All mobile phones sold in Australia after February 2016 must be labelled with a new compliance mark to show they adhere to all national safety standards under changes announced by the communications regulator in June.

“The Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA] has today introduced a single regulatory compliance mark (RCM) to illustrate a device's compliance with all applicable ACMA standards - telecommunications, radiocommunications, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic energy (EME),” the ACMA press release said.

From March 2013 the new RCM symbol will begin to be displayed on mobile devices and other telecommunications equipment instead of the A-Tick and C-Tick compliance marks which were previously used to show compliance with the ACMA’s standards for both consumer and commercial telecommunications equipment, respectively.

“The single compliance mark is part of the ACMA’s broader strategic program to ensure that regulation evolves with the changing ICT environment,” the ACMA said.

 “Because devices are increasingly subject to multiple technical regulatory requirements, the historical sector-based (A-tick and C-tick) labelling requirements are not sustainable.”

 AMTA CEO Chris Althaus welcomed the new streamlined compliance mark scheme and said it would reduce the administrative burden on suppliers and increase consumer confidence in the safety of telecommunications products.

 “AMTA, on behalf of its members, supports the proposed amendments to labelling arrangements to implement a consolidated compliance mark, Mr Althaus said in a submission to the ACMA.

 “Our industry supports a compliance mark that gives consumers confidence that a telecommunications item meets the safety and technical standards set by the ACMA and that all mobile phones sold in Australia are designed, built and tested to meet strict science-based safety standards, which include the added precaution of a safety margin to ensure they can be used safely by the general public.”

 “We agree with the ACMA’s goal that a single national database will streamline registration processes, reducing regulatory burdens on industry and facilitate self-regulation.”

 The ACMA said under the new arrangements, all suppliers using the new compliance mark will be required to register on an online database by 1 March 2016, so members of the public, retailers and other suppliers could search for compliant products.