Appointing an Advocate or Authorised Representative

The 2012 Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code requires that every Australian Telecommunications Provider (Supplier) allows Customers to appoint a representative to deal with the Supplier (eg. a family member or consumer advocate).

There are two kinds of Representative

• Advocates, who can talk to the Supplier for the Customer, but are not a legal agent for the Customer.
• Authorised Representatives, who are a legal agent for the Customer.

Advocates

Advocate means a person nominated by a Consumer to deal with a Supplier on the Consumer's behalf (but unlike an Authorised Representative, does not act as the Consumer's agent nor have authority to access any of the Consumer's account information from the Supplier).

The Supplier:

• must ensure that a Consumer can easily use an Advocate to communicate with the Supplier, if the Consumer requires.
• may presume that an Advocate is not authorised to establish or make changes to a Customer's account or Telecommunications Services, unless the Advocate is also the Customer's Authorised Representative.
• must advise the Consumer that a person acting as their Advocate has no power to act on the Consumer's behalf and has no access to their information without the Consumer being present and agreeing to such action.
• must allow Consumers or former Customer to use an Advocate to make a Complaint.

Authorised Representatives

Authorised Representative means the person who has authority from a Consumer to deal with a Supplier on behalf of that Consumer as their authorised agent. A reference to a Consumer includes a reference to the Consumer's Authorised Representative.

The Supplier:

• ensure that a Consumer can appoint an Authorised Representative to act on their be half, if the Consumer requires.
• advise the Consumer that a person made an Authorised Representative has the power to act on the Consumer's behalf as if they are the Consumer; or if the Authorised Representative has more limited rights, the level of access that the Authorised Representative has to the Customer's information.
• obtain appropriate authority before it accepts the appointment of a person as an Authorised Representative for a Customer, but not make the process of appointment difficult to complete.
• ensure it obtains the Customer's authority or the appropriate other authority such as a copy of the relevant power of attorney, before accepting a person as the Authorised Representative for a Customer.
• keep a record of the circumstances and when the Authorised Representative was appointed.
• provide Consumers with access to information about how to appoint an Authorised Representative and access to any relevant forms required to evidence the appropriate authority.
• take reasonable steps to balance the risks of fraud, privacy and security of Customers with facilitating the appointment of Authorised Representatives.
• allow Consumers or former Customer to use an Authorised Representative to make a Complaint.

Security, Privacy and Fraud

As noted above, the Code requires that you "take reasonable steps to balance the risks of fraud, privacy and security of Customers with facilitating the appointment of Authorised Representatives."

Limitations on Authority of Authorised Representative

As noted above, the Code requires that you "must advise the Consumer that a person made an Authorised Representative has the power to act on the Consumer's behalf as if they are the Consumer or, if the Authorised Representative has more limited rights, the level of access that the Authorised Representative has to the Customer's information."

Appointing an Advocate or Authorised Representative

There are several ways that Simple Telecom allows their customers to Authorised Representatives.

• Contact Customer Support for Information - email support@bonntech.com.au or Call 1300 989 086.
• Download the Appointment of Advocate or Authorised Representative form and email or mail it to Bonntech Business Solutions
  • Email to support@bonntech.com.au
  • Mail to PBX Support, Bonntech Business Solutions, PO BOX 150, Bulleen VIC 3105
• Draft an email to support@bonntech.com.au which contains the following information (used to verify the identity of the Advocate or Authorised Representative by our Customer Service Team):
  • Whether you are appointing an Advocate or an Authorised Representative?
  • The full name of the person being appointed.
  • The driver's license number of the person being appointed.
  • The mobile phone number of the person being appointed.
  • A member of Simple Telecom's Customer Service Team will contact you to verify the information you provided.
• Phone Bonntech Business Solution's Customer Support Team on 1300 989 086. This is the option we recommend for anyone suffering from a serious health issue who is not able to sign a form.