Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Albanese government is committed to keeping Australians connected.

We believe in a simple principle: no-one held back and no-one left behind.

Access to telecommunications is not a luxury; it is an essential service that underpins public safety.

Australians rely on mobile phones for their connectivity more than ever. However, Australia's longstanding Universal Service Obligation does not include mobile services.

The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will change that.

For the first time, our national mobile network operators, Telstra, Optus and TPG, will need to provide reasonable access to outdoor baseline mobile coverage across Australia on an equitable basis. This will initially require providers to support voice and SMS services.

Many thought it would never be possible to deliver mobile coverage across Australia's vast inland areas, but the advent of new Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEOSat) direct-to-device technology will make it possible.

Within the next couple of years, direct-to-device—or 'D2D'—coverage will be able to provide baseline outdoor coverage in areas outside terrestrial coverage, allowing people to seek help if they are lost, injured or facing natural disasters in areas without traditional terrestrial mobile coverage.

As National Farmers Federation President, Hamish McIntyre, has said today: 'This is a world-first policy and we could become the gold standard for regional communications.' This is our goal and that's why we have introduced this legislation.

Some would say we should wait until the technology is widely available before legislating the UOMO.

But to wait would mean leaving rollout decisions to industry alone, and risk some Australians being left behind. The Albanese government is legislating the UOMO now to ensure baseline mobile coverage is widely available, and available as quickly as possible.

The UOMO is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage with new technology. It will complement existing networks so that we cover as much of Australia as possible and enable the community to benefit from new technology.

The government will continue to invest in communications infrastructure and resilience in regional and rural Australia, including through the $1.1 billion Better Connectivity Plan.

This plan includes successful initiatives like the Mobile Black Spot Program, the Mobile Network Hardening Program, the Regional Connectivity Program, the On Farm Connectivity Program and the Broadcasting Resilience Program.

We have also provided significant funding to upgrade the NBN in regional, rural and remote Australia, including upgrading fixed line areas with more resilient fibre services and expanding the fixed wireless footprint.

NBN Co's partnership with Amazon's Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, will ensure city-quality broadband is available within the NBN's satellite footprint.

Additionally, the Albanese government's $68 million package of measures to support First Nations digital inclusion will further contribute to improving digital participation in First Nations communities—a critical step towards achieving target 17 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

The new baseline connectivity, which will be delivered by the UOMO, will help improve public safety and mean better access to emergency services and support, particularly in regional and remote areas outside terrestrial mobile coverage where no access to triple 0 is possible unless people are calling from a home phone.

Turning to the specifics of the bill, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 establishes the framework for the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation.

This bill extends the existing universal services framework, which currently encompasses the reasonable provision of fixed voice services and pay phones, to include outdoor mobile services. It will apply to all three national mobile operators—Telstra, Optus and TPG.

There is one schedule to the bill, comprising two parts which together amend the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (TCPSS Act) to incorporate the UOMO into the existing universal service regime. The bill also makes minor amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and the Telecommunications Act 1997.

Part 1 of the bill sets out measures to extend the existing universal services regime outlined in the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 to include the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation.

The objective is to ensure mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors to all people in Australia on an equitable basis.

The concept of reasonableness deals with situations where it may not be possible for a mobile operator to supply a designated mobile service that provides mobile coverage at a particular area.

There could be several reasons for this, such as technical limitations, temporary interruptions to the availability of wholesale services, temporary outages, and a choice by a consumer not to purchase an appropriate handset or plan to access UOMO services.

The aim of the overarching obligation is that end-users of designated mobile telecommunication services can be used outdoors at locations where it is reasonable to expect them to be able to be used.

ACMA will be responsible for the enforcement of the UOMO. The Telecommunications Act 1997 provides it with powers to take enforcement action, including to investigate breaches, issue infringement notices, impose sanctions and penalties for noncompliance.

ACMA would also be responsible for the enforcement of any UOMO standards, rules or benchmarks that may be applied to services. I note that ACMA already fulfils this role in relation to existing universal service arrangements.

The bill includes a power for the minister to determine circumstances when it would not be reasonable to make mobile coverage available, or matters to which regard must, or must not, be had in determining whether mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors.

This part also incorporates designated mobile telecommunications services into the list of public interest telecommunications services. At the time of commencement, the designated services will be voice and SMS.

The UOMO will apply to the general Australian outdoor mobile coverage area, which includes all states and mainland territories, and the eligible external territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

This is the area in which mobile operators will be expected to provide mobile coverage to meet the obligation. There is one specified exception, being the Australian Radio Quiet Zone in Western Australia.

The bill also provides the minister with power to determine an area via legislative instrument. This could be required if an area needed to be excluded from the UOMO, had specific needs or one mobile operator was unable to service it.

The bill includes a default commencement date of 1 December 2027, at which time all three mobile network operators will be obligated to ensure that baseline mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors throughout Australia.

A default date provides a clear signal to the market of the importance of equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage, and that the intention of government is to see services provided as soon as feasible.

However, the bill also creates a flexible framework where the scope and timing of the UOMO can be adjusted, by legislative instrument, in response to market readiness and extended as technology evolves.

There is also flexibility in the bill to split the voice and SMS obligations should that be necessary due to market conditions at the commencement of the obligation.

The bill is technology neutral with mobile operators expected to leverage their existing and future terrestrial mobile infrastructure, as well as direct-to-device technology delivered by LEOsat platforms outside areas of mobile coverage.

Terrestrial mobile coverage provides mobile phone connectivity through land based cellular antennae, connecting mobiles within the range of mobile phone infrastructure (such as mobile network towers).

D2D uses LEOsats to provide mobile connectivity direct to mobile handsets. This requires a direct line of sight to the sky to enable handsets to communicate with the LEOsats, but does not require a fixed dish or base station at the consumer's end.

Mobile operators are already considering and negotiating arrangements with direct-to-device providers. Telstra has a commercial D2D SMS service available in Australia. Optus and TPG have announced plans to introduce D2D.

Ultimately, the bill recognises D2D is still an evolving technology, which will become increasingly available.

There are no financial impacts from this bill, though I note that the bill will enable the government to use funds in the Public Interest Telecommunications Services Special Account to support contracts or grants for the UOMO that maximise public interest outcomes.

This will provide flexibility to deal with emerging issues after implementation and reflects the longstanding policy principle that the telecommunications industry should contribute to the costs of delivering universal telecommunications services.

Part 1 also includes amendments to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 to provide ministerial powers to set standards, rules and benchmarks for UOMO services.

Part 2 of the bill creates a separate additional ministerial power to set standards, rules and benchmarks relating to mobile services prior to the UOMO default commencement day if required.

The ability to make standards is essential to ensure that the government can respond if the market fails to deliver quality or equitable mobile services. This is consistent with arrangements under the existing universal services framework.

While the UOMO provides the underlying framework for baseline connectivity that can support triple 0 access, the bill does not explicitly reference access to an emergency call service as a requirement for the mobile operators to meet the bill's objectives.

This is because there is a longstanding requirement for providers of public mobile telecommunications services to provide equitable access to triple 0. This is governed by the rules set out in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019, made under part 8 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

Any voice services carried by public mobile telecommunications services are currently captured by the Emergency Call Service Determination 2019. As voice services will need to be supplied outdoors to fulfil the UOMO, the Emergency Call Service Determination 2019 will apply to mobile telecommunications services offered and supplied in compliance with the UOMO. Accordingly, this means the UOMO will support access to triple 0 regardless of the technology used to supply voice services to consumers.

Public consultation on the exposure draft of the bill took place from 18 September 2025 to 19 October 2025. There were 88 submissions on the bill from industry, individuals, consumer representatives, and state and local governments.

Submissions included the mobile network operators, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, National Famers' Federation and ACCAN. The government has worked closely with stakeholders in drafting the bill, and I would like to thank them all.

This bill will modernise Australia's universal service arrangements to provide equitable access to basic mobile coverage outdoors and provide all Australians greater access to essential telecommunications services, improving public safety and ensuring critical new technology is available as widely and as equitably possible.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

See this speech in context