During the 2019–20 bushfires, Australia's major telecommunications carriers deployed temporary communications facilities to communities and evacuation centres where possible, providing temporary connectivity and a lifeline for many in areas affected by network outages.

An independent review of telecommunications infrastructure resilience during the 2019-20 bushfires. identified two key vulnerabilities for Victorian telecommunications infrastructure: loss of power to mobile base station sites, and pre-existing mobile blackspots.

Victoria’s June 2021 storm event affected multiple telecommunications sites either by storm damage or loss of power. Sections of the NBN network were damaged and needed to be rebuilt, and Telstra assessed 49 locations as being isolated from Triple Zero.

I want to...

All links in the table below will open in a new window.
Publish year Assurance activity Summary Organisation
2024 Review into the Optus outage of 8 November 2023 – Final Report (External link) A review of a major telecommunications outage that's impact significantly affected emergency services, government services, businesses and vulnerable people. The review makes 18 recommendations to address structural issues within the broader telecommunications ecosystem, to ensure an effective and consistent framework for managing and responding to unanticipated network outages. Australian Government
2023 Regional mobile infrastructure inquiry | Final report (External link) An Inquiry that looked at many factors which could ultimately affect the incentives of mobile network operators to invest in providing greater and improved mobile coverage and how these incentives could be increased by reducing the cost of providing greater coverage and removing obstacles for them to do so. Independent
2022 Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority Capability and Service Review: Final Report (External link) A review that responds to concern around the effectiveness of ESTA’s capability and capacity to deliver consistent Triple Zero (000) services across Victoria, it considered all aspects of ESTA’s operating model and assessed the agency's capabilities against the core services it delivers. The review made 20 recommendations which the Victorian Government supported in principle. Independent
2022 2021 Regional Telecommunications Review: A step change in demand (External link) A review examining the adequacy of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote Australia, it also considered particular issues including the impact of Government policies and programs, insights from the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging technologies, service reliability, regional development, and improving coordination between tiers of government. Australian Government
2022 Review of Victoria's emergency ambulance call answer performance COVID-19 pandemic-related 000 demand surge (External link) A review that examines and assesses both ESTA’s and the broader emergency management sector’s planning and preparedness for a major surge in emergency ambulance calls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The review also examines how the sector responded to the surge in emergency ambulance calls, the effectiveness of its response, and collaborative efforts to address the challenges. Inspector-General for Emergency Management