Australians overwhelmingly agree with the premise of not being charged to receive paper based bills, according to the reposnse to the latest Keep Me Posted campaign.
Keep Me Posted placed Reply Paid postcards in Australia Post retail outlets across the country, giving customers the opportunity to send back their support for the campaign.
The advocacy group says that in one week, more than 1,000 Australians have responded, all against the charges imposed by the banks, telcos and utilities.
The fees for paper based bills were imposed by the corporates under the guise of protecting the environment, but the reality was they wanted to avoid paying to print their bills and statements.
Kellie Northwood, executive director, Keep Me Posted says, “The response to the pamphlet is overwhelming. Thanks to the partnership with the retail outlets we are reaching out to those Australians who are on the wrong side of the digital divide and heavily rely on postal communications in their daily lives.
“They are the most vulnerable Australians who deserve their voice to be heard and they shouldn’t be penalised for preferring paper communications over digital ones.”
Keep Me Posted says the postcards were accompanied with flyers delivering information on paper billing and statement fees, providing consumers with tips about what they can do to challenge them.
Northwood says, “Analysis of the first wave of responses shows that 75 per cent of Australians are largely concerned about internet fraud, and 89 per cent want to keep paper records. Above all, a massive 88 per cent say they support the campaign on a social justice level.”
Keep Me Posted says that while some businesses like Optus, Foxtel, AGL and NAB are increasing the pressure on their customers to switch them to digital communications only, the Parliament of Australia is making progress towards more consumer protection.
Northwood says, “With Choice revealing in their Internet service provider satisfaction survey 2017 that 62 per cent of Australians have experienced internet issues in the last 6 months, guaranteeing free access to paper communications for all Australian consumers is critical.”
In the last few weeks, a motion asking the Government to bring consumer protection against fees on paper communications was moved in the lower House by Tim Hammond MP, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs.
Then, on June 19, Andrew Wilkie MP tabled a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Australian Consumer Law.
Northwood says consumers need to send the message against paper billing fees loud and clear.
“In the lead up to the Governance and Legislative Forum on Consumer Affairs which will review the Australian Consumer Law, the support we are seeing from federal Members of Parliament is encouraging, however we need Australians to send their message loud and clear to both Government and their service providers.”
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