Part 2—Provision of information about NBN services to consumers
Division 1 – Key Facts Sheets: NBN Services
7 Requirement to provide key facts sheets about NBN services
(1) A retail carriage service provider must:
(a) prepare a key facts sheet containing information about NBN services, entitled “Key Facts Sheet: NBN Services”, for each NBN consumer plan offered that:
(i) is clear, accurate and up-to-date;
(ii) uses plain language;
(iii) is capable of being printed out, and where relevant downloaded, in a size that is no longer than one single-sided A4 page;
(iv) complies with the minimum requirements for information;
(v) uses a font size that is at least equivalent to 12 point Times New Roman; and
(vi) prominently displays the information specified in section 8 so that it appears in order before the required information specified in sections 9 and 10;
(b) provide a copy of the relevant key facts sheet in a single document to a consumer free of charge prior to entering into a consumer contract with the consumer, except where subsections (4), (5) or subparagraph (6)(b)(ii) have been complied with;
(c) make its key facts sheets available on its website via hyperlinks that are prominently displayed, and in close proximity or set out adjacent to the full description of the relevant NBN consumer plan; and
(d) make copies of its key facts sheets available free of charge at any physical location where the provider’s NBN consumer plans are offered to consumers.
(2) A key facts sheet prepared in accordance with subsection (1) can include the required information relating to one or more NBN consumer plans offered, provided that each NBN consumer plan included in the key facts sheet is clearly identified.
(3) A retail carriage service provider can satisfy the requirements in paragraph (1)(c) and subsection (2) by setting out a key facts sheet on a page of its website, provided that:
(a) each NBN consumer plan included in the key facts sheet is clearly identified; and
(b) the key facts sheet can be reached via a hyperlink displayed and located as required in paragraph (1)(c), or is set out adjacent to the full description of the relevant NBN consumer plan or plans to which the key facts sheet relates.
(4) Where a retail carriage service provider proposes to enter into a consumer contract over the telephone, the provider must:
(a) explain to the consumer the information set out in the key facts sheet; and
(b) provide the consumer with the option to:
(i) request that a copy of the relevant key facts sheet be sent to the consumer within 2 working days after the consumer contract has been entered into; or
(ii) be directed to where the consumer can access a copy of the relevant key facts sheet on the retail carriage service provider’s website,
before the consumer enters into the consumer contract.
(5) Where a retail carriage service provider proposes to enter into a consumer contract via the internet, the provider must direct the consumer to the web page where they can access a copy of the relevant key facts sheet, before the consumer enters into the consumer contract.
(6) Where a retail carriage service provider proposes to enter into a consumer contract with a consumer who is present at a physical store location where the provider’s NBN consumer plans are offered to consumers, the provider must:
(a) explain to the consumer the information set out in the key facts sheet; and
(b) provide the consumer with the option to:
(i) receive a copy of the relevant key facts sheet available at the location in accordance with paragraph (1)(d); or
(ii) be directed to where the consumer can access a copy of the relevant key facts sheet on the retail carriage service provider’s website,
before the consumer enters into the consumer contract.
(7) The provision of information to a consumer as part of a standard form of agreement formulated by a retail carriage service provider for the purposes of section 479 of the Act, does not constitute the provision of a key facts sheet by a retail carriage service provider to a consumer for the purposes of this section.
Division 2 – Minimum requirements for information
8 Minimum requirements – data speeds and online usage
(1) A key facts sheet must:
(a) if speed tier information is used to describe an NBN consumer plan in its advertising material for that plan, inform consumers that this represents the maximum possible speed that is available during off-peak periods;
(b) where the key facts sheet relates to an NBN consumer plan for a fixed line NBN connection:
(i) state the typical busy period download speed that the average consumer can expect to receive during the busy period under the NBN consumer plan; and
(ii) state the hours over which the typical busy period download speed applies; and
(c) contain information that provides a guide to consumers about the level of online usage the relevant NBN consumer plan can support during the busy period, which includes the following information:
(i) examples of the common online activities that the NBN consumer plan can support;
(ii) the approximate number of people who could participate in the common online activities referred to in subparagraph (i) simultaneously using different devices; and
(iii) for NBN consumer plans with the NBN broadband service speed tier 12/1 (Mbps) or lower - common online activities that are unlikely to be satisfactorily supported due to the low download and upload data speeds; and
(d) where the key facts sheet relates to an NBN consumer plan for a FTTB, FTTC or a FTTN connection - set out what remedies are available to consumers including all those remedies required to be made available under the Telecommunications Service Provider (NBN Service Migration) Determination 2018, if it is established that the physical telecommunications network infrastructure underlying the consumer’s connection to the NBN is not capable of providing the speed tier of the consumer’s NBN consumer plan.
(2) Where a key facts sheet relates to a small business NBN consumer plan for a fixed line NBN connection, a retail carriage service provider can satisfy the requirements in paragraph (1)(b) by:
(a) stating the typical busy period download speed that the average consumer can expect to receive during standard work hours under the small business NBN consumer plan; and
(b) stating the hours over which the typical busy period download speed applies.
(3) Where subsection (2) applies, a retail carriage service provider must provide the information required by paragraph (1)(c) with reference to the level of online usage the relevant NBN consumer plan can support during standard work hours, instead of by reference to the level of online usage the relevant NBN consumer plan can support during the busy period.
(4) A retail carriage service provider may use the typical busy period download speed it has determined in accordance with the Broadband Speed Claims: Industry Guidance as a basis for the information included in its key facts sheet in accordance with paragraph (1)(b) or (2)(a).
9 Minimum requirements – technical limitations
A key facts sheet must:
(a) state that in most cases NBN services will not function during a power failure; and
Note: The Telecommunications (Backup Power and Informed Decisions) Service Provider Determination 2014 imposes additional disclosure and other obligations on carriage service providers that supply standard telephone services using FTTP.
(b) state that other factors at the consumer’s premises can affect or reduce the speed or performance of their NBN broadband service, provide common examples of such factors, and state what actions consumers could take to reduce the impact of those factors.
10 Minimum requirements - medical alarm services and security alarm services
A key facts sheet must inform consumers that before they enter into a consumer contract they should undertake their own enquiries:
(a) to assess whether a medical alarm service or security alarm service that the consumer wishes to continue using, is compatible with an NBN service; and
(b) to identify what alternatives are available if a medical alarm service or security alarm service referred to in paragraph (a) is not compatible with an NBN service,
including by contacting the provider of the medical alarm service or security alarm service.
Division 3 – Advertising material for NBN consumer plans
11 Minimum information requirements for advertising material about NBN consumer plans
(1) Where its advertising material relates to an NBN consumer plan for a fixed line NBN connection, a retail carriage service provider must:
(a) include the information referred to in paragraph 8(1)(b), and subsection 8(2) where applicable, in its description of the NBN consumer plan in any such advertising material that is published in printed form or online, or broadcast by any means;
(b) not use the term “up-to” or any term or phrase having a similar meaning when making claims in such advertising material about speed for NBN broadband services; and
(c) where speed tier information is included as text in that advertising material, state the typical busy period download speed in a font size that is at least as large as the speed tier information, and is positioned in close proximity to the representation of speed tier information and pricing information about that NBN consumer plan.
(2) The requirements in paragraphs (1)(a) and (c) do not apply to small online advertising that is not large enough to set out all the information required to be included in advertising material by those paragraphs in a font size referred to in subparagraph 7(1)(a)(v).
(3) Where a retail carriage service provider applies standardised labelling to NBN consumer plans in advertising material to indicate relative speed performance compared to other NBN consumer plans (such as the speed labels described in the Broadband Speed Claims: Industry Guidance), it must:
(a) set out on the provider’s website a definition of each standardised label the provider uses, which includes the information required by paragraph 8(1)(c); and
(b) ensure that those definitions can be accessed from a prominent hyperlink on its website, that is positioned in close proximity to where the standardised labels appear as part of the provider’s advertising of NBN consumer plans.