the framework of the scheme, including the establishment, jurisdiction and powers, and funding arrangements.

Following consultation, we found that the Commonwealth Ombudsman Office dealt with around 1000 Australia Post complaints each year and only 37 complaints were made to State and Territory Offices of Fair Trading about postal services.

Given the relatively low level of complaints the Government was of the view that expanding the Commonwealth Ombudsman service to accommodate the PIO was a more appropriate option than establishing a new stand alone industry based scheme.

This approach provided an appropriate balance between protecting the rights of consumers and the cost and complexity of administering the scheme.

In addition, the Government decided that the Postal Industry Ombudsman would also be able to investigate complaints in relation to other industry operators who voluntarily opt into the scheme.

Furthermore, complaints could be transferred from the Postal Industry Ombudsman to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, or another statutory office holder.

This would ensure that complaints were handled by the Ombudsman or statutory office holder with the most appropriate functions and duties to deal with the particular complaints.

As I said, it has been a long road, and the legislation was finally passed in March of this year.

Conclusion

I am keen for Australia’s postal industry to continue to grow and for it to maintain its relevance in the communications market.

As I mentioned, this scheme is designed to add to the industry’s already high level of competence.

Professor McMillan has outlined the benefits for the private postal sector of registering with the Postal Industry Ombudsman scheme and I would like to emphasise this.

It is in the interests of the postal industry to fully embrace the role of the Ombudsman and support the improved performance that expert, independent scrutiny will bring.

I wish Professor McMillan and his team all the best as they take on this task.

I also wish the representatives of the postal industry every success in continuing their good work and ensuring that Professor McMillan’s workload is light.

It now gives me great pleasure to officially launch the office of Postal Industry Ombudsman.

Thank you