Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak in support of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. This bill establishes a regulatory framework for a universal outdoor mobile obligation so that mobile providers ensure that mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors to all people in Australia on an equitable basis.

This bill will be music to the ears of Mackellar residents who live in Coasters Retreat and Mackerel Bay, who have seeking better mobile coverage for many years. These communities have long asked for an underwater NBN cable connection, just like those of other western foreshore communities in Pittwater, in the northern beaches of Sydney. These communities include places like Scotland Island, Dangar Island, Lovett Bay, Taylor's Bay and Elvina Bay.

In arguing their case, the Coasters Association conducted community surveys with residents from Coasters Retreat, Mackerel Bay and the Basin. They wanted to ascertain their experiences and the extent of the telecommunications issues faced by them. Coasters Retreat has 52 households, Mackerel Beach has 117, and every year hundreds of people holiday at the Basin camping ground. The survey results show that residents have a mixture of NBN via Sky Muster satellite, Starlink satellite, ADSL, internet via dongle or mobile, or Telstra 4G with specific antenna.

Some of the issues residents identified included that, with ADSL, only one person can use it at any one time. A resident who runs a photography business and transfers large files has frequent dropouts or finds the internet doesn't work at all. Poor Telstra mobile connection renders hotspotting to a mobile phone or a dongle unsuccessful, with one resident saying that, with cloud cover or storms, there is no internet.

Another resident, with Sky Muster, said that it's very slow and unreliable and that, when they're trying to work from home, there's absolutely no consistency for video calls. Another said that, while it's okay for streaming and emailing, stormy, windy weather causes it to drop out and wi-fi calling via mobile is useless.

A user of Starlink said that it does deliver acceptable speeds. However, it is costly to install and costly to maintain, plus it will not work for everyone at Coasters Retreat due to the topography and tree obstructions to satellites. While it works fine for emails and most streaming, it's not acceptable for video calling.

Twenty survey respondents said they have landlines for emergency purposes but that the call quality is often so crackly you cannot hear the caller, particularly after heavy rain. Another resident reported that frequent submarine cable and in-ground copper wire faults caused too many service interruptions and, as a result, they discontinued the landline after an outage of around two months.

Coasters Retreat and Mackerel Beach residents are people who work from home, run businesses or are school or university students. One resident who is supposed to deliver online university classes said that the internet connection is rarely good enough to be able to do this consistently. Another resident at Mackerel Beach said that they sometimes have to use the payphone at Mackerel Beach to carry out business calls.

Of huge concern is that there are residents at Coasters Retreat and Mackerel Beach who have medical issues. A resident with Parkinson's disease stated that, when mobile reception is out of service, it becomes difficult to organise medical appointments and access support for the condition. A registered clinical psychologist who provides psychological sessions via FaceTime, WhatsApp and Skype is often hugely compromised due to the reception issues.

The Basin camping ground is popular for daytrippers and overnight campers. On average, the rangers require emergency medical assistance at the Basin weekly from October to early May and monthly for the rest of the year. Poor mobile phone connectivity is exacerbated when there are lots of boats anchored in surrounding bays, with both Mackerel Beach and Coasters Retreat severely impacted. Due to the high risk of bushfire in this area and the health issues of a community with only water access, high-speed and reliable connections for residents, the rural fire service, marine rescue and paramedics attending incidents at Coasters Retreat, the Basin and Mackerel Beach are essential. They could be a matter of life and death.

Despite applying to the Peri-Urban Mobile Program that delivered new or upgraded mobile phone infrastructure targeting mobile coverage and reception issues in 2024, this was not successful as the area was not deemed a priority compared to other areas. It beggars belief that these mobile reception problems at these locations have not been deemed a priority.

Increased extreme weather events across Australia also demonstrate the need for reliable mobile services during emergencies. I recently saw firsthand the devastation that the latest storm and torrential rain had caused at Mackerel Beach, including a landslide that damaged or destroyed homes. This is proof that reliable mobile phone reception and internet access is more important than ever at Mackerel Beach, Coasters Retreat and the Basin.

I hate to say it, but this situation seems to be history repeating itself. Residents of Cottage Point in my electorate fought for over 20 years to get reliable mobile phone coverage and internet access through the installation of a mobile phone base station. This was despite the death of resident David Berry in 2019 after his wife was unable to call an ambulance because their landline was down and there was no mobile reception. This should never have happened, and it should never happen again. A cable connection with fibre to the node as NBN is what residents are asking for. This would bring these locations into line with other western foreshore communities in Pittwater who are provided this solution to ensure reliable communications.

And it's not just the communities of Coasters Retreat and Mackerel Beach who are struggling with mobile phone coverage. Ocean Street in Narrabeen, where my office is actually located, also has ongoing poor mobile phone reception. Despite numerous upgrades to 3G, 4G and 5G, the area still lacks consistent phone coverage. This is despite the already established universal service obligation that aims to ensure all Australians, no matter where they live, have reasonable access to essential telecommunications services.

Like many others on Ocean Street, Narrabeen restaurant manager Anika Tolland reports that call quality is poor and unreliable across multiple carriers. This not only impacts the day-to-day operations of her business but also raises significant safety concerns, should an emergency occur. Last year, during a fire in an electrical box, the restaurant lost power and phone access. Because their wi-fi was down, Anika was unable to make calls from her mobile due to the poor reception. In an emergency, this delay could have been critical. It is vitally important that these telecommunication issues are urgently resolved for the communities of Coasters Retreat, Mackerel Beach and Narrabeen.

This bill provides a flexible framework for the minister to determine coverage areas, obligations, provider standards, benchmarks and rules in relation to the universal outdoor mobile obligation. The bill will facilitate funding for the UOMO from the public-interest telecommunications services special account, which contains a mix of government appropriations and telecommunications industry levy funds. Part 2 of the bill will insert broad new powers to make standards, rules and benchmarks for carriers and carriage service providers in relation to mobile telecommunications services.

My hope is that this bill will hold the telecommunications providers to account and that the communities of Coasters Retreat, Mackerel Beach, The Basin and Narrabeen will finally have the mobile phone reception coverage that they deserve and can rely on. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context