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The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, Deirdre O'Donnell, has released the Annual Report 2007 which reports on the role of the Ombudsman's office in handling complaints, analysing and investigating issues and developing and reviewing codes. The primary function of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is to provide free, independent, informal and timely resolution of complaints about telecommunications services.

In 2006/2007 the number of complaints to the Ombudsman increased by 30.9% to 166,885 complaints. The vast majority of complaints to the Ombudsman are from residential users of telecommunication services, although approximately 6% are from small business. The largest driver of the increased complaints related to the internet category with significantly increased complaints in billing and payments and customer service. Mobile and landline complaint issues grew only by modest amounts. In particular, the Do Not Call Register is considered to be responsible for a 46.9% reduction in privacy complaints. The Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme, which is a self-regulatory scheme developed by mobile carriage service providers, is believed to have contributed to a substantial decrease in billing and payment complaints in the mobile services arena.

The Ombudsman also has powers to formally investigate systemic issues with a view to formulating recommendations which will benefit consumers more broadly. The Ombudsman investigated eight systemic complaints in the 2006/2007 year. They included investigation of a decision by an internet service provider to unilaterally restrict connection speed of customers exceeding a set data limit even though customers were on a "No limits" plan. The Ombudsman also investigated a service provider's attempt to charge a customer who had lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman for their costs in handling the complaint.

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