The Local Government Association of Tasmania has passed a motion to support Keep Me Posted (KMP), the campaign advocating for the consumer’s right to choose how their service providers communicate with them, free of charge.
“Tasmania becomes the first state to promote the consumer’s right to choose, leading the rest of Australia,” says KMP executive director Kellie Northwood.
“With banks, telcos and other service providers increasing pressure on their customers to switch to electronic bills and statements by charging a fee for paper communications, many Tasmanians have been left footing the bill.”
The consumer group says studies show that the most vulnerable are most impacted by the charges, with 57 percent of households earning less than $40,000 not having access to the internet and only 51 percent of Australians over 65 being internet users.
KMP already has the support of four local councils in Victoria, including Monash, Hume and Maribyrnong, and Devonport City Council in Tasmania, as it continues its campaign nationwide.
“Victoria and Tasmania are the first states where we’ve engaged local councils and we will next be speaking with councils in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia,” says Northwood.
Keep Me Posted has called on corporations to remove ‘pay-to-pay’ penalties for consumers and is lobbying for consumers not to be charged any fees for bills or statements whether issued on paper or digitally.