Today I launched the 2010 Telstra Bill Assistance Research Report at the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) national conference.

The research looks at the effectiveness of Telstra’s Bill Assistance Program (TBAP), and confirms the increased pressures on community agencies in meeting the demand from people seeking emergency relief.

TBAP assists people who are experiencing financial difficulty and are unable to pay their Telstra bill. Telstra funds the program and participating community agencies assess the needs of clients and, where appropriate, provide Telstra Bill Assistance Certificate(s) of a fixed amount towards their Telstra home, mobile or internet bill.

Times are tougher

As we know, the impacts of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) resulted in many Australians facing increased economic and social challenges. The demand for emergency relief services is greater than ever.

The TBAP research indicates the GFC has had a major impact on Telstra customers who are on a low income.

• The intensity of overall need is heavier, with nine out of ten agencies reporting an increase in demand for TBAP certificates.
• New client groups are presenting to agencies for emergency relief assistance, e.g. struggling employed, single income families as a result of a redundancy, mortgage payers and young singles forced into contract based work.
• The first six months of 2009–10 shows a 33 percent increase in TBAP usage over the comparable period.
• Agencies indicate that people may have received redundancy payouts but then six to nine months later present asking for emergency relief assistance.

A Sense of Connectedness

In 2008–09 over 30 000 different customers were assisted with TBAP with a total benefit of $4 170 000 provided. TBAP was seen as clearly helping to prevent disconnection of phone services with 47 percent believing their phone service would have been disconnected if not for such assistance.

TBAP recipients were generally seeking financial assistance for the compounding problems of limited income, multiple bills and unexpected larger bills. Many of these people wait until the situation is quite severe before seeking financial assistance due to a sense of embarrassment of having to ask for help.

Interestingly, the same number of customers said they increased their usage of telecommunications, as those who said they reduced their usage to lessen the bill, due to the GFC. This increased usage was to look for work and contact family, the doctor and other support services. Three quarters of those surveyed viewed their home phone as their most important service with the internet emerging as being more required for educational, transactional and entertainment purposes.

Since 2002, Telstra has invested in Access for Everyone, a comprehensive package of products and services, including TBAP, to assist people on a low income to stay connected.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on what the telecommunications industry can do to help those in need stay connected.

Useful links:

• Telstra Bill Assistance Research Summary Report March 2010 (PDF 1.3MB)
• Telstra Access for Everyone program