7.1 Recommendation 

Ensure every Australian can rely on digital services by providing transparency of the resilience of Australia's telecommunications infrastructure. 

Proposed Sponsor: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications

When this should impact:

Where this should impact:

7.1.1 Enable emergency services and network operators to better respond to emergencies by classifying telecommunications as an essential service and continue to develop management policies such as infrastructure protection, risk planning and vegetation management. 

Proposed lead: Department of Home Affairs 

Supported by: State and territory emergency services, telecommunications network operators - fixed and mobile

Create a clear legislative framework for improved policies and processes for state and territory governments and network operators to plan, manage and provide resilient services by consistently classifying telecommunications as an essential service in state and territory emergency management legislation. 

Proposed lead: State and territory Attorneys-General 

Supported by: State and territory resilience agencies

Increase preparedness for dealing with outages caused by natural disasters with clearly defined plans to address power resilience and back-up power for telecommunications sites. 

Proposed lead: National Recovery and Resilience Agency 

Supported by: State and territory resilience agencies

Protect communities from lost power and communications outages caused by emergencies, with a roadmap for Australia's energy networks to introduce more power line shielding and line undergrounding in areas at high risk of disaster. 

Proposed lead: Critical Infrastructure Centre and Department of Home Affairs

7.1.2 Empower and educate consumers by providing easy-to-understand information about the reliability and performance of all fixed and mobile networks through a public web portal, with scores available at point of sale. 

Proposed lead: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Give consumers and businesses comprehensive, easy-to-understand information about network reliability and other key network features by further improving the Measuring Broadband Australia tool to include more reliability measures and simplifying the format of measurements presented as a grading system. 

Proposed lead: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

7.1.3 Protect communities from emergencies by developing a comprehensive response and recovery plan, investing in tools, hardware and networks for use by state and territory governments, emergency services and industry. 

Proposed lead: State and territory resilience departments

Protect lives in high-risk bushfire areas with improved cut-through for emergency alert warning system national emergency broadcast messages through the introduction of Emergency Cell Broadcasting across all mobile operators. 

Proposed lead: Australian Communications and Media Authority 

Supported by: Telecommunications network operators - mobile

Enable network operators and state and territory emergency services to better respond and make better decisions during emergencies by creating a system that enables two-way, real-time access to emergency data and standardised network asset information. 

Proposed lead: Telecommunications network operators - fixed and mobile 

Supported by: State and territory emergency services

Improve resilience and coverage in high-risk areas and along evacuation routes with new investment in programs such as the Mobile Black Spot Program and the Mobile Network Hardening Program. The investment should prioritise improved mobile coverage and mobile network resilience in areas prone to natural disasters such as bushfires. 

Proposed lead: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications 

Supported by: Telecommunications network operators - mobile

Provide emergency services with more coverage and more capability for national public safety networks through a coordinated network expansion plan and capability strategy for improving coverage, capacity and the ability to transmit data. 

Proposed lead: State and territory resilience agencies 

Supported by: Department of Home Affairs