More Aussies are struggling to pay their phone bill

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has identified financial hardship and mobile disruption as two key issues in its latest annual report. 

Following on from data the TIO released earlier this year as part of its systemic report the TIO is reporting financial hardship complaints are up by 46.1% on the previous year, with more people struggling to pay their telco bills. 

Mobile services continue to account for 66.9 per cent of financial hardship complaints, making them disproportionately high compared with the proportion of mobile services across all complaint categories.

In FY24/25, the TIO received 57,292 total complaints, up by 1.6% on the previous year.

Of these complaints, disruptions to mobile services made up 44.7% of all complaints. The TIO says that while the 3G shutdown process led to more consumers reporting mobile disruptions, ongoing reliability issues already existed and have continued to be reported following the shutdown. 

The number of people reporting without a working mobile service rose by 69.2% compared with the previous year, while complaints from people experiencing poor mobile coverage were up by 25.2%.

While complaints increased for eight out of the top 10 telcos, Telstra and Optus saw the overall number of complaints decline by 3.2% and 6.7% respectively. The two providers still account for the largest proportion of total complaints. 

Overall numbers of unresolved complaints across all telcos increased, with the number of people returning to the TIO after not receiving a resolution increasing by 36.9%. 

The top three complaints referred to the TIO remain:

• No or delayed action by provider (34,779 complaints)
• Service and equipment fees (20,564 complaints)
• No phone or internet service (7,294 complaints)

Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said "It’s encouraging to see complaint levels are steady, but persistent problems show more needs to be done to prevent us seeing the same issues frustrating people each year."

If you're having issues with your phone or internet, then contacting your telco is the first step. If your issue isn't resolved or you're unhappy with it you can file a formal complaint. 

You can make complaints to the TIO at www.tio.com.au or via phone at 1800 062 058. 

If you are experiencing payment difficulties, you can contact:

• Financial Counselling Australia
• The National Debt Helpline | 1800 007 007

More information about assistance paying your phone or internet bill is available from ACMA. 

Dylan Crismale

Digital Content Editor

Dylan Crismale is a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut, has been writing for almost a decade across a variety of Australian publications. He previously worked as a writer at Finder covering energy, internet and mobile plans. Dylan is passionate about finding the best deals to save people money and educating people about tech. When he's not sat at his desk Dylan loves working out, bingeing TV and hanging out with friends.​

Read full bio