Nerida O’Loughlin will remain chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) until 2027 after being reappointed for a three-year term.
Before being appointed in 2017, and then reappointed in 2022, O’Loughlin held roles as interim CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency, as well as in the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy, and Department of Communications and the Arts. Her experience also includes serving as ACMA general manager in the late 2000s.
Over the past two years, she has led the ACMA’s work to strengthen telecommunications consumer safeguards, particularly for vulnerable Australians, overseen the establishment of BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register and Australia’s first SMS ID Registry – and assisted with enforcement of anti-scam and illegal gambling rules.
O’Loughlin has also worked on media diversity, misinformation, and disinformation on digital platforms, and supported improved digital connectivity by allocating valuable radiocommunications spectrum.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said her reappointment would provide the organisation ongoing certainty as the Federal Government continued its media and digital platforms reform agenda.
“Since her appointment in 2017, Ms O’Loughlin has led the ACMA to deliver important reforms and regulatory activities in the communications and media industries.
“This includes better supporting consumers facing financial hardship pressures in paying their telecommunications bills, mitigating consumer harms in gambling advertising, enforcing anti-scam rules, and taking enforcement action against corporations for non-compliance with Australia’s spam unsubscribe rules.
“I look forward to continue working with Ms O’Loughlin as the ACMA Chair.”