Millions of Australians live in households without
internet access, according to the World Economic Forum, who have awarded
Australia the lowest scoring country in the category of affordability for
internet access.
As more and more people rely on emails and other
electronic forms of communication to pay their bills and receive official
statements, many companies have begun to charge fees to people who want
documents sent to them in hard copy.
Today a campaign will be launched by Keep Me Posted in
Parliament to ask corporations in Australia to reconsider charging Australians
for document hardcopies.
Kelli Northwood, who heads the group Keep Me Posted,
said it was far from ideal for the mostly poor and elderly who make up the
large percentage of Australians who do not have access to the internet.
"I mean the fact that there are 4 million
Australians who live in households without internet access is a big
issue," Senator Xenophon said.
"Why should these people, particularly senior
citizens, be impacted in this way?
"It really does seem to be quite discriminatory
and counterproductive."
The Keep Me Posted campaign says similar efforts in
countries including Canada, Germany and France have resulted in law changes to
protect consumers from charges for billing or statement information.
Saisi
No comments:
Post a Comment