How to Make a TIO Complaint: Complain to Your Telco First, the 10-Working-Day Rule and Disputed Bills

Put the complaint in writing to your phone or internet provider first, call it a complaint, and hold the provider to the Complaints Handling Standard: a proposed fix within 10 working days, or 2 working days if the complaint is urgent. If that fails, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) is free. The TIO itself says that skipping the provider step “adds five extra days to your case”.

Claim Done’s Telco Complaint pack writes both documents for A$49: the formal complaint to your provider, citing the deadlines it must meet, and a complaint statement for you to check and lodge with the TIO if the provider does not fix it. You send and lodge them yourself.

This matters more than it did a month ago. On 24 September 2026 the TIO and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding ahead of a new external dispute scheme for scam complaints, which starts on 31 March 2027 and will sit with AFCA. So scam losses are heading to a different door. Wrong bills, faults, cancellations, exit fees and debt collection still go to your provider, then the TIO. This guide is about that route.

Step one: a written complaint, using the word “complaint”

Telcos log a contact as a complaint when you tell them you are dissatisfied. Say so plainly. Chat transcripts and phone calls count, but an email or letter gives you a date nobody can argue with, and the clock in the rules runs from when the provider receives it.

The ACMA’s guidance on how telcos must handle complaints (updated 22 December 2025) says a provider must let you complain by phone, email or online form, by live chat or app if it uses them, in store if it has stores, and by letter. It must publish those details on its website under a link that includes the word “complaint”, and on your bills.

A good complaint has five things in it:

1. The account or service number and the service it is about (mobile, home internet or NBN, home phone).
2. What happened, in date order, with amounts and any earlier reference numbers.
3. Why you are dissatisfied, in two or three sentences per issue.
4. What you want done: a credit of named charges, the fault fixed, a cancellation without an exit fee, a debt recalled from a collector.
5. A request that the provider confirm its proposed resolution within the timeframe the rules set.

Keep it calm. The person reading it has a queue, and a specific, dated complaint is easier to fix than an angry one.

The deadlines your provider has to meet

These come from the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018, as the ACMA summarises them:

A worked example. Email your complaint on Wednesday 7 October 2026. With no public holidays in between, the acknowledgement is due by Friday 9 October, and the proposed resolution by Wednesday 21 October. Write those two dates in your diary the day you send it.

If the provider cannot meet a timeframe, it must tell you as soon as possible, give the cause of the delay and the new timeframe, and tell you about the TIO if the delay is expected to run more than 10 working days past the deadline. It must also tell you about the TIO if the complaint is still unresolved after 30 calendar days. The required wording includes the phrase “you have the right to take it to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which is a free and independent service”.

When a complaint is urgent

Two working days instead of ten is a big difference, so check whether yours qualifies. Under the ACMA guidance a complaint is urgent if:

• you are a financial hardship customer who has applied for, or has, a payment arrangement, and the complaint is about something that could make your finances worse;
• it is about a service you receive priority assistance for;
• the provider is about to disconnect you, or has disconnected you without following the correct process.

From 1 January 2026 the definition also covers someone who is, or may be, experiencing domestic and family violence and who tells the provider there is a threat to their safety or their children’s. If one of these applies, say so in the first paragraph and ask for the complaint to be treated as urgent.

Disputed bills, debt collectors and default listings

This is where people lose money they did not owe. The industry code, the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (C628:2019, incorporating Variation No.1/2022, still the version on the ACMA’s register), has a rule headed “Credit Management for disputed amounts”. A supplier must not take credit management action on a specified disputed amount that is the subject of an unresolved complaint, where it knows the dispute is unresolved and is being investigated by the supplier, the TIO or a recognised third party. Credit management action covers suspending or disconnecting a service for non-payment, sending the debt to a collector, selling it and listing a default.

Two practical consequences. First, name the exact amount you dispute. “My bill is wrong” does not specify anything; “the $240 early termination fee on the August bill” does. Second, pay the part you do not dispute. The same code lets the provider take credit management action on amounts that are not the subject of the complaint, and says it must tell you so. Paying the undisputed balance keeps the argument about the $240, not about your whole account.

The code also says debts sold to third parties or listed with a credit reporting body must not include disputed amounts under an unresolved complaint. If a default has already landed on your credit file, our guide to getting an old telco default corrected covers the credit reporting side.

If you are struggling to pay the bill

Separate rules apply, and they are stronger than most people expect. The ACMA’s page on help if you can’t pay your bill (updated 7 January 2026) says a provider must assess a financial hardship application within 5 business days and tell you the outcome within 2 business days after that. It must offer at least 6 options. Two are compulsory: postponing or extending the due date, and a payment plan you can actually afford. Others can include waiving or discounting part of the bill, a free non-automatic payment method, a cheaper product or spend controls.

Use the words “financial hardship” in your complaint. That triggers the urgent timeframe above if the complaint is about something making your finances worse. The National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 offers free financial counselling alongside it.

When to go to the TIO, and what it can do

If the provider misses its deadline, offers nothing, or offers something you do not accept, take it to the TIO. You can lodge online or call 1800 062 058. The process is short: you tell the TIO the problem and the outcome you want, the TIO escalates it to a dedicated team at your provider, and the provider proposes a resolution within 10 working days. If you are still unhappy, you can ask for an investigation.

Some limits worth knowing before you start. The TIO is free for consumers and small businesses and independent of government and the industry. It can make decisions binding on providers for amounts up to $100,000. Its common issues page says your complaint should be about a problem that happened, or that you became aware of, in the last two years, although it may help with problems up to six years old depending on the reason for the delay. It cannot lower or freeze a telco’s prices, make a provider offer a particular plan, or order network upgrades such as new towers.

We have separate guides on the three most common telco fights: NBN speeds that never match the plan, a provider that will not let you cancel, and a telco that will not fix the problem. The timeframes in this guide are the current ones; they replace anything older you may read elsewhere.

What Claim Done’s Telco Complaint pack gives you

The Telco Complaint and TIO Statement costs a flat A$49. You answer a short set of questions (the provider, the service, what happened, the amount you dispute, what you want) and two documents are usually ready in about 5 minutes:

1. A formal complaint to your provider. It states what happened and why you are dissatisfied, asks for the outcome you chose, sets out the Complaints Handling Standard timeframes, asks the provider to confirm no credit management action on the disputed amount, and adds a financial hardship request if you say you are struggling to pay.
2. A complaint statement for the TIO. A complete, numbered account of the complaint, the attempts to resolve it and the outcome you want, ready to paste or upload if the provider does not fix it.

You review both, download them, and send and lodge them yourself. Claim Done does not lodge anything, and Claim Done is not a law firm.

Why pay when the TIO costs nothing? The TIO stays free. The A$49 buys a complaint that names the right rules, the right amount and the right deadline the first time, which is the part people get wrong at 10pm after their fourth hour on hold.

Start at claimdone.com.au/begin, choose Telco Complaint, and tell us the provider and what went wrong. Your complaint letter and TIO statement are ready to review and download straight after. See how it works or all prices.

Facts checked on 29 September 2026 against the ACMA’s guidance on complaint handling (updated 22 December 2025) and financial hardship (updated 7 January 2026), the ACMA register of telco codes and standards (updated 29 June 2026), the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2019 incorporating Variation No.1/2022, and the TIO’s make-a-complaint, about, common issues and news pages.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to complain to my telco before going to the TIO?

The TIO asks you to raise the problem with your provider first and says skipping that step adds five extra days to your case. A written complaint to the provider also starts the 10-working-day clock under the Complaints Handling Standard.

How long does a telco have to respond to a complaint?

It must acknowledge an emailed or posted complaint within 2 working days and propose a resolution within 10 working days. An urgent complaint, such as one about an imminent disconnection or financial hardship, must be resolved within 2 working days, including carrying out the fix.

Can my telco send a disputed bill to a debt collector?

Not the disputed part while the complaint is unresolved. The Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code says a supplier must not take credit management action on a specified disputed amount that is the subject of an unresolved complaint. Name the exact amount you dispute and pay the rest.

Is the TIO free and what can it award?

The TIO is free for consumers and small businesses. It can make decisions that are binding on providers for amounts up to $100,000. It cannot lower a telco's prices or require network upgrades.

How old can a problem be for a TIO complaint?

The TIO says your complaint should be about a problem that happened, or that you became aware of, in the last two years. It may still help with complaints up to six years old depending on the reason for the delay.

See the full steps: how to complain about your phone or internet provider and escalate to the TIO.