In the first six months of 2010 – 2011, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has recorded an increase of almost 9 per cent in new complaints. The office received 87,264 new complaints between 1 July and 31 December 2010, up 6,957 on the first half of 2010.
Residents of the postcode 3754, which is shared by the outer Melbourne suburbs of Mernda and Doreen, had a higher rate of complaint to the TIO in the three months to the end of March than residents of any other Australian location. The TIO received 10.5 complaints per 1000 people in the Doreen and Mernda area.
Postcode 5015, which includes the inner suburb of Port Adelaide, occupied the second spot on the table with a complaint rate of 8.8 complaints per thousand people. All five locations in South Australia where complaint rates above six people per thousand were based in Adelaide. Residents of South Australia have traditionally had a higher rate of complaints to the TIO than other states.
High complaint rates may not necessarily be an indication of a poor service by providers. They may be an indication of a greater awareness of the TIO compared with people who live in postcodes with lower complaint rates.
With the exception of Coonabarabran, high complaint rates in our table for New South Wales were on the eastern seaboard. The postcode 2000, which includes Sydney CBD, had a complaint rate of 5.9 people per thousand population. CBD areas generally have high complaint rates, with Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne having complaint rates of more than 6 per thousand.
Queensland goes against this trend with high complaint rates generally occurring in areas outside Brisbane. The is borne out by the fact that the state’s highest complaint rate is in postcode 4184, which includes the Moreton Bay settlements of Russell, Macleay, Karragarra, Peel, and Coochiemudlo Islands. All the high complaint rates that occurred in Queensland were in the south eastern corner of the state.
Sydney came in 16th on the complaint list
For a full list of complaint suburbs click here.
