Joint media release
Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety, Senator the Hon Sarah Henderson
Shadow Minister for Regional Communications, Dr Anne Webster MP
The Coalition welcomes the activation of temporary disaster roaming today, but disaster-prone communities should not have been forced to wait almost two years.
The Coalition has long been calling for greater support for regional communities during times of emergency. After the Regional Telecommunications Review recommended a feasibility study into emergency mobile roaming, the then Coalition government acted quickly, directing the ACCC in March 2022 to investigate temporary disaster roaming.
When the ACCC found it was technically feasible, Labor promised this capability would be delivered by the end of 2024. But it has taken the Albanese government until now to provide this vital service.
Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety, Sarah Henderson, said: “For regional Australians, communications during a disaster can be a matter of life and death. Temporary disaster roaming is welcome, but regional communities deserved this capability a long time ago.”
“During times of natural disaster, temporary disaster roaming can provide a lifeline where a mobile network fails, allowing customers to roam onto another network to make calls, send texts and access basic data such as emergency apps and websites.”
“This industry-led scheme is currently voluntary which is inadequate. That is why the Coalition will move an amendment to the Outdoor Universal Mobile Obligation bill to mandate temporary disaster roaming during times of emergency.”
“The Coalition has repeatedly demanded legislative certainty for temporary disaster roaming, including in our recent Triple Zero Senate inquiry,” Senator Henderson said.
Shadow Minister for Regional Communications, Anne Webster, said there was still a need for more towers and reliable power supplies across regional Australia.
“In the many parts of regional Australia with no towers, temporary disaster roaming is no help there. Under Labor, we still have an unacceptably large number of black spots, particularly after the botched 3G network shutdown and savage cuts to regional connectivity funding,” Dr Webster said.
“At the same time, Labor is legislating a Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation built around emerging satellite technology which provides no guarantee of voice calls anytime soon.”
Dr Webster said temporary disaster roaming is a welcome and potentially lifesaving step for regional Australians.
“This must be the beginning of telecommunications reform, not the end of it. Regional Australians need reliable coverage every day, not a limited service after a natural disaster has already brought a network down.”
“Given recent Triple Zero outages at Telstra and Optus, the big test will be whether temporary disaster roaming works as intended. The Government needs to be accountable – this system must work and be continuously improved,” Dr Webster said.