Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I still remember my first mobile phone, which I got back in 2002. It was the Nokia 5510. It was pretty great. It had a full Qwerty keyboard, a calculator, a stopwatch and, for the first time in a phone, a built-in MP3 player which held a whopping 11 songs, about a third of which were by Christina Aguilera on my phone.

Back in the early 2000s, coverage could be patchy. For me, as I was only really using my phone to let my mum know where I was and to play Snake, that wasn't a huge deal. Fast-forward over 20 years and mobile phones look a lot different. When I got my Nokia 5510, I wouldn't have been able to imagine reading the news on it. I wouldn't have been able to imagine ordering stuff online or getting directions or accessing social media. These days we can take photos or videos and share them instantaneously with friends across the globe.

One thing hasn't changed though. The core purpose of a mobile phone is to be able to make and receive calls, and that is the essence of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 before us here today. The bill has a simple premise. It's about keeping Australians connected. The Albanese government recognises that reliable mobile connectivity is essential for modern life and wants every Australian to have access to baseline mobile voice and text services right across this country. Connectivity is important. It's key to preventing social isolation, it's key to delivering modern health care and it's key to keeping our economy moving.

We need our telecommunications services to be reliable because we depend on them every single day for so many reasons. These might be to keep in contact with friends and family or for running your own small business. Above all, we need them, crucially, to reach emergency services when something goes wrong. Despite these needs, traditional mobile networks currently reach only about one third of Australia's vast land mass. There is coverage in the areas where approximately 99 per cent of Australians live and work, but in large parts of regional, remote and rural Australia you can't make a triple zero call through standard mobile services. Labor has listened to the communities of regional, remote and rural Australia, and these communities have been very clear about the consequences that these gaps in coverage leave during emergencies.

Ensuring fairer access to essential mobile voice and text services across the country is a priority for this government. As I said, it's simple. Every Australian, regardless of where they live, should have access to a basic level of mobile connectivity. This is why Labor is introducing the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation. This initiative will deliver foundational outdoor coverage designed to improve public safety and extend the reach of emergency communications. With the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation, Australians will be able to access outdoor mobile connectivity in almost any location.

For the technical part, the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation laws will require mobile network operators Telstra, TPG and Optus to provide universal baseline outdoor mobile coverage wherever it's reasonably possible. To do this, mobile network operators will have to use a combination of their existing mobile networks, such as mobile towers and new direct-to-device satellite technology from low-Earth-orbit satellites. Telecommunications companies will use their existing mobile towers which enable the regular network we all use daily and technology that enables normal mobile phones to connect directly to satellites. What that means is that, if a mobile tower can't reach you, a satellite will pick up the signal instead. This bill also updates existing universal service rules, which used to only cover copper landline voice services.

Labor is modernising the framework by bringing mobile services on board, by protecting consumers and by ensuring that government can step in if the industry doesn't deliver what this country needs. So how does it all work? The answer is on your existing phone. You don't need a satellite phone. You don't need heavy equipment. Direct-to-device is engineered so that normal, everyday smartphones can connect to satellites in the same way that these phones connect to mobile towers now. If you're in an area with mobile coverage, your phone will use the usual mobile tower network. But, if you're in a remote area with no towers, your phone will automatically switch and connect to a satellite overhead. You won't even know it's happening. That's important because, in an emergency, when you need it, making sure that you're not having to think about technology is key. You only need to be able to get through. You might be exploring a distant national park. You might be enjoying a day offshore, hiking up a mountain or simply driving home along a remote road. With this technology, you will have full mobile coverage.

The low-Earth-orbit satellites are close and they're fast-moving. They can pick up mobile signals from standard phones, provide stronger connections than older, faraway satellites and, ultimately, give more reliable coverage in remote areas. Another way of thinking about low Earth orbit satellites is that they are back-up coverage. They're the safety net for Australians when they need it the most. That's what this legislation is about.

This legislation and this emerging technology is combining to be a game changer in rural, regional and remote Australia. It will fill the gaps where mobile towers have never been viable because of distance, geography or cost. It will give people a level of certainty and safety that simply hasn't been possible before. Remote communities will get that reliable baseline connectivity, helping to address the digital inequality between cities and the bush. It will remove the black spots that have a negative impact on businesses, on day-to-day life and on the safety of Australians.

We're all familiar with stories of travellers stranded for days alongside their car in the outback, sometimes with tragic outcomes. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will enable quicker locating and rescue in these situations where minutes matter and getting through is important. It will help when there is an emergency such as a bushfire or a flood, with SES, fire crews and volunteers being able to stay connected and offer assistance more quickly. We're all familiar with extreme weather or natural disasters like storms, cyclones and bushfires bringing down mobile towers. This will act as a safety net for those occasions too. This technology will be the important backup when that occurs, enabling people to continue to receive warnings, to seek help and to contact their families. So you can see it's not just about convenience; it is far more critical than that. It's not an exaggeration to say that, in some cases, the universal outdoor mobile obligation will be the difference between life and death. It will also help with the day-to-day business in areas which previously had no coverage. Think of how much more easily workers on remote properties will be able to stay connected, enabling more efficient and, importantly, safer workplaces. For those Australians who travel long distances, such as truck drivers and tourists, there will be fewer dead zones along highways and better access to roadside assistance.

Now, this direct-to-device satellite technology is still being implemented out around the world, but Labor is pushing ahead with this legislation now because it's crucial for Australians in regional and remote areas and because we want to ensure this vital technology is rolled out as broadly and as soon as possible. The bill introduces a default start date for the new universal obligations of 1 December 2027. The bill also allows for flexibility to alter this according to how quickly the technology develops and how ready the market is. This timeline sends a clear message to mobile network operators. It tells them that we're serious about ensuring better, fairer and safer mobile coverage for all Australians. This bill is part of the government's response to the 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review, the MacTiernan review, and it is the continuation of Labor's commitment to reducing the digital divide. Improving this will support economic growth and increase productivity while meeting the needs for more seamless connectivity across our massive landmass.

The better connectivity plan is delivering more than $1.1 billion in improvements for rural and regional communities. This investment forms part of the government's overall commitment of more than $2.2 billion to strengthen communications infrastructure across regional Queensland. As part of the plan, the government allocated $656 million in the October 2022-23 budget over five years to enhance mobile and broadband services and to build greater network resilience in regional and remote areas. A total of $400 million was directed to expand multicarrier mobile coverage along regional roads, to improve service in underserved regional and remote communities and to strengthen the reliability of communications network and public safety infrastructure. This included support for the Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation program. It included support for the Mobile Black Spot Program, the Mobile Network Hardening Program and the Regional Roads Australia Mobile Program. The plan also provides $200 million for two further rounds of the Regional Connectivity Program, which delivers locally tailored digital infrastructure projects to support regional communities' specific circumstances and needs. An additional $30 million has been allocated to improve on-farm connectivity, enabling farmers to adopt and benefit from connected machinery, smart sensors and advanced agricultural technologies. Other initiatives already underway include major government funding to upgrade the NBN and expand its fixed wireless network and $68 million in a package of measures to support First Nations digital inclusion.

This bill is about so many different things. At its core, it is about connectivity and making sure that that stopgap is there so that every Australian can get connected to who they need to wherever they are in this country. When we talk about the impact of that—it's big. It doesn't matter if you are a worker who's been injured on the job and is trying to call in to get assistance as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if you are living in a regional or remote area and you've had an accident and you need medical assistance as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if you're living somewhere where you need to be connected to family to avoid social isolation. And it doesn't matter if you're a bushwalker who needs immediate assistance to help you get back home. That is what this bill is all about. It's the safety net we need, it's the connectivity we deserve and it's about ensuring that all Australians have access.

As I've said, this bill reflects the Albanese Labor government's foundational belief that every Australian, regardless of where they live, should have access to a basic level of mobile connectivity. Whether someone is facing a natural disaster stuck on a country road, hurt while working on a property or lost in remote bushland, the universal outdoor mobile obligation bill is designed to make sure mobile services are there at the moments when it matters the most. For people in rural, regional and remote parts of Australia, leveraging direct-to-device satellite technology from low-Earth-orbit satellites will translate to greater safety. In modern Australia, this baseline requirement is critical.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note that we are talking about the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the shadow minister for regional communications, I want to assure the House and anyone who happens to be listening that I have been very involved in looking at this bill in its entirety.

Having just heard the previous speaker on Labor's side of the bench, I too want to believe in Tinkerbell and fairy dust, but the reality is that this bill leaves much to be desired. While we welcome efforts to bring mobile phone service into the Universal Service Obligation, this bill does not hit the mark. This is, once again, a political headline without substance. It's making into law something that the private sector was going to implement anyway, and the Labor government is taking a pat on the back for it as it goes through. That's coupled with a smoke and mirrors trick of a December 2027 start date but with the power to push it out for years if that doesn't happen to work.

We can see the history of this government in the telecommunications portfolio through the failures of the disastrous 3G shutdown. I called for action on the recommendations of the Senate inquiry into the 3G shutdown late last year. But, since then, the minister has been missing in action. The inquiry recommended a program to help customers who lost mobile coverage due to the 3G shutdown and subsidies to improve service and replace obsolete devices and equipment. These have not happened. Thousands of regional Australians face worse coverage or no coverage at all since the 3G shutdown. Phones drop to SOS mode, medical alarms fail and farmers are left without connectivity on their own properties.

Christine from Cumnock, New South Wales, had to travel even further after a car accident simply to call triple zero on a landline at a nearby house because she didn't have mobile phone reception. She's not the only one. Joe from Meckering, Western Australia, who called in while I was on Perth 6PR radio, said he has regular visitors at his home on the transcontinental highway asking to use his landline because, contrary to network indications, there is no mobile phone reception on his section of the highway. Mobile phone service is going backwards. An ABC article on Saturday described the experience of Ian from Newborough in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria—I'm standing next to the member for Gippsland—who used to have full mobile phone coverage in his lounge room but now has one bar and sometimes none. We know of complaints data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman for quarter 2 of 2025-26, which highlighted that complaints about having no phone or internet service were up by 41.6 per cent, and complaints about intermittent service or dropouts were up by 21.6 per cent.

Coming back to the bill before the House—this will not result in a UOMO, a universal outdoor mobile obligation, but rather a SOMO, a sometimes outdoor mobile obligation. If the government were serious about genuine delivery of outdoor coverage, it would develop mandatory domestic roaming. Why is it okay for international visitors to have this access but not Australians? A universal mobile obligation must be truly universal without escape clauses to allow the minister to exclude geographic areas where it might be all too hard, along with cars and boats. A universal mobile obligation must put the onus on telecommunications providers and the government to compensate consumers if technology shutdowns are required to implement the requirements of UOMO—for example, if 4G happens to shut down due to limited spectrum availability in the future. Let's not imagine that won't happen. A universal mobile obligation must include protections for rural and remote consumers to ensure the cost of implementing the law is not passed on to them, making services more expensive.

There must be transparency measures to ensure the reliability of the triple zero system, as the minister has presided over considerable failings on this front. This government cannot be trusted with emergencies. There have been two triple zero failures on this government's watch: two serious Optus outages, plus devices such as Samsung, OPPO and Apple being disconnected due to their inability to connect to triple zero.

The government should expedite work to develop a scalable method of text to triple zero for mass adoption to enable increased access now to emergency services in areas with text-only D2D connectivity—direct to device, for those who are not aware. This exists in several other countries. The government may claim that UOMO is a world first, but is it if it is really a SOMO with several extension dates? They claim also that D2D calling ability is still some time away, so why not activate text to triple zero via satellite now? A potential pilot of mass-adoption text to triple zero was recently confirmed by department of infrastructure officials. Why not include that requirement in this bill?

A bill which focuses on providing mobile coverage outdoors when there is a direct line of sight to the sky will not adequately address the needs of so many rural, regional and remote consumers who want and need mobile coverage to go about their everyday lives, such as when the weather is bad, when there is smoke from bushfires, when they are in a vehicle, car, boat or tractor or when they are in a public indoor space without wi-fi—for example, doing shopping or business in town.

UOMO is supposed to be technology agnostic, yet there is nothing included to address improvements to or expansion of the terrestrial network. This is essential to meet consumers' needs in a comprehensive way. The Labor government must commit to also addressing the deficiencies of the terrestrial network. Upgrades will continue to be essential. For example, small rural towns with terrestrial coverage with limited capacity are overwhelmed when tourists arrive for special events and cannot keep pace with increased consumer demand. Some of those special events include the Wimmera field days—which are happening right now—the speed field days, the Deni Ute Muster, or the steampunk festival in Dimboola. It happens everywhere where there is a sudden influx of thousands of people but there is nothing to assist.

What has happened to the Mobile Black Spot Program evaluation from January 2025? Crickets from the minister; maybe she has had trouble connecting. It needs expansion to dual focus on providing new coverage and improving the quality and reliability of existing coverage when events come to smaller towns, as I've just alluded to, or when towns grow and existing infrastructure simply cannot cope. Also, there needs to be a focus on enhancing resilience of existing mobile infrastructure to prevent outages and power failures in bad weather or natural disasters.

Australians in the bush have waited for the minister since April 2025 for around eight projects of the Mobile Black Spot Program to be announced—that's nearly 12 months. Rural and remote consumers suffer through outages and periods of maintenance at present, with no requirement for a replacement service and no limits on the timeframe. Developing consumer protections for mobile services as they exist for fixed voice services under the USO is another essential action. This government, under the minister who presided over the shocking failings of the 3G shutdown and Optus triple zero failures in 2025, has no interest in broader USO reform. They have sat on a consultation about better universal services since 2024, much like they've sat on the recommendation to review the triple-zero system since 2024.

This bill must go to a Senate committee. That is what the coalition will be calling for. Structural reform of this scale warrants comprehensive parliamentary examination. Given the government's record on 3G and triple zero, due diligence is not optional; it's essential. The coalition is serious about genuine reform that brings the USO into the 21st century and addresses complex issues, not just headline grabs and political wins.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think everyone in this House can agree that mobile service requirements across regional communities are very, very different than they are across metropolitan communities. I would hope it's the will of every person in this place—and, indeed the other place—that we work on something that actually delivers consistent change, that delivers priority to people in disaster-prone communities, that delivers productivity to our regional communities. That's why sometimes it's so gobsmacking to hear contributions like what we just heard, which was: there is a problem, but we don't want you to fix it in this way.

There is no doubt in my mind that our telco providers are beholden to their shareholders. They are for-profit organisations. But they also have an obligation to provide services to every community across the country, and this is one way that our government wants to hold those telcos to account, to say, 'You need to do better and you need to do better for every Australian, not just Australians in our cities.' That's why today I'm rising to speak in support of the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation—because it establishes a new framework to create this obligation. It complements the existing universal service obligation, which applies to fixed voice services and payphones—which are also incredibly important right across our community—but this is a significant and important reform that will bring mobile services within that universal services framework. More Australians now have mobile devices than have landlines, so it's important that as government and as parliament we ask the telcos to make sure that they are providing universal services to mobile phones.

We want to make sure Australians are better connected through these laws. It will require our national carriers—Telstra, Optus and TPG—to provide access to SMS and voice coverage for Australians nationwide—almost anywhere you can see the sky. That's incredibly important not only in my own electorate of Eden-Monaro but in every electorate. Whether you're in a national park, on a hiking trail or out on a farm, outdoor coverage needs to be more accessible. These changes are expected to add five million square kilometres of basic outdoor SMS and voice coverage across the country. That, to me, is a game changer. It'll be made possible by a combination of existing terrestrial towers and new 'low Earth orbit satellite' technology, which allows for mobile signals to connect direct to device rather than rely on land based infrastructure.

Yes, the bill has a proposed default date of 1 December 2027, at which time all three operators will be required to ensure that baseline mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors throughout Australia. As someone from a regional community, I know how important connectivity is for our regions. This is a really important reform that will continue to improve connectivity for people in regional, rural and remote Australia. From the outback to the coast to the mountains, black spots are frustrating, and they make doing even the most basic tasks difficult. Improved connectivity not only allows people to keep in touch with one another but it means safer roads, stronger businesses and more access to key services.

Telecommunications are vital across regional Australia and, in particular, in times of natural disaster or when there's an emergency. We're currently in the middle of high-risk weather season. As the Minister for Emergency Management, I've heard from communities across Australia, including in Deputy Speaker Chesters' electorate, that staying connected during a disaster is absolutely critical. That's why last week I announced AusAlert, which is a new cell broadcast national messaging system. It will use the latest technology to enable authorities, including states and territories, to send geographically targeted emergency messages to all compatible mobile devices within a 160-metre accuracy of where the incident is occurring. This system won't be impacted by telecommunications network congestion, which means it will help communities get access to information sooner to understand risks and to make decisions about their own personal safety.

This is a really important project that will help us and emergency service organisations warn people when they are in harm's way. It doesn't rely on any one telco provider, which is critical, and I know the member for Gippsland and I had those situations in the Black Summer bushfires. Some people didn't receive their emergency text message, because their provider didn't have a tower close to them. This will help save lives and it will protect property during a disaster, which will deliver on a key finding from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. AusAlert is another major development in Australia's emergency communication landscape, and both the establishment of AusAlert and the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation highlight the government's commitment to improve communications during a disaster.

The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will expand baseline mobile coverage. It'll improve public safety by enabling connectivity to essential services, like AusAlert, and to triple zero. I'm proud that the government is taking connectivity seriously. It wants to ensure that there are industry standards that are enforceable. Our Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will require mobile carriers to provide access to voice and SMS calls to huge areas of receptions that are currently in dead zones across the country. As I said, this policy will improve public safety. It'll increase resilience during times of natural disaster and provide an extra layer of coverage in areas previously thought too difficult or too costly to reach.

Since coming to government, we have taken a range of actions to improve connectivity. The government is delivering resilient communication infrastructure to help boost connectivity and narrow the connectivity divide in regional communities. Our Mobile Black Spot Program is one of the largest ever mobile coverage expansions in regional and remote Australia. It helps communities to be more connected than ever across the country. A few months ago, Mount Kosciuszko, which is one of Australia's most popular inland tourist destinations, received a major connectivity boost. A new mobile base station was completed, which provided new and improved 4G and 5G mobile coverage to that community.

Mount Kosciuszko attracts millions of visitors each year, and this new facility is providing better access to emergency services, improving data connectivity and supporting productivity at the nearby tourist park. This upgrade has made a huge difference to the mobile coverage at the Kosciuszko Tourist Park, supporting tourists, supporting locals to run their businesses and helping people to keep in touch with family and friends. Upgrades like this are not only important to locals and to visitors but critical for emergency services during emergencies. In other great news for regional connectivity, round 8 of the Mobile Black Spot Program will be announced soon. This $55 million investment will target natural disaster prone locations in regional and rural Australia to better assist local communities during and after an emergency.

The Mobile Black Spot Program is part of the Albanese government's Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia, which is delivering more than $1.1 billion to rural and regional communities. Other programs include the Regional Roads Australia Mobile Program, the Regional Connectivity Program and the On Farm Connectivity Program. We're delivering $50 million for the Regional Roads Australia Mobile Program, which is a government initiative to improve multicarrier mobile coverage on highways and major roads in regional and remote Australia. This includes funding for pilot programs in the states and the NT to help improve safety on our roads, to strengthen economic growth, to improve social connectivity and to support regional development. These pilot programs will test new and innovative solutions to increase mobile communications coverage on some of our regional highways and major roads. Another important program is the Regional Connectivity Program, which is funding the delivery of place based telecommunications infrastructure projects to improve digital connectivity across regional, rural and remote Australia. Round 3 has awarded over $115 million towards 74 projects that respond to local priorities.

The On Farm Connectivity Program will see $53 million allocated across three rounds to enable primary producers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries to extend connectivity in their fields and take advantage of connected machinery and sensor technology. After two successful rounds already, over $30 million has been invested to help primary producers implement connectivity solutions that have transformed their day-to-day operations, transformed farm management and helped with safety—including for graziers like Michael from the Riverina, who has purchased an automated rain gauge and an accompanying water tank level sensor. The water tank level sensor, placed on one of Michael's existing water tanks, alerts Michael via phone and email if issues arise and provides him peace of mind knowing that his cattle will have access to enough water. Twenty million dollars is being committed to round 3 of the program, with applications expected to open in the second quarter of this year.

These are all really important projects for people across regional communities. As I said, regional communities like mine know how important it is to be able to take advantage of new technologies, to stay connected, to work smarter and to access services. No matter where you live, you should be able to receive reliable telco services. I echo the words of the National Farmers' Federation:

For too long, farmers and people in the bush have been on the wrong side of the digital divide.

…   …   …

For farmers, mobile connectivity isn't a luxury, it is essential for safety, their businesses, connecting families, and staying safe in emergencies.

It has taken a Labor government to improve connectivity in the bush and on our farms because only Labor is focused on delivering for regional Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this bill because making sure Australians have access to the proper telecommunications infrastructure to communicate is a critical part of living in a modern society. If you want to ask anybody about that, you just need to ask the Iranian people right now. They have lived with the consequences of a government that has shut down pathways for people to be able to communicate and speak out. Fortunately, technology has helped bypass that. The people of Iran have spoken up against the violence, harassment and murder of their citizens by their government, the ongoing and brutal treatment by the Islamic regime against the Iranian people, and the subjugation of women, the murdering of homosexuals and the exporting of terrorism around the world—in particular the incitement to kill Jews—including in Australia.

Telecommunications to help address these problems is an important part of a country being able to do its job and, more importantly, is about empowering citizens to be able to live out their best lives. We know full well that technology continues to evolve and that, done right, technology can be a central part in telecommunications infrastructure and can be a part of connecting people. But we shouldn't become rigid about this. That was why the former Labor government's plan around the NBN, where they were just going to deliver fibre to the home everywhere, wasn't just economically illiterate; it was also technologically illiterate. We've had technology that has superseded much of fibre to the home, which doesn't mean that it doesn't have value—no-one is arguing that—but that fibre has a place, as well as satellites, as well as mobile telephony. If you actually understand technology, progress isn't just through fixed infrastructure; it also comes as a consequence of changes and innovations in areas like software compression and data compression. It's in this basis that this legislation sits.

Technology plays an important role there, but it also plays an important role to address much more civilian challenges that we face today. You just need to go to the Goldstein electorate. In parts of Hampton East and Moorabbin, we're seeing more and more density of population and, more importantly, density in terms of building. If the state government has their plans—you'll see that, around most of the Goldstein electorate, it's largely just an attempted distraction away from their complete and utter failure to build the housing that Australians need to own or rent. It's backed up by propagation by the Minister for Housing, who continues to deceive the Australian community about the density of the population in parts of the electorate. The Goldstein electorate had density levels 30 years ago that were bigger than those of a lot of local councils that have seen significant population growth.

The shrill response from the Minister for Housing says that perhaps we've touched on a difficult and nervous point. But, when you deliberately seek to do as she has done, which is to point out the density levels of the Australian community—

we know full well that the minister has completely lost control of her portfolio and has absolutely no idea how she is doing her role, and she is fundamentally undermining the dream of homeownership for Australians.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind you, the shadow Treasurer, to be relevant to the content of the bill that's in front of you and suggest that you're straying away. I'd also remind the chamber that the member will be heard in silence.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker, but, respectfully, the lived experience of people in Hampton East and Moorabbin because of density issues is explicitly about the absence of mobile phone connection. In fact, they contact me about it, whether it's mobile phone connections or it's television reception. These things aren't being factored into developments, and, as a consequence, they don't have access to modern telecommunications services. So I'm being explicitly relevant to the legislation and making sure that people have access to those services.

I know that the Minister for Housing is completely ignorant of how people live their lives in the 21st century, and, as a consequence, she doesn't understand what she seeks to wreak upon our communities. But some of us are very squarely focused on what people need, which is why the universal outdoor mobile obligation is such an important part of the conversation. We know that, when Australians have a big problem with being able to access services, there is a role for government, to make sure that we bridge the divide—but I realise that the Minister for Housing is now leaving the chamber in humiliation, because of the shrill responses we have heard. That's her choice. We're going to continue to focus on how we build the housing infrastructure we need to promote homeownership. We're going to continue to build the telecommunications and telephonic infrastructure we need to make sure that Australians can live their lives and live out the best of their lives. At the end of the day, the Labor Party only has one pathway forward—they want to control your lives as Australians. They want to be able to grab the artifice and the instruments of the state, dictate to people how to live their lives and control their lives, whether it's economically, socially or educationally, through every stage. Some of us are going to stand up against it. Some of us are going to stand up for empowering Australians, whether it's in homeownership or making sure people have access to telecommunications services.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Another wild ride in the chamber! I rise to speak in support of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. On its face, this appears to be a technical reform, a structural amendment to telecommunications legislation. But when you strip away the statutory language and regulatory framing, the underlying proposition is remarkably simple: in modern Australia, if you're standing outdoors, under an open sky, you should reasonably expect to be able to make a phone call or send a text message, not stream a film, not upload gigabytes of data, not conduct high-definition conferencing—just call or send a message. For the first time, mobile voice and SMS services will be brought within Australia's universal services framework. That is not symbolic; it is structural and it reflects something fundamental. The way Australians communicate has changed dramatically. But, until now, the legal framework governing universal access has not fully caught up.

In this building, we often refer to a statistic that approximately 99 per cent of Australians live and work in areas that have terrestrial mobile coverage. That is correct, but that statistic only tells part of the story. Geographically, traditional terrestrial coverage extends across roughly one-third of Australia's landmass. Two-thirds of the continent sits beyond conventional tower infrastructure. That means there are millions of square kilometres where, if you are standing outside with a standard handset, you cannot make a call. In many of those areas, you cannot contact emergency services. In a small, densely populated European nation, that gap might be marginal. In Australia, it is consequential. We are a continent. We have freight corridors stretching for hundreds of kilometres. We have pastoral leases larger than some countries. We have remote Indigenous communities. We've mining operations operating continuously far from urban centres. We've tourists travelling vast distances through remote landscapes.

Connectivity gaps in that context are not abstract regulatory issues; they are lived experiences. Before I entered this place, I worked as an electrician across Western Australia, including on remote mine sites. Those sites were disciplined, safety-conscious workplaces, with risk assessments, toolbox meetings, radios and procedures. But mobile coverage was often limited or entirely absent. On more than one mine site, the only reliable form of external connection was a payphone bolted to the wall of an accommodation block—a payphone! That was not nostalgia; that was necessity.

If you walked out into the operational area beyond the camp, your phone would frequently show no service. If you were driving between regional towns, you knew precise sections of the road where reception would disappear—everyone knew. You planned around it. You told family, 'I'll call back once I'm in range.' You accepted it, but acceptance doesn't mean adequacy. It simply reflected the technological and commercial limits of terrestrial infrastructure at the time. It's true. I have the same problem when I talk to my mum in regional South Australia—the phone drops out all the time.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She loves hearing from you, too!

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She does. But technology has moved forward and the law must move with it. Australia's universal service obligation was constructed around fixed line voice services and payphones. It was built in an era where copper line was the primary means of communication. That architecture made sense in 1999. In 2026, the communications landscape is fundamentally different. For many Australians, particularly younger Australians, a mobile handset is their only telephone. Payphones are no longer the backbone of connectivity—mobile networks are. Yet, mobile voice and SMS have not historically been included within the universal service framework.

This bill addresses that omission. It establishes the universal outdoor mobile obligation, requiring that baseline mobile voice and SMS services be reasonably available outdoors across Australia on an equitable basis. That is a profound recalibration of universal service policy. It recognises that mobile connectivity is not an optional enhancement to modern life. It is essential infrastructure.

The obligation is deliberately scoped. Upon commencement, it applies to voice calls and SMS text messages. The limitation is not timidity; it is prioritisation. This legislation does not attempt to mandate universal high-speed broadband via satellite across every desert track. It focuses on what matters in remote and regional contexts. When something goes wrong, when a vehicle breaks down, when someone is injured, when severe weather rolls in, the first thing you need to be able to do is call someone or send a message. Voice and SMS are the foundations of emergency response and personal reassurance. By embedding those services within the universal service regime, the parliament is recognising their essential nature.

The obligation applies outdoors. It does not require indoor reception inside every building. It does not extend underground. It does not extend underwater. This reflects physical realities. Direct-to-device satellite services require line of sight to the sky. Designing the obligation around outdoor availability ensures that it is technically feasible, legally enforceable and operationally meaningful. In many remote communities, the key safety question is precisely this: if you are standing outside under open sky, can you connect? This bill answers that question affirmatively, where it is reasonably achievable.

For decades, extending terrestrial towers across sparsely populated regions was commercially unviable. The economics did not support it. Low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations are changing that equation. Direct-to-device connectivity allows standard mobile handsets to connect directly to satellites—no fixed disk, no specialised equipment, no bespoke installation.

SMS capability is already emerging commercially. Voice capability is expected to follow. The government has chosen not to wait for the technology to fully mature before establishing the legislative framework. Instead, this bill sets the expectation now. It ensures that, as the technology scales up, its deployment aligns with universal access principles rather than purely commercial incentives. That is proactive governance. Under this framework, Telstra, Optus and TPG will be designated as default providers from 1 December 2027. That date provides certainty to industry and clarity to consumers. It signals seriousness.

At the same time, the legislation includes flexibility. If wholesale market readiness or technological constraints require adjustment, the minister may refine its commencement or structure through legislative instrument. This is not rigidity. It is disciplined flexibility. The parliament sets the objective; the regulatory framework allows responsive implementation.

The obligation is framed in terms of reasonable availability, and that phrase is critical. Telecommunications networks are complex systems. Weather events occur. Maintenance is required. Spectrum interference happens. Devices vary in capability. The law does not require perfection. It requires that, where it is reasonably achievable to provide outdoor voice and SMS coverage, it must be provided. This is not a vague aspiration. It is a legal standard capable of interpretation, enforcement and oversight. It recognises constraints without excusing inertia.

Under this obligation, where voice services are supplied outdoors, emergency call requirements follow. As coverage expands, so does access to triple zero. In remote Western Australia I've seen how rapidly circumstances can change. Storm systems move quickly, vehicles fail unexpectedly and the distance between service centres is vast. Redundancy is critical. Layering baseline satellite-enabled connectivity into these environments strengthens resilience. It does not remove risk, but it reduces isolation, and, in remote contexts, reducing isolation can be the difference between delay and response.

This is not a voluntary undertaking. The bill enables standards, rules and benchmarks relating to reliability, performance and consumer protection. The Australian Communications and Media Authority will oversee compliance and enforce the obligation. Without enforcement architecture, universal service obligations risk becoming aspirational. With enforcement architecture, they become operational. Connectivity is not only about emergencies; it underpins productivity. Agricultural operations rely on coordination and logistics. Freight movements depend on communication along long corridors. Tourism in remote regions depends on traveller confidence. Resource operations rely on layered communications and systems. Reliable baseline connectivity contributes to economic stability in regions that drive national export performance. This bill strengthens the communication foundation of those sectors.

Beyond economics, connectivity sustains relationships. When you are working for weeks at a time in a remote location, the ability to send a message home matters. I remember queuing for payphones onsite—brief windows, limited privacy, timed calls. That was the practical reality. Technology now allows us to provide a more dignified baseline. This reform acknowledges that human connection should not be constrained by legacy infrastructure where modern alternatives exist. It does not erase geography. It does not eliminate technical constraints. It does not mandate universal broadband speeds everywhere. It does not nationalise networks. It sets a floor. If the technology exists to provide outdoor voice and SMS coverage, and it is reasonably achievable to deploy it, then the law should require it to be deployed. That is not extravagant; it is prudent.

Australia's scale demands policy responses suited to continental geography. Bringing mobile voice and SMS into the universal service regime is not regulatory expansion for its own sake; it is alignment with reality. It lifts the baseline expectation of connectivity. It ensures that universal service in the 21st century reflects how Australians actually communicate. When I reflect on working in remote environments, one principle stands out: you focus on what works, you build redundancy, you reduce unnecessary risk where you can. This bill reflects that mindset. It does not promise perfection. It does not overreach. It sets a realistic, enforceable baseline.

If you're standing outdoors in open sky in Australia and it's technically feasible to connect you, then that connection should be reasonably available. For a country of our size, our ambition and our economic footprint, that is not excessive. It is sensible and it is overdue. For those reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to 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.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the past 15 years, I have worked hard to improve the connectivity for the community of Macquarie. This region might only be 75 to 100 kilometres from the centre of Sydney, but you can find yourself in remote and rugged country. In many places, even those that appear to be quite suburban, you might be outside the reach of mobile coverage. I'm very pleased to say that it's improving, thanks to much better mobile phone tower coverage, but the gaps remain in places where it's really difficult to put a string of mobile towers. When you've got fire or you've got flooding, an obligation by a telecommunications provider to provide you with a landline really doesn't cut it, but that's what the current situation is.

Among the members of this House, there are those of us who remember when the original universal service obligation came in—in 1991. I remember this because I was actually working for Telecom at the time. The Hawke government initiated reforms that ensured that Telecom, now Telstra, was required to provide voice services and payphones to all Australians, regardless of their location. That was part of broader national carrier responsibilities they had, as competition came to this sector. There was more done to really cement the universal service obligation, under Richard Alston in 1999. Good work was done then. But a lot has changed, and having a landline is not the thing that gives you peace of mind and comfort. In fact, I've heard members in this House comment on the quality of landlines. It is very clear that the quality has deteriorated significantly over the years and that it just isn't enough to say to people, 'You're guaranteed to have a landline; that's going to do it for you'.

So, as always, the Albanese Labor government is dragging something from the last century into this century—dragging it into the 21st century and setting it up to see us through for many years to come, with a piece of legislation that says that, no matter where you are in Australia, if you can see the sky, you should be able to make a phone call or send a text message. I'm not talking about uploading to TikTok or being able to necessarily jump on TripAdvisor and tell everyone what the view is. What we're talking about are those emergency and important times when you need to make a voice connection or get a message through. I've certainly personally experienced those times when my community was on fire and my street needed to be able to text each other and find out where our kids were or who was able to give someone a lift out of an area that was about to be hit. It's so vitally important that in these times of crisis you have a reliable message or voice service, and that's what this will do. The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025—very catchily known as UOMO—is going to change what we think about in emergencies as the bill rolls out. Whether you're between the mobile phone towers on the Putty Road in Macquarie, hiking down in the Kanimbla Valley or on horseback in the Upper Macdonald valley, it will be comforting and potentially life-saving to know that you'll be able to dial triple zero from your mobile.

I think the community and governments have already worked out that providing this universal coverage is not viable with mobile phone towers. It just isn't possible to put mobile phone towers everywhere that you need them, particularly in rugged country like mine, world heritage country, where there are tall mountains and low valleys and it's very hard for those signals to transmit. Having said that, we've made a significant difference, including towers like Mount Tomah, upgrades at Colo Heights and Bilpin and the towers in Yellow Rock, Hawkesbury Heights, Maraylya and Megalong Valley. All of these towers are making a difference, allowing people to maintain communication as they go about their day. But what the UOMO means is that when you're not in your normal place but you need communication you will have it.

I've heard people talk a lot about how much we rely on telecommunications to support our families, our businesses and our communities, but I really want to focus on the bit when you need to seek help in an emergency. These are the calls you might not ever want to make, like when you are in one of the valleys and you've lost your way. The traditional mobile coverage currently provides about 99 per cent coverage where Australians work and live, but it actually only covers one-third of the landmass. There is a big area where you can't currently make a triple zero call using traditional mobile services.

The big question is: how will this work? It is only possible thanks to the improvement of technology and the low-Earth-orbit satellites, the LEOsats, which now move around our globe. What we heard from people is that they want to be able to access whatever technology there is that allows the function of being able to dial triple zero or make a call to another point of contact when things are difficult. The UOMO legislation requires the mobile network operators—Telstra, TPG, Optus—to provide universal baseline outdoor mobile coverage where reasonably possible. It's anticipated that they will do this via a combination of terrestrial and new direct-to-device technology available from the low-Earth-orbit satellites, the LEOsats.

We should be really clear that this is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage. It's about expanding the coverage to areas where, despite significant industry and government co-investment, it hasn't been feasible to provide mobile coverage. The direct-to-device technology, known as D2D, is an emerging technology and is still being rolled out in Australia and around the world. What we're legislating now is to ensure that this critical new technology is widely available and deployed as quickly as possible to ensure Australians can benefit from it. Given the emerging nature of D2D technology, this bill sets the default date for the commencement of the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation as 1 December 2027. I know from the conversations that I've had with the telcos that they realise they've got a lot of work to do to have the technology ready by that date. While they will be working hard at it, this bill does allow for flexibility to adjust the date to accommodate market readiness. This timing, while it is challenging, is sending a really clear signal to the market on what we see as the importance of equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage. It tells the market very clearly that this is a priority for the Albanese Labor government. It's a priority that these services be available to people as soon as possible. We're not sitting around just waiting for the issue to fix itself and for technology to catch up. We are acting early to make sure that Australia is at the forefront of this technology.

The legislation brings mobile services into this longstanding universal services obligation regime that I mentioned earlier. It previously only covered legacy copper based voice services. I might reflect that perhaps changes could have been made to this some time ago, but, by doing this now, we're also creating a framework that can protect consumers and ensure mobile services if the industry doesn't deliver in the national interest.

I want to point out that support for this has come from many organisations but, in particular, in my electorate, the farmers. I want to refer to the National Farmers' Federation's views about this. The NFF president, Hamish McIntyre, said the legislation has the 'potential to redraw' the mobile coverage map. He said:

Getting this bill into Parliament is a big moment. For too long, farmers and people in the bush have been on the wrong side of the digital divide.

I know that there are people in Macquarie who recognise that they have not enjoyed the benefits in the same way that people a few kilometres down the road have.

We know, when we live in wild places like the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, when we choose to live in the middle of World Heritage, there are choices that we make, but making a phone call in an emergency is something that I believe everybody should have the right to do. So this is a real game changer for people for when they're doing their adventure travelling through the canyons and the tracks of the Blue Mountains. When they're out with family on camping holidays and adventures, it will give another degree of safety. So I'm keen to see this as soon as is practicable by the industry. This legislation does send them a very strong signal about how quickly we'd like to see it.

The UOMO is a critical part of our comprehensive work to reduce the digital divide, increase productivity, support economic growth and meet Australia's growing demand for data and seamless connectivity. I know a decade ago it was almost impossible to work from home in many parts of my electorate because of the quality of ADSL. The NBN, as it came online, improved that, step by step. The increase in fibre to the home has been a game changer for people in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury in being able to run their businesses effectively and successfully from home. I know I tried to do it in the early 2000 with dial-up, followed quickly by the first version of ADSL. It was hard as a small business having to manage that communication side and the volume of material that you could send. So I look back on those days and see how far we have come, particularly thanks to the NBN and the expansion of the mobile phone towers that I fought for for so many years. This is the next step—to make sure that, when people go outdoors into the wild almost anywhere in Australia, if they can see the sky they can make a voice or text call. Our vision is absolutely clear. This is about making Australia the most connected continent in the world. I'm very pleased to support this legislation as a key part of bringing telecommunications law into the 21st century and beyond.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This legislation is being referred to as the UOMO legislation. It could also be called the FOMO legislation. I appreciate that UOMO means universal outdoor mobile obligation. FOMO, of course, means 'fear of missing out', and there'll be a lot of people across Australia who will have FOMO when they hear what some of the Labor members, and the crossbench too, are suggesting, saying and asserting about this particular bill, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025.

Here's the rub too. The bill's title says 2025; it's now 2026. Note to those Labor members: this bill, this piece of legislation, was supposed to be brought to the parliament last year. It was an election promise. Indeed, the Labor Party committed to implementing UOMO on 25 February 2025. That's more than 12 months ago. But people out in regional Australia have been waiting for far longer than 12 months.

No doubt Labor will say, 'Well, you were there for nine years. What did you do about it?' I'll tell you what we did about it. We provided fairness and equity when it came to rolling out mobile phone towers, not like Labor. I refer to a media release that I put out on 17 February 2023. In that particular statement, I was very critical, and still am, of Labor's Mobile Black Spot Program. Under the 'improving mobile coverage round' of the program, not long after being elected in 2022, Labor's Minister for Communications directed her department to provide 25 of the 26 available grants to Labor electorates. I reckon that, by the time it actually occurred and by the time we actually got to dig down into the detail, it was every one of them, but let's go with 25 out of 26. That's pretty shameful.

I know Labor said: 'This is an election commitment round. This is what we promised at the election.' But what we did, as Liberals and Nationals, was look at where mobile coverage was most needed and filled the gaps. It was a continuous program. It was ongoing. Yet what Labor did when they came to office was provide almost all, if not all, of the mobile towers to Labor electorates.

Labor often go on about colour coded spreadsheets. There's just one thing wrong with Labor's colour coded spreadsheets, and that is that they're just one colour. They're all red. As the member for Riverina and, indeed, as the Deputy Prime Minister at the time, I can recall how many of the member for Indi's constituents benefited from the Mobile Black Spot Program that we put in place, because we did it with fairness. We did it with equity. We did it based on need.

But not Labor—oh no. Yet they've come in here this afternoon talking about, as the member for Macquarie just said—I'm not quite sure she actually meant it. She said that this legislation sends a 'strong signal'. I don't know whether it was a clever play on words. Let's go with that. There will be people out there who are waiting for a very strong signal on one of their devices when this legislation is implemented and has had a chance to bed down.

That time will come. I dare say that Labor will still be in office, because they're going to be in office for at least another two years. That will be time enough. I know they're very fond of looking back and regurgitating history. They've been in there for nearly four years now. By the time the next election comes around, they'll have been in there for six years. That gives them time to put their money where their mouths are. That gives them time to build the infrastructure that they are so critical about.

We built infrastructure, whether it was mobile phone towers, roads, bridges, highways or byways—even in the member for Nicholls's electorate; I know I went there often. We got it done. We delivered. Labor's pretty fond of going to our electorates and cutting ribbons, yet they haven't got much to show in the infrastructure space or in the regional development space for their nearly four years of government.

This legislation provides that opportunity. It provides that opportunity because the ALP members are coming in, whether they're from Western Australia, as we heard before, or from the Blue Mountains, in New South Wales, to talk about the importance of mobile phone connectivity. I agree with just about every word that's been said. Certainly, when it comes to fires, floods and natural disasters, you need to be able to make a triple zero call, because it is a matter of life and death.

I want to refer to a particular hero of mine and indeed of the Riverina: Aaron McCarthy. In a harvest accident in December 2021, Aaron lost a leg. Luckily, he had his phone in his pocket when the accident occurred, but he had limited reception. Aaron lived in the shadow of The Rock. Mr McCarthy said:

I saw that it had at the top, emergency calls only, so I rung triple-0. We have terrible service so I think I yelled at them four times who I was, where I was and what had happened.

Aaron was quick to place a tourniquet on his leg with his shirt. Emergency services then called his wife, Tahnee. Ms McCarthy said:

I was in the house and got a phone call and as soon as I left the house my emergency services call dropped out. The last thing I heard a lady say was 'he might not respond, he's in a bad way'.

Indeed, he was in a bad way.

But Aaron turned adversity into opportunity. He will attend the winter Paralympics. Well done to him. That's an incredibly brave story. He will go to the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games in Italy. Just four years after the freak accident involving a header saw him lose his left leg, he was selected in the men's banked slalom and snowboard cross in the SB-LL1 class for snowboarders with moderately affected movement in the knees or legs or the absence of one leg above the knee or two legs below the knee. He's 31, so he's still a very young man. He's got a young family and he's a brave fellow, but it could have ended much worse because of the limited reception that he had where he lived. I hear Labor members saying that mobile coverage is—and they're using the present tense—in 99 per cent of where people live. It's not where Aaron lived and it's not where so many others live.

A good mate of mine, Tony Keremelevski, who hails from Goobarragandra, battled for years and felt joy when, finally, the mobile phone tower was opened. I remember being with Mark Coulton, the former member for Parkes, in his ministerial capacity at the time when we made a call. It was the first call available via that tower on the day. It was such a sense of relief not just for Mr Keremelevski but indeed for the people who visit that area, particularly recreational fishers, caravaners and the likes going on adventurous excursions. The difficulty is that, when you go to one of those areas in the beautiful Snowy Mountains—in the foothills at Tumut et cetera—you face the prospect of not having coverage or having very limited coverage.

I hear Labor members talking about coverage in 99 per cent of where people live, and I look forward to that. I will be making sure that I keep in a folder all of the contributions that Labor members make to quote back at them in the future, because I welcome what is being proposed here.

I know that my predecessor, the former member for Riverina Kay Hull, who has great respect in this place and is a former president of the Nationals political party—the immediate past president—actually crossed the floor over the sale of Telstra. I know that, when you cross the floor in this place, you get sent to Coventry for a while. You do. Labor members cross the floor and get expelled from their party; we just get a bit of—

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Disciplinary action.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not quite disciplinary action—it depends on where the disciplinary action is coming from, Member for Nicholls. But we get the cold shoulder. We do. It takes guts, it takes bravery and it takes courage to cross the floor, and Kay did on this issue of the universal service obligation because she knew that the big monolith that is Telstra needed to be held to account.

Indeed, whether it's Telstra, whether it's the banks or whether it's Qantas, it is an obligation of government to hold them to account, because they service people and they certainly provide services for regional Australians, who don't always get the services that they need. I know Qantas has just stopped the flights from Wagga Wagga and Albury to Melbourne, and that's an issue. I'm glad, I must say, that the ACT and southern New South Wales manager, Chris Taylor, is only ever a phone call away. He's only ever a phone call away from me, but I'm a member of parliament, so they do take your calls. But not everybody has the ability to ring their go-to person to get help.

Labor is saying that this legislation is going to provide that much-needed universal outdoor mobile obligation. Good luck with that. I'll certainly be holding Labor members to account because I know, harking back to the first Mobile Black Spot Program that was provided straight after Labor won office, that the Minister for Communications ignored the advice of the department and directed the mobile towers to be built and to be funded to ensure that Labor-held seats were looked after. And that is not acceptable. It is not fair. It is not equitable. I don't know why a neighbouring electorate to Riverina, Eden-Monaro, held by Labor, received nine grants and Riverina received none—not one. It's not fair.

The Mobile Black Spot Program has to be, must be, should be a needs based program, because improving mobile coverage should be the very bottom line to making sure that farmers, on their headers and on their harvesters and on their sowers, can do the work, can access the markets, can access the price that might be available there for their grain or for getting their cattle and sheep to market or whatever the case might be. But there is only a limited window, and, unless you have that mobile coverage, you could be up the paddock and have to go all the way back to the farmhouse. That just doesn't work. It keeps them out of the market, and it's not right. Then you've got the people, like Aaron McCarthy, who need mobile coverage in case of an accident. I know that, out Ardlethan way, we had examples of farmers being forced to climb their silos just to get a signal. I heard the member for Macquarie going: 'If you can see the sky, you can get a signal. You should be able to get mobile coverage.' That is fantastic. That is welcome news.

I look forward not only to Labor talking about it in the parliament from their talking points that they've had handed to them by the Labor dirt unit—they're so prolific with these sorts of things—but to words being put into action, because regional Australia deserves it. Regional Australia is where the action is. We're paying the nation's bills, whether it's through mining and resources or whether it's through agriculture, growing the food and fibre to feed and clothe the nation, as in the member for Nicholls's electorate, in mine and in others besides. We're doing the hard yards, but we're not getting the benefit of mobile coverage across the board.

So here's the challenge. It's one thing to say it in the House of Representatives. It'll pass this chamber. We know that. It gets into the Senate, and no doubt there'll be some deals done. No doubt it'll pass there. Put Labor's words into action. For the sake of regional Australia, for the sake of remote Australia, and for the sake of equity, of fairness and of equality amongst country Australians that pay this nation's bills.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very glad to rise and speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. I live in the Far North, where 97 per cent of the electorate does not have mobile coverage. This can be quite handy if I want to get off the grid for a little while. It can also be quite terrifying.

I was in Weipa. I wanted to duck down to Aurukun for a day trip, so I did. The wet season started, the PDR was doing what the PDR does—it basically becomes ice. I slipped and slid my way to Aurukun. I ran a basketball clinic. I handed out some shoes. I caught up with a few mates—had a good time. The monsoon trough arrived. I was informed that I would have to move quickly if I was going to beat the monsoon trough out and get back over the Myall Creek to get back into Weipa. The PDR in that condition is not something that you move quickly on. You lose the back end of your ute real fast. But, try as I did, I got to the Myall Creek with zero reception and had to make a choice—a choice that I wouldn't make now but a choice that, when I was younger and reckless, I made. I crossed that creek. Ten minutes later, it was impassable. Had I waited a moment longer, I would have been stuck. I couldn't have got back to Aurukun. The roads behind me were cut. I couldn't have gone forward. The roads in front of me would have been cut. There was no mobile service. I would have spent the night there; the Myall drains pretty quickly. It wouldn't have been the end of the world.

Mobile service can mean the end of the world for people, as the member for Riverina rightly pointed out. Women fleeing domestic and family violence—I had a story relayed to me where a woman went and hid in the creek because she couldn't get a triple zero call. I don't have to tell you what lives in my creeks in Far North Queensland. That call is the difference between life and death. It is also the difference between economic opportunity, education and health care. Really remote areas such as mine—which you cannot drive through and which require planes, boats and helicopters in some instances because there are not airfields to get to—rely on telecommunications for their education. They rely on telecommunications to be able to speak to potential buyers, to get their stock sorted, to make sure that their health care is taken care of. Telehealth is so important. It is new to the game, but it is making a massive, massive difference.

Unfortunately for a lot of our communities, once you leave 500 or 600 metres from town, it's zip, zero, zilch. I was driving back from Cooktown about 10 days ago. I passed six cars between Cooktown and Mareeba coming the other way. If something had happened to me—if I'd got a flat, if I'd hit some water—it could have been hours before anyone found me. There was no mobile communication. That's why this is important. That's why we are putting our money where our mouths are. This is going to make a difference. It's a nice saying that, if you can see the sky, you'll get reception, but it's true. The advances in technology are making the difference right now. We've gone and seen Telstra. We've seen the work that they're doing already with he satellites coming over the cape. We know that already in some parts where there was no reception before people are now able to send and receive text messages, and this is only going to improve because of the obligation.

The word is obligation. The member for Riverina is right. We carry this country. The regions are getting it done. We've got the space. We've got the mines. We've got the agriculture. We've got culture. We've got everything. We deserve what the people of the cities get. We deserve to have our children have good access to the internet. We deserve, should they wish to do university online, that they can. We deserve people to be able to leave their towns and still make calls if something happens. We are the engine room and we had been ignored. This is going to level the playing field so that all of the potential that I see every day, all of the potential that we all see in our regions, can be properly realised. It's going to make a huge difference. We've got to the point now where the ability to be constantly available is basically a human right.

This bill is being put forth because we take the regions seriously, because we understand the potential that they have and because we have a moral obligation to do so. It will get through and it will be great. The work is already being done. We are the party of the regions now. We have more regional members than the Nationals.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You were going so well!

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Riverina for his compliment. We almost got through six minutes without him heckling me. The fact is that we now have a large regional presence on this side of the House. We are making our voices heard and we are making a difference for the regions, not just in telecommunications but in roads, in airports and in those things that our communities need—the things that make a difference on a day-to-day basis, the things that allow our health care, our education and our economic development to increase and expand so that we can be the powerhouse that we've so often dreamed of becoming. The part of Australia that people forget is the part of Australia that is carrying us.

I look forward to not being out of reception as I'm driving to Cooktown or to Coen. I look forward to hearing about the kids who are doing distance education on their phones and are able to do it when they go bush, go for a bit of a wander or just go maybe 400 or 500 metres out of town. I look forward to the improved health outcomes. Our health outcomes, particularly in my remote, regional and Indigenous communities, are some of the worst in the world. Telehealth—the ability to have those quick answers on hand with properly trained Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners there to help deliver that, in some cases, life-saving medication or treatment—is going to be really important because you can't always fly in and fly out a doctor. Sometimes you need the answer there and then. This will allow that to happen.

I look forward to the increased economic opportunity and activity. There is so much potential along the PDR to have little bakeries, gift shops, cultural exhibitions and art galleries, but, without that access to telecommunications, there's not much point. This will open up that door too. It opens up the economy of the cape. We desperately need this. It is something that has been on the radar for so, so long.

The member for Riverina spoke of fairness. There's nothing more fair than giving mobile coverage to everybody, which is what this bill tries to do. The 97 per cent of my electorate will thank us. No, there are not a lot of people living there. It is sparse and it is empty, but it is dangerous and it is rugged. When things go wrong, they go wrong in a hurry.

I enjoy my solitude on the road. I enjoy not getting emails for four or five hours as I move between the towns, but I think overall it's better if I do. It's better for the community, it's better for health, it's better for every single one of those kids and it's safer. We're enjoying a renaissance in the Far North. We're enjoying the investment in what we are. We're enjoying the culture. We're enjoying the lifestyle. This is just going to make it so much better for everyone. When you're out shooting a pig, you can take a photo and send it back to the boys. We can compare pigs. That's awesome. You don't have to drag it back. You're better off leaving the carcase there; the other pigs will come and clear it up later.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Make sure it's dead first.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You've got to make sure it's dead first. I don't know what pigs you're shooting. You've got to keep on top of them.

With this bill and with the opportunities presented, if you can see the sky, you'll have mobile coverage—from Cairns, where there are still dead spots, right the way to the Torres Strait, where, as we've recently heard, mobile reception is critical for our border security. The Torres Strait Islanders like to record any illegal incursions and send back to Border Watch. They will be able to do that more efficiently in between the islands to make that our borders are safe, to make sure that our communities are safe. I commend this bill to the House.

Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In modern Australia, reliable mobile phone coverage is not a luxury, it's not an optional extra and it's not a lifestyle perk. It's foundational national infrastructure. Just as our roads connect our communities physically, telecommunications connect them digitally. In 2026, these digital connections underpin our economy, they underpin our social cohesion and, critically, they underpin our safety. Australians don't measure connectivity in legislative clauses—surprise, surprise. They measure it when their call connects, they measure it when the EFTPOS machine works, they measure it when they can check emergency warnings and they measure it when triple zero answers when they dial.

Recently, Rayna, a constituent in my electorate, wrote to me expressing her frustration. She said the lack of mobile phone coverage on the Cronulla-to-city line is terrible, and getting worse daily. It's not only Woolooware and Kirrawee with no service, but also Sutherland. This is one of Sydney's and one of Australia's busiest rail corridors. Thousands of Australians travel this line every single day to work, to study, to run businesses and to support their families. And yet, connectivity is deteriorating.

I reached out to the Minister for Communications regarding mobile coverage connectivity affecting the commuters travelling between Cronulla and the city. The minister's response was that providing in-carriage coverage presents challenges, partly due to the complexities involved in obtaining approvals and building new mobile base station infrastructure within a rail corridor. Well, for one of the busiest railway lines in Australia, this is simply not good enough. It's not good enough from the government, it's not good enough from Telstra, it's not good enough from Optus and it's not good enough from Vodafone. The minister noted these obstacles can deter and are deterring mobile network operators and infrastructure providers from focusing on the train line from Cronulla to the city. This response tells us something important: red tape and slow approval processes are crippling this country. It's hurting our economy and it's hurting our telecommunications infrastructure.

Infrastructure providers face layers of regulatory complexity before they can even begin to start improving service. And while bureaucratic processes grind slowly forward, ordinary Australians in Kirrawee, in Lilli Pilli, in Sutherland and in Miranda are missing out. If red tape and delayed approvals are discouraging investment in suburban Sydney, I can only begin to imagine the challenges my colleagues are facing in regional Australia. And this doesn't stop at the rail corridor in my electorate. Residents in Kirrawee and Lilli Pilli continue to report persistent mobile black spots. This isn't remote farmland. This isn't remote regional Australia. These are established suburban communities in the heart of Sydney.

These suburbs also face significant bushfire risks. Residents have previously had homes burn down in bushfires. In Kirrawee, in Lilli Pilli and in other bushfire prone areas, connectivity is not about convenience. It's about emergency alerts. It's about contacting your neighbours, contacting your loved ones, contacting your insurers. It's about calling for help if evacuation routes are cut off. If coverage drops during a fast-moving fire front, this isn't an inconvenience, it's a serious safety vulnerability. In inner city suburbs, a dropped call is frustrating. In bushfire prone communities like Kirrawee or Lilli Pilli, it can be dangerous and it can be life threatening. This is why communications policy must be treated as essential infrastructure policy.

The coalition supports the goal of extending voice and text coverage outdoors and across more of the country. This is because improved connectivity for Australians is simply the fair thing to do. We need it in our cities and we need it in our regions. The credibility of any reform rests not on the aspiration it proclaims but on the detail it contains and the realism of its implementation. But this obligation must be clearly defined.

Carriers must understand precisely what is required, precisely the dead spots they are fixing and precisely how to do it. Consumers must understand what they are entitled to expect—and they should expect. They should not have to deal with dead spots in the heart of the Sutherland Shire, a community that is inhabited by over 250,000 residents.

Regulators must have measurable standards to assess the compliance of these infrastructure providers and telecommunications companies. If phrases such as 'reasonably available' or 'equitable access' are left vague, enforcement becomes difficult, if not impossible, for these regulators; and, if enforcement are weak or approvals are slow and mired in red tape, delivery will stall and we'll continue to face outages like we do on the Cronulla-to-Central line.

The experience on the Cronulla line demonstrates that complexity and delay in infrastructure approvals deter investment. This cannot become the model for a nationwide obligation. Australians deserve clarity, timeliness and mobile phone connection in bushfire-prone areas and in critical areas like a train line, where you have many safety risks, whether they be accidents at stations, potential problems with the train or potential problems with the track.

Direct-to-satellite services offer enormous potential to reduce coverage gaps across the country in regional areas and cities, but much of this technology remains emerging or remains costly. Domestic carriers may bear the primary regulatory burden, but they're going to depend heavily on international satellite providers whose pricing models and deployment schedules are outside of Australia's direct control and often our regulatory reach.

Legislating an outcome does not guarantee delivery. It also does not guarantee affordability. And it does not remove the domestic regulatory bottlenecks that slow down tower builds and infrastructure deployment that the minister said is plaguing the Sutherland Shire and the Cronulla-to-city line. If we're serious about improving coverage, we must address not only technology but also the regulatory barriers that slow down infrastructure. We must deregulate this economy. We must deregulate infrastructure, housing and telecommunications and improve the productivity of this country.

Right now we have a GDP cap of about two per cent. For any growth over two per cent, we will see inflation. This is why homeowners right across Australia, right across the Sutherland Shire, are facing inflation and facing interest rate rises—because we have this productivity cap. Unless we go on a red tape and deregulation busting mission, we will continue to have this cap on our economy. Australians will continue to pay higher interest rates; they will continue to lose money to inflation as prices of goods go higher than their wages; and, importantly, they will continue to have a slower than needed rollout of telecommunications infrastructure.

The outdoor coverage obligation is only meaningful if Australia's devices can connect to the promised service. A reform that functions for only the latest high-end smartphones would undermine the very principle of equitable access it claims to provide. We saw what happened with the 3G shutdown. Hundreds of devices were incompatible. Australians discovered these problems only after the services stopped working. Businesses were disrupted. Consumers faced unplanned upgrades. Emergency access must never depend on owning a new device, and it must never catch consumers by surprise. The recent history of triple zero outages, where there were deaths, sadly, and emerging device compatibility issues have shaken public confidence in this government and in this system. There should be no tolerance for error when it comes to emergency services connectivity. Australians expect that much, and it is just that they do.

Telecommunications affordability continues to remain critical. In a cost-of-living crisis, as people are struggling to make ends meet, we've had an interest rate rise and we're facing many more. We know the RBA is planning in their modelling for at least two or three more interest rate rises, heaping pressure on households in my electorate. Just recently I met a mother in Sans Souci who had to give up her house because she could not keep up with the interest rate repayments. There have been 13 interest rate repayment rises for her household, and it's putting pressure on her telecommunications bill. It's putting pressure on her trying to own the latest device.

It's not just constituents in Sans Souci and my electorate who are facing this. Regional Australians already also face higher service costs and fewer competitive options. A universal service obligation must not translate into higher bills for those it's intended to support and never more so than in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where mortgages are going through the roof, energy prices are going through the roof and, as inflation ravages the household budget, the cost of everything is going up, while wages remain stagnant. It's essential that any new telecommunications obligation strengthens market competition rather than inadvertently consolidating power in the hands of a few.

Telecommunications deregulation has been one of the successes of this country. Taking Telstra and telecommunications services out of government hands and putting them into the private sector has meant they can innovate. They can innovate new technologies like Starlink and the iPhone. We should take the example of the telecommunications industry and apply it to other areas of essential infrastructure, such as housing and transport. We have seen numerous advances in telecommunications and what you can do on a mobile phone today. But when we look at these other industries dominated by government regulation, be it housing, roads or public transport, we have little innovation. We actually have declining productivity in housing. It's going backwards despite all the technology. Despite AI, automation and robots, somehow our construction industry is going backwards. Well, let's learn from the telecommunications industry now.

Sadly, we have had this construction malaise starting to reinfect the telecommunications industry. I wrote to the telecommunications minister asking for help for my constituents in urban Sydney trying to get to work while trying to use their mobile phones and being unable to do so in Australia's most populous city. In one of the biggest, busiest and most advanced cities in the world, they cannot access mobile phone reception in metro Sydney. It's disgraceful and we've had enough. We're drawing the line in the sand now and we will say, 'No more.'

The coalition believes in expanding connectivity and embracing these new technologies that can close these longstanding service gaps for the residents of Lilli Pilli, the residents of Kirrawee and the commuters of those train lines. The coalition have an enviable record of investing in regional connectivity because we've led it. Labor cannot hold a candle to our record on investing in regional connectivity. We've backed programs that deliver practical improvements on the ground in regions and in the metros. This is why the coalition spearheaded the Mobile Black Spot Program, a program that worked across all the electorates in Australia, laser focused on improving mobile black spots. We need to resuscitate that program. We need another program. We need this Labor government to copy the former Liberal government's black spot program and start filling the black spots in Kirrawee, Cronulla and that line.

Reform must be grounded in technical realism, economic responsibility and rigorous oversight. I support the intention of this bill. It is good legislation, and we do need to close these mobile blackspots, but the devil will be in the detail and in the implementation. Australians and residents of the Sutherland Shire should not have to put up with blackspots as they go from their train to their work in the middle of downtown Sydney.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 and to applaud the Albanese Labor government's commitment to strengthening the resilience of Australia's telecommunications service. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will require national mobile carriers Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide access to SMS and voice coverage for Australians nationwide, almost everywhere you can see the sky.

This is really important reform that will improve connectivity and provide reassurance for people in regional areas like my electorate of Gilmore. Gilmore is a big electorate. A few times a week I drive up and down the highway, sometimes for up to four hours, from one end to the other. Driving through mountains, forests and farmland, I pass through numerous mobile blackspots, so I know just how frustrating it can be when service is interrupted.

The Albanese government is getting on and doing something about it. Mobile phone coverage is a huge issue in many pockets of Gilmore, so I'm really excited that we're working to keep people in my region and those living right around the country better connected. The UOMO will keep people in Gilmore connected and safer by ensuring they are able to call for help in times of emergency. New technology means low-Earth-orbit satellite signals can now connect directly to people's mobile phones rather than relying on land based infrastructure like mobile towers.

This is great news for people living in remote and isolated areas. Mobile phone blackspots are of particular concern to people living on the New South Wales South Coast, who have been hit with natural disaster after natural disaster. After being left in the dark too many times, they want to be confident that they can call for help during their time of need. They need to know they can call or text if they are involved in, or come across, an accident on the Princes Highway or on one of our many rural roads. Knowing they can connect if they can see the sky will provide some reassurance for Gilmore residents.

On 31 December 2019, the Black Summer bushfires wiped out 90 homes in Conjola Park, just one of many towns and villages in my area impacted by the firestorm. Residents were given little time to flee, and many were left standing in the streets in total darkness, enveloped by thick black smoke with embers raining down on them. People drove their cars into the lake and ran into the water to take shelter from the flames that roared to the sand, then leapt over them to the opposite side of the lake, where the blaze tore through more homes. It was horrendous, and people were cut off, with no way of contacting family members, friends, neighbours and, importantly, emergency services.

After being turned around at the Princes Highway, one mother drove her car, with crying children in the back seat, from Conjola Park, back through walls of flames on either side of the road, as she sought shelter at the nearby Conjola Beach. When comms went down, she lost contact with her husband, who stayed home to fight the flames, and joined hundreds of other frightened locals, their pets and holidaymakers in the dark on New Year's Eve. People lost their lives, their homes, their sheds, their livestock and their communities. They lost confidence in the communication system which went down for days, isolating them from their loved ones and from the help they so desperately needed. These people are still recovering. Many have rebuilt more resilient homes. Others have never returned. They relive the nightmares of this catastrophic event over and over, and they fear what the future might hold as climate change presents a very real chance of similar events playing out again in our region. Almost immediately after the Black Summer fires, significant floods hit the South Coast, followed by a series of ferocious storms, again highlighting the need for an effective and resilient communications system.

Summer on the coast is very busy as tourists flock to the region to swim at our beaches and lakes, to rock fish, to waterski and to surf. They take their boats out to sea, ride mountain bikes and bushwalk in our beautiful forests and national parks. But, unfortunately, not all holidays go to plan, and accidents frequently happen. Our volunteer surf lifesavers do a magnificent job of keeping people safe on our beaches, but far too often people lose their lives when they're caught in rips while swimming at isolated beaches. When someone is in trouble and needs to call for help at our beaches or on our waterways, they deserve the certainty that their call will connect. Our Marine Rescue NSW volunteers also do an incredible job of keeping boaters safe on our ocean and waterways all year round but particularly during those busy summer months. They are called upon to help sinking vessels, pull ailing boaters from the water, search for rock fishers and tow boats to safety. When injured boaties or lost bushwalkers need help, they must be assured their calls will be answered.

Our roads and highways are jam-packed over the school holidays as families flock to enjoy everything our magnificent South Coast has to offer. But, when they come from the city to the regions, they should be confident that they can call emergency services in their time of need and their call for help will be answered. Whether it's a bushfire, a flood, someone in trouble at the beach, a sinking boat, a motor vehicle accident or a health emergency, Australians cannot be let down. We must restore Australia's confidence in our national telecommunications service, and we must continue to boost the resilience of our telecommunications network.

This bill complements the great work the Albanese Labor government is doing to improve the resilience of telecommunications networks in regional areas like mine, especially during times of natural disasters. The Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation Program has accelerated the development and deployment of new solutions to address communications issues and improve the resilience and availability of telecommunications during disasters. This includes new or enhanced satellite connectivity and new ways to monitor networks and share critical information with emergency services.

Reliable communications are vital in emergencies and natural disasters to ensure Australians can call for help, receive emergency information and stay in touch with family and friends. Access to telecommunications coverage during a natural disaster can be the difference between life and death. During the 2019-2020 bushfires, we lost essential emergency communications when the remote Mount Wandera transmission station in the Eurobodalla was burnt to the ground. Right now, work is being carried out at the Mount Wandera station to improve its bushfire resilience under tranche 1 of the Protecting Our Communities (Disaster Resilience) Program. The project has included an infrastructure upgrade, improved asset protection zones and road resilience works on the access road. Timber power poles have been replaced with composite poles to help fireproof the power and ensure essential emergency information for emergency workers and the community can continue during bushfires. Composite power poles have also been erected along the length of Durras Road, ensuring the coastal village remains connected during emergencies.

It's really great to see Telstra and the government working together to share the cost in bringing new coverage to regional and rural locations like Gilmore. Two new Telstra mobile base stations will soon be switched on at Jamberoo and Worrigee, providing improved mobile coverage and connectivity for locals and visitors. The infrastructure was built by Telstra as part of the Mobile Blackspot Program's Improving Mobile Coverage Round, with funding provided by Telstra and the Albanese Labor government. It means local residents and visitors will be able to access more reliable phone coverage, and it's also really important for local businesses that I know have been struggling with connection issues for years. I've worked hard to improve mobile coverage in our region, and I'm thrilled to be delivering for local communities like Jamberoo and Worrigee. We're partnering with Telstra to fund the construction or upgrade of 168 sites across 147 different telecommunications projects across Australia, from transmission, coverage and capacity upgrades to the construction of new macro or small-cell mobile base stations in blackspot areas.

Our better connectivity plan is delivering significant investments to improve mobile and broadband connectivity in regional Australia through the Regional Connectivity Program, Mobile Black Spot Program and On Farm Connectivity Program. We are committed to reducing the digital divide and meeting the country's growing demand for data and seamless connectivity. We're working to improve regional coverage and communications resilience on so many levels because we know how important it is to stay connected, especially in regional areas like the south coast.

The UOMO legislation is a key part of the government's response to the 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review. The implementation of the service will be an important step towards modernising Australia's universal service arrangements to guarantee we all have access to essential telecommunications services. Our significant NBN upgrades and investment in programs like the Mobile Black Spot Program and Mobile Network Hardening Program will further expand mobile coverage, resilience and capacity. This government has provided access to faster and more reliable broadband for 1.5 million premises across Australia, including 660,000 in rural and regional communities like mine.

Labor created the NBN and only Labor is delivering the NBN and keeping it in public ownership. Under the Liberals, my community was left behind. I'll go back to the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires again because it was such an extremely significant event in my community when communication was paramount. When the power went out and phones went down, some homes in villages such as North Nowra were on Labor's fibre to the premises and therefore had access to battery systems, allowing them to stay connected. Other communities in the electorate, however, weren't so lucky. Thanks to the previous government, they were on fibre-to-the-node NBN and therefore were left in the dark, with no access to internet or phone services during the fire emergency. Labor's fibre to the premises is the only NBN technology that allows for a battery to be installed at the property so when the power goes out the household still has access to some internet and phone services for a few hours. Thank goodness the Albanese Labor government is committed to continuing fibre-to-the-premises upgrades in Gilmore.

This bill will bolster that plan and reiterate Labor's commitment to strengthening the resilience of our nation's telecommunications services. It will ensure that in our hour of need we can make that life-saving call. Improved connectivity not only keeps people connected but means safer roads, stronger businesses and better access to services. Whether you're facing a natural disaster, broken down on a highway, injured on the farm or lost in the bush, under UOMO there will be outdoor mobile coverage nearly anywhere you look up and see the sky. This reform is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage. It is about expanding coverage to areas where, despite significant industry and government co-investment, it has not been feasible to provide coverage.

Direct to device or D2D is an emerging technology and is still being rolled out in Australia and around the world. However, we are legislating now to ensure this critical technology is deployed as widely and quickly as possible to ensure Australians can benefit no matter where they live, work or travel. Given the emerging nature of D2D technology, this bill sets a default date for the commencement of the UOMO on 1 December 2027 but allows flexibility to adjust the date to accommodate market readiness. It will provide a clear signal to the market of the importance of equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage and that it is a government priority that services are available as soon as possible.

We aren't sitting around waiting for this issue to fix itself. We are acting early to ensure that Australia is at the forefront of technology. This legislation brings mobile services into the longstanding universal services regime, which previously only covered legacy copper based voice services. By doing so, we are also creating a framework that can protect consumers and ensure mobile services if industry does not deliver in the national interest. The UOMO is a critical part of the government's comprehensive work to reduce the digital divide, increase productivity, support economic growth and meet Australia's growing demand for data and connectivity.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the member for Riverina pointed out, it is 2026, and this was supposed to be delivered over 12 months ago. But here we are. Communications is foundational infrastructure. My electorate of Nicholls is regional and it is rural, but it is far from remote. It is also relatively flat, but you don't have to drive far out of the major cities and towns to find mobile connectivity issues. In the Waaia area, a constituent was unable to make a triple zero call when her child had an epileptic seizure. In another small community called Bearii, locals struggle with poor and intermittent mobile reception.

Reliable phone coverage is not a lifestyle extra or a consumer perk; it is essential. We found that out very recently. Fires devastated parts of my electorate, including parts of the member for Indi's electorate, around the Longwood region, and people's reliance on their mobile phone connectivity was essential. I do recall and reflect on the Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters program, which was a feature of the previous coalition government. It strengthened a lot of the telecommunications infrastructure. It has been noted that that has been a benefit when experiencing natural disasters, such as fire and flood.

For small businesses, farmers and freight operators, reliable mobile coverage is essential to running day-to-day operations, coordinating logistics and responding quickly to changing conditions on the ground. For families separated by distance, especially across regional and remote Australia, it is fundamental to ensuring they remain connected. For anyone travelling beyond metropolitan areas, mobile coverage is first and foremost a safety mechanism. It provides reassurance that help can be summoned if something goes wrong. Australia's geography is challenging, but new technologies, such as direct-to-device services, show promise in delivering vital telecommunications services. That must be matched by a framework that delivers genuine reliability, not just promises. The last mile is usually the most difficult and the most expensive.

Telecommunications affordability remains a critical issue, in particular, for households and businesses in regional and remote areas. If compliance with a new obligation significantly increases infrastructure costs, then those costs are likely to be reflected in retail pricing. Telecommunications policy must anticipate these structural impacts rather than respond to them after the fact. I note that, in this bill, there's the opportunity for 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, and the public interest in remote Australia is that services are delivered at a cost people living there can afford. Regional consumers already face higher service costs and fewer competitive options than their metropolitan counterparts. A universal obligation must not translate to higher bills for those it is intended to support.

This objective is sensible, but it must deliver. The coalition supports the goal of extending voice and text coverage outdoors across more of the country because improved connectivity for regional Australians is simply the right thing to do, and it's absolutely necessary for those people living out there. The legislative framework must genuinely expand coverage, and it must do this in a practical, reliable and affordable way. An obligation must be clearly defined so that carriers understand precisely what is required of them and consumers understand what they are entitled to expect. Terms such as 'reasonably available' and 'equitable access' must be translated into measurable, enforceable standards, rather than left as broad concepts, open to interpretation. Emerging technology is critically important as we continue on with legislation and the offering of services in relation to telecommunications.

Direct-to-device satellite technology represents an exciting development in telecommunications, with the potential to reduce longstanding coverage gaps across vast regions of Australia. Yet it remains a developing technology. Accelerating the rollout is essential, but legislating an outcome does not magically deliver it. The legislation in this case does leave some questions unanswered. Domestic carriers may bear the primary regulatory burden, but they will depend heavily on international satellite providers whose pricing models and deployment schedules are out of Australia's direct control. It is essential that any new obligation strengthen market competition, rather than inadvertently consolidate it in the hands of a few.

Regional Australians, older Australians and small businesses often retain devices for longer periods, either out of financial necessity or practical preference. A reform that functions only for the latest high-end smartphones would undermine the very principle of equitable access it claims to advance. Emergency triple zero access, in particular, must not be contingent on owning a recently released premium handset. The hard lessons of the government's failed rollback of the 3G network show that device compatibility cannot be treated as a secondary issue or left to chance. The government has a mixed track record on communications. The 3G shutdown was a foreseeable and planned change, but implementation led to confusion, late identification of incompatible devices and, too often, inadequate communication to consumers. Some of those consumers were forced into unplanned handset upgrades, and small businesses faced disruption to their operations. That was not an unforeseeable event; it was a transition that required rigorous oversight and proactive management by the government, and that oversight fell short.

In relation to triple zero and the consequences of failure, communication policy has real world consequences, as we all know. Australians cannot afford another botched rollout. We need assurance that the systems we put in place will not leave Australians with older handsets behind and vulnerable. There is no tolerance for error when it comes to emergency services and connectivity. Structural reform of this scale warrants comprehensive parliamentary examination. Given the government's record on 3G and triple zero, due diligence is not optional; it is absolutely essential.

There is a practical and a competent path forward. The coalition believes in expanding connectivity and embracing new technologies that can close longstanding coverage gaps. We have a record of investing in regional connectivity and in backing programs that deliver practical improvements on the ground. The coalition spearheaded the Mobile Black Spot Program after Labor declined to invest in improved connectivity in the regions. I saw significant improvements in regional mobile phone accessibility during the years of the coalition government before I came into parliament.

When I was running for parliament in 2022, I faced some pretty stiff competition from an Independent candidate—and that's fair enough. All's fair in love and war. Some of the Independent candidate's supporters kept pointing to me and saying, 'We've got more mobile phone towers in Indi than Nicholls,' and they were referring to the coalition government who had been in power for nine years. And I said, 'Well, the reason Indi has got more mobile phone towers is not because they've got an Independent representative; it's because they've got more hills.' The undulating geography of Indi meant that it had requirements for more mobile phone towers than Nicholls did. But the Independents wanted to make a big deal of this, saying, 'The Independents shout louder and get more done.' What that shows you is that the Mobile Black Spot Program was put out on need, not for who represents the particular electorate. That's a bit different from what we saw recently.

An investigation was launched in August 2023 by the Australian National Audit Office into the federal Labor government's mobile black spot funding program following allegations that funding was disproportionately allocated to Labor held electorates. Key findings and details regarding the allegations included a funding disparity, with reports indicating that 74 per cent of the 54 locations selected for funding in round 6 of the programs were in Labor held seats. The government's defence was that it was fulfilling election commitments.

Now, fulfilling election commitments is all very well, but making sure that the electorates most in need get the towers and get the coverage is more important. I'd be amazed if Labor electorates are more in need of those electorates. If you had have looked at it in terms of need, you would have seen a pretty broad spread but possibly more to the more remote electorates that are traditionally held by people from the coalition side of politics. So the rollout of telecommunications has got to be based on need and not on trying to make election promises to seats that you might hold or want to win.

We also believe that reform must be grounded in technical realism, economic responsibility and rigorous oversight. I note that, in this policy, we're looking at—I'll use this phrase—technology agnosticism.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a big word.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a big word, Member for Hunter; it's two words, actually, 'technology agnosticism'. I think that's fantastic, and I commend Labor on using that approach to telecommunications. But I suggest that we extend that process and the concept of technology agnosticism to the energy debate as well. That's where that technology agnosticism—I've said it five times now, Member for Hunter, and not messed it up yet. But I really do think that we need to look at all technologies when we're looking at our energy system, because it is such a critical part of our economy and technology is moving fast.

We don't want the one-size-fits-all outcome for communications; we want to use all the technology—mobile phone towers, direct to device, low orbit satellites. Technology is moving fast in this area, and whoever's in government will have to keep up. So you have our support for the concept; we just want to see it deliver better outcomes on the ground. As the member for Riverina said in his speech earlier—and apparently he's going to keep a folder of all the presentations by Labor members talking about how great this is going to be—it's great to talk about it here in the House of Representatives. It'll pass. It'll pass the Senate, I believe. Then it will be about the deliver and whether we actually get those better outcomes. We'll be holding the government to account on that.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in strong support for the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. I do so as the member for Hunter, representing one of the most diverse regions in the country. It's a place of regional cities, mining towns, farming communities and some of the very best wine in the world. It has bushland, national parks and long stretches of highway. It's a place where people work hard, look after each other and too often have had to live with patchy or non-existent mobile coverage once stepping outside town limits. For communities like mine, this bill is not abstract. It is not theoretical. It is practical. It is overdue. It will make a real difference to people's safety, livelihoods and peace of mind in the Hunter.

At its core, this bill establishes the universal outdoor mobile obligation for the first time in Australia's history. It recognises something regional Australians have been saying for years, if not decades—that mobile connectivity is no longer a luxury. It is essential infrastructure and it should not stop at the edge of town. Right now, traditional mobile coverage reaches areas where around 99 per cent of Australians live and work, but it covers only about one-third of Australia's landmass. In the remaining two-thirds of the country, including in vast parts of the Hunter, it simply is not possible to make a triple zero call by using a standard mobile phone. That is a gap this legislation addresses. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will require Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide reasonable and equitable access to outdoor mobile voice and text services almost everywhere across this country. It will ensure that whether you are broken down on a regional road, injured on a farm, working in the bush or caught in the natural disaster you can look up, see the sky and make a call for help. For the Hunter, that is a real game changer.

The Hunter is not one uniform place. It includes dense regional centres, like Singleton and Cessnock, but also isolated rural areas, like Laguna, Paynes Crossing, Putty and large parts of the Upper Hunter. It includes mining operations, vineyards, cattle properties, tourism areas and long-haul transport routes. In many of those places, mobile coverage drops out very quickly once you leave town. People know exactly where the black spots are. They slow down to send a text message before they lose signal. They plan trips around coverage. They carry UHF radios or satellite phones, if they can afford them, or their daughters ask them to stop a little bit sooner so they can make sure they can send a message. But too many people don't have those options.

I've heard from Hunter residents who have broken down on the back roads with no reception. I've heard from farmers who have been injured on their own properties and have had to drive until they find a signal. I've heard from families worried sick because somebody was overdue and uncontactable. I've heard from parents whose kids travel long distances on school buses through areas with no mobile coverage. I've heard from shift workers who drive home late at night on dark regional roads, with no way to call for help if something goes wrong. This bill speaks directly to those experiences. It brings mobile services into the universal services framework for the very first time. In doing so, it recognises that safety should not be dependent on your postcode.

One of the strengths of this legislation is that it is technology neutral but outcome focused. It does not mandate one single solution; instead, it requires mobile network operators to meet the obligation by using a combination of their existing terrestrial networks and new direct-to-device technology enabled by low-Earth-orbit satellites. That flexibility matters, and it's important to acknowledge that we are not starting from scratch. Telstra has already been rolling out the direct-to-device satellite enabled services in Australia. This allows basic SMS and voice connectivity in areas without traditional mobile coverage. In parts of regional Australia, including areas relevant to the Hunter, that service is already making a real difference.

I've heard directly from people who've been able to send messages from places where they never could have before. I've heard from workers in remote locations who can now check in on family. I've heard from travellers who feel safer in knowing that they have a backup if something goes wrong. That existing Telstra service shows exactly what's possible. It shows that this technology works, and it shows why this government needs to step in to make sure it is available to everybody, not just those on one network or in one location. This bill builds on that progress and scales it nationally. It ensures that all three major carriers are required to provide baseline outdoor mobile coverage rather than leave it to individual commercial decisions. It also improves competition because not one network should have a monopoly on safety.

Importantly, this legislation is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage; it is about expanding coverage to places where, despite decades of investment and co-investment, it has not been feasible to build towers. For the Hunter, that distinction matters. People want better mobile coverage in towns and along highways, and the government continues to invest in programs, like the Mobile Black Spot Program, to do exactly that. But we also need a solution for the places where towers simply are not practical. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation delivers that solution. Initially, the obligation will focus on voice and SMS services. That is deliberate. It reflects the current state of the technology and the primary objective of public safety. In an emergency, you do not need streaming or high-speed data. But you do need to be able to make a call, you need to be able to send a text message and you need a service to work reliably.

Over time, as technology evolves, this framework will allow the scope of obligation to be expanded. That flexibility is built into this legislation. The bill sets a default commencement date of 1 December 2025. That date sends a clear signal to industry that this is a clear priority, but it also allows flexibility to adjust timing if needed, based on market readiness and technical capabilities. That balance is extremely important. We are not sitting around waiting for the market to fix this on its own. We are legislating it now to make sure this crucial technology is deployed widely and equitably and that regional Australians benefit from it as soon as possible.

The bill also creates new powers to set standards, rules and benchmarks for mobile services. That includes the ability to step in if an industry does not deliver or if consumers are being left behind. For communities like mine, that accountability matters so much. People in the Hunter have heard plenty of promises over the years about connectivity. What they want now is delivery. This legislation creates a framework to ensure that that delivery actually happens.

I want to ground this in the conversations I have had across the Hunter, because this issue comes up everywhere I go. I've spoken with farmers in the Upper Hunter who have told me plainly that mobile coverage can disappear the moment that they leave the homestead. One bloke said to me that, when he's out checking his stock or fixing his fences, his phone might as well be a brick. If something goes wrong, if he is injured or his machinery fails, he knows he could be hours away from help. The ability to send a message or make a call from anywhere on his property would genuinely change how safe he feels doing his job on his own property.

I've spoken with small-business owners who operate tourism ventures in and around the Watagans and the Barrington foothills. They rely on mobile phones to take bookings, coordinate staff and reassure visitors. More than one operator has told me that they spend a good part of every day explaining to customers why there is no reception once they arrive. This affects confidence, repeat business and livelihoods. Knowing there is a basic level of outdoor coverage would make a real difference to how these businesses operate.

I've spoken with truckies and shiftworkers who travel long stretches of regional roads late at night. One transport worker told me that he has planned breaks around where he knows he can get reception just in case something happens. Another truckie said he worries about hitting wildlife or breaking down in areas where there is no signal at all. For people whose jobs depend on being on the road, this legislation is about safety, not convenience.

I've also spoken with parents, particularly in rural parts of the Hunter, who worry when their kids are travelling long distances for sport, work or school. One parent told me that the hardest part is not knowing whether their child has arrived safely because there are entire stretches where no messages can get through. Even the ability to send a simple text would ease that anxiety.

Local businesses have also told me how valuable Telstra's existing satellite backed services have been. I've heard from people who are able to send messages from properties or worksites where they never could before. It's not perfect, but it's progress, and it shows why this technology, when made universal, will have such a powerful impact. These are practical, everyday conversations. They are not about flashy technology or big promises. They are about being able to call for help, check in with the family, run a business and feel safe.

The benefits of this bill for the Hunter extend beyond emergencies. Better outdoor mobile coverage supports agriculture, mining, tourism and small businesses. It supports productivity and safety at worksites and job sites. It supports people travelling through the region and it supports community confidence.

It also supports our emergency services. When bushfires, floods or storms hit, communications are critical. This bill complements recent reforms to strengthen triple zero and restore public confidence in emergency call services. Expanding baseline mobile coverage improves the likelihood that people can access help when they need it most. I've spoken to Hunter residents who have lived through recent disasters and know how terrifying being cut off can be—no phone, no updates, no way to call for help. This bill is about reducing that risk.

It is also about fairness. Regional Australians pay phone bills, the same as everybody else. They contribute to the economy. They power this country through agriculture, mining and energy. They deserve the same level of safety and connectivity. For too long, people outside of the cities have been told that patchy coverage is just part of regional life and that they should accept this—that they should accept less. This bill says that that is no longer good enough. It brings mobile coverage into the universal services regime. It creates obligations, it creates accountability and it creates a pathway to close one of the most persistent digital divides in this country.

I also want to acknowledge the extensive consultation that has taken place on this legislation. Consumer groups, regional stakeholders, industry regulators and state and territory governments have all had input. Consumers and stakeholders strongly support this bill, particularly its focus on equitable access and safety. Industry has raised implementation issues, and there is time built into the framework to work through those issues responsibly. That is how good policy is made.

For the Hunter, the universal outdoor mobile obligation represents progress that people can see and feel. It means a farmer checking in from the paddock, a truckie being able to call for help on a remote stretch of road, a family feeling safer when loved ones are travelling and a worker being able to send a message from a site that was previously off the grid. Importantly, it builds on services that are already showing results. Telstra's existing direct-to-device service has demonstrated the value of satellite enabled connectivity. This bill ensures that value is shared, expanded and embedded into our national framework.

It is not about waiting for perfection; it is about taking a big step forward. The vision is clear: a country where you can step outside, look up and connect, no matter where you live, no matter where you work, no matter where you travel. For the Hunter, that vision matters. That's why I support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, and that's why I commend it to the House.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. This is obviously an extremely important bill for all Australians, and I do support the intent of the bill. There are elements of the bill that I have concerns about that I'll mention in my speech.

We live in an amazing country that is very sparsely populated other than in the city areas, and the needs of Australian citizens in those areas are different compared to the needs of regional Australians. By virtue of the big land that we have and the lack of population density in the regions, we suffer from a lack of mobile telecommunications. Every member coming to this place from urban areas but also from the regions and the rural areas should, as a big priority, be fighting for better services. I really do hope that this bill facilitates better services in the regions.

The complaints that come to my office about our telecommunications system—it's one of the most frequent issues that are raised. We rightfully have an expectation that we will have satisfactory telecommunications. Mobile telecommunications have become such an important element of our daily life, whether it's in business, commerce or just our social networking. It is essential that we have high-quality, reliable and cost-effective mobile telecommunications. In parts of Wide Bay, people experience very poor telecommunications. In some cases, they don't have any. When we were in government, I did manage to achieve 19 new mobile telecommunications towers, and I was very proud of that. I know the effect that that will have, in Wide Bay, as I said, and in a wide array of areas. As a former police officer, I know the importance of reliable telecommunications. I know that reliable telecommunications can save lives but also that an absence or a lack of them can cost lives.

With the Morrison government, I managed to achieve 19 new mobile telecommunications towers, including at Glastonbury, Widgee, Woolooga, Wolvi, Tansey, Cinnabar, Windera, Oakview, Curra, Wratten's Forest, Maaroom, Poona, Fraser Island, Kin Kin, Boreen Point and Cootharaba. Very disappointingly, since the Albanese Labor government has been in power, Wide Bay has received no further towers. That is alarming, and we need to do something about it. Embracing new technologies may help, but we need a government motivated to improve services in all of Australia, not just Labor seats.

While I recognise the intent of the bill and welcome the requirement for major telcos to provide reasonable and equitable outdoor mobile coverage, I have concerns about whether the bill as drafted will actually deliver regional Australians the services that they need and deserve. The government claims that the universal obligation will provide coverage almost everywhere, yet it hasn't been clear about what this means, and who will be left out, or about the new technologies that we'll really rely on that have not been widely trialled, tested or proven in Australia.

The universal obligation is built around low-Earth-orbit satellite-to-mobile technology. This technology has great potential, and it may well transform telecommunications in years to come, but clearly it is not where it needs to be to satisfy the sales pitch of the government on this bill. Even Telstra in their submission acknowledged that satellite-to-mobile services are still under development and not ready to meet the expectations this legislation creates. That should be a concern to everyone.

I'm also troubled by the vague and open ended definitions in the bill. Terms such as 'reasonably available' and 'equitable basis' are undefined. Giving the minister discretion to determine coverage areas and to exempt locations entirely also worries me when I think about what happened in Wide Bay when, upon the election of the Albanese government, the tap was turned off for these vital services. With such discretion given to the minister, I hope it is used fairly and with all Australians in mind, not just those voting in Labor held seats. Consumer advocates, including the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, have raised concerns about emergency service connectivity, which should be an absolute fundamental. People need to be able to make a life-saving call for help. Access to emergency services should not be negotiable, yet the bill fails to ensure this.

As a former policeman, I remember numerous occasions where serious crashes—mainly fatal road crashes—occurred and people were unable to call emergency services because of a weak signal or no signal. In rural and regional Australia, the rate of fatalities is much higher than in built-up urban areas. Regional Australia has a rate of 9.6 traffic deaths per 100,000, compared to 2.2 in the urban areas, so you are far more likely to be involved in a very serious traffic crash on regional and rural roads. That just emphasises that we absolutely need technology that can be utilised at those times when these serious incidents occur.

Affordability is another major issue. Without financial support, telcos inevitably pass the cost of new satellite technologies onto the consumers. Regional residents may be required to purchase new handsets or more expensive plans to access the services the government claims will be universal. Low-income families may find themselves priced out of connectivity. That is certainly something that we cannot let happen. People who are struggling to pay the bills need to have access to telecommunications and connectivity for the services that we've talked about as much as anyone. We do have issues when it comes to socioeconomic inequality in the regions.

Telstra has noted that there's insufficient spectrum to meet the requirements of the universal obligation, potentially forcing a choice between maintaining 4G and expanding 5G, raising the risk of an early 4G shutdown. We all know the disruptions caused by the 3G shutdown. It caused a lot of anxiety amongst people, which was well founded, and left a lot of people worse off, unable to access 4G and 5G services reliably and, in some areas, with poorer coverage than existed before.

Technologies will continue to evolve, and our systems must evolve with it. Regional Australia needs to be put at the forefront of these advanced technologies and our embrace of them. Wide Bay covers more than 14,000 square kilometres, and there are many communities that urgently need mobile coverage. Reliable mobile services aren't a luxury; they're a necessity. I urge the government to do as much as it can to improve those services for regional Australians.

David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government was re-elected last year with a mandate to build Australia's future. Australia's future is a connected one. We inhabit a vast and ancient continent, but we live in a time when technology has drastically changed what distance can mean to us. In 1854 we had the first telegram line connect Sydney to Melbourne. In 1871 we had the first overseas telegram reach Australian shores. In the century and a half since that time, we have seen drastic changes to what telecommunications can bring to a modern society.

At Federation, there was no way that Australians could have imagined what low-Earth-orbit satellite direct-to-device technology would make possible. In 2026, access to telecommunications is no longer a luxury; it is an essential service that underpins public safety, economic participation and the need to stay connected to those we love. Australians rely on mobile phones for connectivity more than ever. However, Australia's longstanding universal service obligation has not included mobile services. We have legislated for copper phone lines and payphones, while the country has evolved to make the mobile phone the most essential device for everyday life.

On this side of the chamber, we believe in a simple principle: no-one held back and no-one left behind. That's why I am so supportive of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025—because communities like those in my electorate of Hughes were left behind while those opposite were in office, especially in relation to telecommunications. While those opposite were in government, they tried to degrade everything that the National Broadband Network was meant to transform. They took a technology designed to connect every Australian with world-class fibre and watered it down. They chose cheaper, slower, inferior technology, and they called it good enough. It meant that communities like Bundeena and Maianbar in the Royal National Park in my electorate missed out on the connections that were changing lives all around the world as digital access changed the way that lives were lived and economies were grown.

When I'm out in the community listening to residents of Bundeena and Maianbar, I'm constantly hearing from them about how the lack of connection affects them. Bundeena and Maianbar are one road in, one road out. The road, which starts as Farnell Avenue and undergoes a couple of name changes before meeting Bundeena Drive, is single lane. It's winding and surrounded by dense bushland. These are dangerous roads for Bundeena and Maianbar residents to have to navigate at night. Residents and motorists need to know that, if trouble arises, they'll be able to get help—for a medical episode, a breakdown or a car that comes off the road in the dark. On that road right now, they may have no way to reach anyone if any of these emergencies arise. That's the quiet, daily reality for people in my community in Bundeena and Maianbar, and it's not good enough. These are communities that sit inside the boundaries of greater metropolitan Sydney. From my community, you can see the city, and yet, when it comes to mobile connectivity, they may as well be hundreds of kilometres from anywhere.

That's why, on this side of the House, we're introducing a universal outdoor mobile service obligation. For the first time, Telstra, Optus and TPG will be required to provide reasonable access to outdoor baseline mobile coverage across Australia on an equitable basis, starting with voice and SMS services, not just in the cities, not just in the suburbs but everywhere Australians live, work, drive and walk.

I spend a lot of time on Heathcote Road. It not only connects the two sides of my electorate; it connects the growing south-west of Sydney to the South Coast. But, for such an important artery, mobile reception on Heathcote Road is not where it needs to be in the 21st century. There are stretches where coverage disappears. If there's a breakdown, an accident or a medical emergency on Heathcote Road, there may be no way to call for help. It's not acceptable for a major road connecting two significant parts of New South Wales.

The Royal National Park sits at the heart of my electorate. It's one of the oldest national parks in the world and one of the most visited. On any given weekend, thousands of people from across Greater Sydney, people from across New South Wales and tourists from across the world are walking the coast track, enjoying the water at Garie Beach, riding trails through the scrub, kayaking through the estuary or simply sitting on a clifftop and watching the Tasman Sea. For most visitors, losing mobile coverage is not life threatening. For most people, it simply means more reason to focus on the incomparable nature the park presents. But, sometimes, it does matter—if a hiker slips on a wet sandstone ledge, a kayaker gets into trouble in a swell that came from nowhere or a trail runner takes a wrong turn and the light starts to fade. In those moments, the most connected generation in human history is suddenly and completely cut off from help. The visitor numbers are real, but they are spread across an enormous area, and the park's conservation status limits accessibility. This is market failure, and it's the kind of market failure that this government is seeking to address.

This bill is technology-neutral by design. Mobile operators will be expected to use a combination of their existing terrestrial infrastructure and new direct-to-device technology delivered by low-Earth-orbit satellites. The advent of new low-Earth-orbit satellites, or LEOSat, direct-to-device technology has made delivery of mobile coverage across Australia's vast inland areas possible. Within the next couple of years, the 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. D2D uses satellites orbiting at around 550 kilometres above the Earth to communicate directly with a standard mobile handset without a tower, dish or base station at the user's end. It's just a phone and a view of the sky.

That means it works in a national park. It means it works on a winding road through dense bush and on a single-lane road into Bundeena at night. Telstra already has a commercial D2D SMS service operating in Australia today. Optus and TPG have announced their own plans. This technology exists, and it's being deployed right now. The question this bill answers is whether it reaches every Australian or only the ones who happen to be commercially convenient. Setting the obligation now is what will drive the market to build toward it. We want the industry to meet its obligations and provide appropriate coverage to all Australians.

A legislated obligation is only as strong as the framework that enforces it. That is why the standards, rules and benchmarks powers in this bill matter as much as the obligation itself. If the industry does not deliver quality services, the minister can act. If affordable products are not available for vulnerable Australians, there is a mechanism to require them. If planned outages are not being managed responsibly, there are levers that can be pulled. I want to acknowledge the 88 submissions made during public consultation on this bill. This bill did not come from nowhere. Those submissions came from mobile carriers, consumer groups, state and local governments and individual Australians. The breadth of that engagement reflects how deeply people across this country feel about connectivity as a basic expectation, not a commercial privilege. Consumer and community stakeholders were particularly clear. They want equitable access, and they want industry held to account if it isn't delivering. This bill gives the government the tools to do exactly that. The president of the National Farmers' Federation described this as a world-first policy and said Australia could become the 'gold standard for regional communications'.

This is not just about what the technology can do today; it's about building a framework that is flexible enough to capture whatever comes next. As D2D technology matures, as new services emerge and as the market evolves, this legislation evolves with it. We are not locking Australians into a single solution. We are locking Australia into a standard that every Australian everywhere deserves connection. Because voice services under the UOMO will be classified as public mobile telecommunications services, the existing Emergency Call Service Determination automatically applies. Wherever this bill delivers a voice call, it delivers access to triple zero—on a cliff in the Royal National Park, on a dark stretch of Heathcote Road and on the road into Bundeena. No additional legislation is required; it flows directly from this bill. Triple zero access across every outdoor location must be a core feature of this legislation in order for it to provide real certainty for all Australians in the event of an emergency.

The promise of connectivity is one that successive governments have made, but only this side has kept it. We told Australians that mobile phones would keep them connected. This has been true for most of us most of the time, but not for residents like those in Bundeena and Maianbar that are navigating a single lane road, not for hikers and trail runners in the Royal National Park, not for the thousands of commuters on Heathcote Road—who deserve the same coverage as any other major Sydney arterial—and not for the constituents of Hughes, who have held up phones and found nothing there. This bill starts keeping the promise properly, with a clear obligation and technology that can actually deliver it. This bill says that no Australian anywhere should look up, see the sky and find a phone call out of reach. To the people of Bundeena and Maianbar, to hikers in the Royal National Park, to the drivers of Heathcote Road and to every constituent in Hughes: this bill is about addressing your concerns and giving you peace of mind. I commend the bill to the House.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This issue in regional Australia is so very, very important. At the start, we had a thing called CDMA. It didn't carry much data, but it had a huge range. It used to be remarkable. When I was out at Saint George—you'd be miles away and you could get CDMA. You could get on the phone. If you broke down or something happened or there was a crash or you needed to get spare parts, CDMA worked. And then they said: 'No. CDMA's no good anymore. We're going to a thing called 2G.' The range got smaller, and they said: 'Don't worry. We'll push it out a bit.'

At that point in time, the coalition, to give them their dues—I was part of it—had the Telstra debate, and part of that legislation that went through was because the Labor Party sold 49 per cent of Telstra and they had the remainder. It wasn't about the sale of Telstra. We're talking about the sale of the remainder of Telstra. We only had to sell two per cent, and we lost control of it. Peter Costello, at that stage, decided he'd balance the books by paying off the debt by selling Telstra. I argued against it at the time. Probably, with hindsight, it was the right thing to do because the value of Telstra went down yet the debt was cleared. That's how, when people talk about how the coalition was not in debt, they did it. They sold Telstra to do it.

Nonetheless, I digress. What happened after that in that negotiation—I'd just arrived in parliament. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. It was 2005. I'd never been in parliament and neither had any of my staff. At that stage, I'd won with the Queensland Nationals, which no longer exist, and we actually competed against the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party tried to get rid of me. It might happen again. But we actually prevailed, and then we had a majority of one in the Senate, and that was my vote. Because they campaigned against me, I didn't feel obligated in any way, shape or form to play ball. So I held down my vote. There was a fund. We got $2 billion of that.

Then, in the next term, the Liberal Party voted with the coalition—the Nationals supported them—to get rid of the fund. That was smart. Then there were the Universal Service Obligation, the Network Reliability Framework, the Customer Service Guarantee, the Network Reliability Framework—a whole range of conditions that were put in place that Telstra had to put in place to keep their licence. I can do this without notes because I'm very across this. It's part of my life.

Then we went to 2G. We said to them, 'You can't go to 2G unless you're offering the same coverage as what you had with CDMA.' So we subsidised a whole lot of mobile phone towers to get built all around the countryside. They said, 'We just don't get a return from a tower,' so we had bidding form. If we were going to put a tower up in, say, the seat of Cook, we'd say: 'There's money there. The ones that come up and ask us for the least amount of money get that to build a tower in the seat of Cook.' And off it went. There were 55 towers built in the seat of New England.

Then they went to 3G. We said, '3G's fine.' All of a sudden, they could start moving more data. The world became consumed by data. Banks wanted to move bigger files and they needed more bandwidth to do that, and so it went to 3G. But, of course, the more data you move the more your range constricts in and the more you have to supplement that by new towers to get things out.

So we had 3G come in, and we had to build more towers. That was fine, but the market in Sydney and other areas relied absolutely on the growth of the programs that were coming out from stockbrokers, from banks and from online delivery of films. Netflix and YouTube required more data again, so they went to 4G, buying the spectrum up. The spectrum became worth a lot of money, so they went into buying spectrum. And to get into buying spectrum they have to retire previous spectrum. When they retired spectrum those on the peripheries, regional areas, lost their mobile phone service. There's always a promise: 'Don't worry. We'll come back and we'll fix it up.' But they started falling off the log a bit on this one, and the Network Reliability Framework and the Customer Service Guarantee and the Universal Service Obligation—as I said, you're not complying with these anymore. They'll tell you not to worry about it, that they'll fix it up in the future, it's all under control and everything's hunky dory. Then came 4G and, of course, now we've got 5G. With 5G, it's almost like a line of sight, to be able to move with a big bandwidth. You can move massive amounts of files. It's great for your banking. You can download your movies. You can do it on your phone. It's marvellous stuff, except that now people on 3G get closed down. They have to grab that bandwidth back.

There are all those people who relied on it in the country if you had an accident. We had, the other day, a tragic accident on the highway near Moonbi. A person was killed. It was a truck, and it went into a car. They shut down the highway near Moonbi, so all these cars, from a national highway, started going up the Danglemah Road, which I live on. So the Danglemah Road, a dirt road, turned into the New England Highway, and these people didn't really understand that it's a single-lane road. As I went along, one truck had been pushed just off the edge, on the side of a cliff. It was just hanging on there. We—I didn't, but people from my property did—had to put chains on it so it didn't tip over. That person could have been killed. They went to ring—of course, no reception. Especially in remote areas, when someone has a heart attack, they've got to get on the phone. There's no reception. Even for a simple thing, like a person getting a flat tyre who's probably not able to fix it—that's most of this building!—there's no reception. They can't do it.

It's a fundamental occupational health and safety issue in regional Australia that you have a mobile phone reception. It is very, very dangerous if you don't. Every person who's been in regional Australia will tell you about the time they came across an accident. They came across an accident. There were people on the side of the road. The car's disappeared. They just happened to catch a glimpse of it. It's gone off the road, to the side. There's the immediate panic you have: 'I must get the police here; I must get an ambulance here, I've got to find out.' And, if you don't have reception, well, what are you going to do? You can't leave the people. What do you do? Light a little fire? I mean, how does this work? You've got to have mobile phone reception, and we're losing it since they went to 5G.

So how are we going to deal with this? Well, where a lot of people will go—and are going—is to Mr Elon Musk with his Starlink—with mobile Starlink. That's where they're off to. That's because we're going right away from any protections in Australia and using delivery of a foreign service, which, of course, should something go wrong, can be shut down, when we should be relying on telecommunications being delivered as promised through the Universal Service Obligation. So we call on the government to actually own this and go out to areas and say, 'If you're not complying with the Universal Service Obligation, the network reliability framework or the customer service guarantee, you put at risk your licence for having a telecommunications company.'

So let's talk about how you get more towers out, because the only way you solve this problem is to get more mobile phone towers out. Every time that bandwidth is utilised for 5G—after it will come 6G—more and more volume is required, so less and less area is able to be covered. There have to be more and more mobile phone towers put out around the nation. Lately, in regional areas, that's just fallen off of a perch. I must admit that the coalition were very good at getting out mobile phone towers. But, just observing—I'm not suggesting anything, but I'm observing—where a few mobile phone towers have been going, one might suggest that they're going into Labor electorates. One might suggest that. One might suggest that there seem to be quite a few going in around a place called Bega, but we are not getting any new ones out in other regional areas. This in itself means that there is a diminished standard of living and diminished potential in regional areas.

Even now, mobile phone receptions are utilised by mechanics. For a lot of machinery now, if a bearing's overheating or something else is going wrong, a message—in some instances sent to the tower, sent to Detroit if it's John Deere, or sent back to the dealership—tells you to turn off your tractor, because, if you keep it running, it's going to go from a $6,000 bill to a $60,000 bill and cost you a lot of money.

This Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 has to have the meat put on the bone so that the government will own the responsibility to get out into regional areas to have discussions with the community and say, 'Where did you use to get reception that you no longer get reception?' and at the very least match what they had, because they don't have it. What I have seen in following this is that every office in regional Australia becomes a lightning rod for telephone complaints. What I have seen is that when you say to them, 'This area that you used to get reception in no longer gets reception,' they come out with the greatest weasel words. They say, 'In the past that was just fortuitous reception.' It's like you were just lucky it happened. Luck had nothing to do with it. They had reception and now they don't.

In closing, on Monday mornings I do a piece on Sunrise. There's a hill behind my place, and I've got a track and it goes right up this hill. It's quite steep. It'd be 800 or 900 metres—I suppose 800 metres—at the top. People say, 'You go up there because there's a beautiful view and the sun's rising and it looks wonderful; you and Tanya get out there and get the ratings for Channel 7 and have a whale of a time.' The reason I go up that hill is for mobile phone reception. That's why I go up the hill. If I didn't go up the hill, we wouldn't have the reception to be able to relay that program to the tower.

From that area I get 5G because I can see the tower. It's on top of the Moonbi Range. It's just over there, and it's that line-of-sight reception that I get. I used to be able to get reception. Every time they changed the telephone, the 5G to 2G, I used to have to go further and further up the hill to get reception. Now I'm at the top of the hill. I'm at the top of my game, but there's no more hill to go up. I'm going to have to buy the neighbour's place to go any further up. So, if they knock off any more of this, I am out of luck and I say to Sunrise, 'I'm sorry about that; I just didn't have a higher hill.'

So let's see that if this obligation is actually fulfilled. Let's see if the rhetoric turns into reality. Let's see if you actually deliver what was promised. Might I remind you what you voted for back in 2005. It was a long time ago, but you did. You voted for these responsibilities, these obligations, and even though it's later on you've got to honour them in 2026.

Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the year 2026 mobile phone coverage is not a luxury; it is a necessity for everyday life. It is how Australians communicate with their families and friends. It is how parents coordinate school pick-ups and after-school activities. It's how carers check in on elderly relatives. It is how people stay socially connected in an increasingly digital world. Remote workers rely on mobile data to participate in meetings and access cloud based systems. It is how Australians access services. Many government services now require an online verification code sent by SMS. If you cannot receive a text message or place a call, you can effectively be locked out of essential services. Without reliable coverage, Australians are getting left behind.

Mobile coverage is also fundamentally about safety. It is how Australians call triple 0 in an emergency. It is how they receive bushfire alerts, flood alerts and weather-warning notifications. It is how stranded motorists call for roadside assistance. It is how workers on farms, construction sites and remote worksites stay in contact with colleagues and emergency responders. In 2026 connectivity underpins social inclusion. Without it, individuals can become isolated, particularly in regional and remote communities. In the modern era, reliable mobile connectivity belongs in the same category as any other essential infrastructure. It supports our economy, our safety and our sense of connection to one another. That is why reform is necessary, that is why universal outdoor mobile coverage matters and that is why we must ensure that the framework governing telecommunications reflects the realities of everyday life in 2026.

We're establishing for the first time a legislative framework to create a universal outdoor mobile obligation. It represents a significant and necessary evolution of Australia's universal services regime. It reflects the way Australians live today, it reflects the way we communicate and it reflects the expectation that connectivity is not a luxury but a baseline necessity. The Albanese government is committed to keeping Australians connected. We believe that every Australian should have access to baseline mobile voice and text services across the entire country. No matter where you live and no matter what you do, you deserve the ability to connect, whether it is to work from home, to run your business, to seek help in an emergency or to simply stay in touch with the people that you love.

Traditional mobile coverage is currently provided in areas where about 99 per cent of Australians work and live. That is an extraordinary achievement and one that reflects decades of investment by industry and government. But it covers only one-third of the Australian landmass. In the remaining two-thirds, around five million square kilometres, it is not possible to make a triple zero call using traditional mobile services, and that statistic alone makes a case for reform.

We rely on telecommunication connectivity to support our families, our businesses and our communities. Most importantly, we rely on it to seek help in an emergency. Whether you are facing a natural disaster, broken down on the highway, injured on the farm or lost in the bush, you should have the ability to call for assistance. Under the UOMO, coverage will be accessible almost everywhere Australians can see the sky. That underlying connectivity will support expanded triple zero access and strengthen public safety outcomes. This reform means that, whether you are travelling on a regional highway, working on a remote property, camping with your friends or visiting one of our amazing national parks, you'll have baseline access to mobile voice and SMS services outdoors where reasonably possible.

The UOMO will require the three national mobile network operators Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide reasonable and equitable access to outdoor mobile voice and text services almost everywhere in Australia. This will have particular benefits in remote and regional areas where there is currently no traditional mobile coverage. It will also improve competition by ensuring that baseline access is available through all three national operators. Mobile carriers are expected to meet the obligation using a combination of their existing terrestrial mobile networks and the new direct-to-device technology enabled by the low-Earth-orbit satellites.

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage; it is about expanding it to areas where, despite significant industry and government co-investment, it has not been feasible to provide coverage through towers alone. Direct-to-device technology is emerging and still being rolled out in Australia and around the world. It allows compatible mobile phones to connect directly to satellites when terrestrial coverage is unavailable, provided there is a clear line of sight to the sky. The bill recognises that there are circumstances where operators may not be able to meet this obligation—for example, in heavily forested areas or deep valleys where a clear line of sight is obstructed. The intent is to ensure services are available as widely as possible.

Initially, the mobile telecommunications services subject to the UOMO will be voice services and SMS. This reflects the early capability of the technology and the primary policy objective of public safety. The bill creates a flexible framework that allows the scope and timing of the UOMO to be adjusted by the ministerial instrument as satellite technology evolves and the market capability expands. The bill proposes a default commencement date of 1 December 2027. From that date, all three operators will be required to ensure that baseline mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors throughout Australia. This timing is ambitious, and it is challenging, but it sends a clear signal to the market that equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage is a national priority and that services should be available as soon as possible.

Importantly, the bill provides flexibility to adjust the scope and timing of the obligation by notifiable legislative instrument if required by market readiness or technical constraints. Any such decision must be made following consultation with the UOMO providers and with consideration of market, technical and consumer matters. This ensures accountability while maintaining necessary flexibility.

This legislation brings mobile services into the longstanding universal services regime, which previously focused on legacy, copper based voice services. It modernises that framework.

It recognises that mobile phones are now the primary means of communication for the overwhelming majority of Australians. I actually don't know a single person my age that has a landline. It also creates new powers to set standards, rules and benchmarks for mobile services, with flexibility for those to apply before the UOMO commences. This provides a framework to hold industry to account if it does not deliver in the national interest. Standards could cover matters such as ensuring there are affordable products to meet the needs of vulnerable groups, or requiring industry to reduce the impact of planned mobile outages through better planning and communication.

While the need for and content of any standards will require close consultation, it is important that the government has the ability to step in if the market does not deliver fair outcomes. Consultation has already been undertaken on exposure draft legislation. Feedback was received from mobile carriers, carriage service providers, state and territory governments, regulators, consumer groups and individuals. Consumer stakeholders have strongly supported the bill, and in many cases have called for even stronger enforcement of standards. Regional stakeholders are keen to see equitable access to mobile coverage and to ensure that direct-to-device technology complements rather than replaces terrestrial infrastructure.

I want to speak about what this reform means in practical terms for communities like mine. In Burpengary East, residents have been grappling with limited and unreliable mobile coverage. It is a growing community. Families are moving in, small businesses are establishing themselves, but too many residents struggle to make a call from their own home. I've been working closely with stakeholders to progress improved mobile infrastructure in Burpengary East. Negotiations with Queensland's site grantee are ongoing. These negotiations are critical to ensuring that the proposed base station can move from planning into delivery.

Base station deployment is complex. From contract signing, it typically takes between 24 and 36 months to move through site inspection, detailed design, planning approvals, site acquisition, construction and the final activation. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts has informed me that it is legally unable to provide a public update while contract negotiations remain underway. I share the community's frustration. I want the residents of Burpengary East to know that I am not treating this as a background issue. I'm advocating strongly, I'm seeking updates, I'm pushing for progress and I will continue to do so. These processes can take time. There are negotiations, approvals, design work and construction phases, but time frames and technicalities would not diminish my commitment to seeing this through, because it is about more than signal bars on a screen. It is about safety, it is about opportunity and it is about fairness.

Once contract negotiations are finalised, a public announcement will be made. The UOMO will complement these on-the-ground efforts by ensuring that even where terrestrial coverage gaps remain, baseline outdoor connectivity will be available. This reform is about closing the digital divide. It builds on the government's investments in the NBN, in regional communication programs, in First Nations Digital Inclusion Plan initiatives and strengthening the triple zero framework. It supports productivity. It supports economic growth. It supports Australia's growing demand for data and seamless connectivity.

Our vision is clear. We are not sitting back waiting for technology to evolve to its own timetable. We're acting early to ensure that Australians benefit from emerging technologies as quickly and as equitably as possible. Improving coverage is a key concern for communities and a priority of this government. The UOMO ensures that almost anywhere Australians can see the sky, they will have access to outdoor mobile voice and text services. It means that when you look up, you can connect. No matter where you live or what you do, you deserve that connection.

Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Communication is one of the most fundamental building blocks of what it means to be a human. For those who live in cities, where you might have hundreds of neighbours in the same building, there are many ways and means of reaching out, for sending a message or for calling for help. But for those in the bush, for those across the huge electorate of Parkes, and for many Australians in other parts of the country that are not centred around a capital city, communication is a huge challenge. For someone who has chest pains on a property outside Wilcannia or who breaks down out the back of Bourke, there are no neighbours. Sadly, this is where telecommunications continue to let regional people down. In this lucky country, this country of opportunity and innovation, the people who produce our food and fibre and the minerals, and the people who work hard and look after the land cannot make a simple phone call.

There are times when businessowners in Gilgandra must walk out into the streets to allow their customers to pay with a credit card. There are times when people running businesses from their regional home cannot log on to finalise transactions, cannot lodge their business activity statements and cannot fill in necessary employment or government forms. People cannot coordinate logistics, use modern GPS tools or check on their loved ones. When emergencies strike, regional people are often on their own. They cannot connect to triple zero, and, if they can, the failure of technology often critically adds time to the location needed during an emergency. Sadly, this is not hypothetical; people have died.

This goes beyond inconvenience. It goes to the very core of what it is to connect with others, to be part of the lives of your family and friends, to be able to run your business in a professional way and to know that you are safe in all situations. Regional Australians do not ask for something that any person in any other country does not expect. I've heard from people across the Parkes electorate about the problems the lack of reliable telecommunications are causing them every single day. Some of these stories are tragic. Others show that, once again, regional Australians face almost insurmountable challenges just to open a business and to fulfill their dreams to serve those in their communities. As recently as last week I held a network connectivity roundtable in Walgett, where the frustrations of farmers who've struggled for years to find reliable telecommunications were abundantly clear. They have trusted in the advice they've received and purchased expensive plants, expensive handsets and expensive equipment only to find out that it's out of date, not fit for purpose or just doesn't work. We continue to hear about exciting new technology, but, time after time, it's followed by all the reasons it won't work in regional Australia or wouldn't be accessible to ordinary Australians.

Regional Australians have had enough of announcements and enough of promises. They just need reliable telecommunications. It is time for moves in this direction to get real. We need practical, reliable and affordable solutions that work for all Australians. As we look at this bill, we must look at it through the lens of this government's track record and through its poor performance in making telecommunications work. Let's not forget the wonder that was the 3G shutdown. The 3G shutdown left people isolated. People were forced into updating their phones, some unnecessarily, and businesses were left without connection and without support. This was a planned event, an outcome that was chosen. It was surrounded by confusion and absolute failure. The trust of regional Australians has been lost. I know myself that on my travels around the electorate connection is sparse and often non-existent. Many people have been forced into using expensive Starlink, causing concerns of having one real supplier being available.

Under the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, there is some impressive sounding jargon. Let's take a look at it. It says:

This a significant and important reform that will bring mobile services within the universal services framework.

…   …   …

The UOMO will require the national Mobile Network Operators … currently, Telstra Limited, Optus Mobile Pty Limited and TPG Telecom Limited, to deliver baseline outdoor coverage across Australia.

It sounds good, but I have a number of concerns with this. One is that there is quite a lot of talk of direct-to-device technology here delivering over low-orbit satellite platforms. I'm reliably informed that this technology may not be readily available to fully roll out in the timeline that has been allocated. That's a pretty epic fail and a shady reminder of Labor's unachievable net zero target. I'm also concerned about one element of this technology: you still cannot call triple zero. Currently, the technology allows satellite-to-messaging capability, but you cannot message triple zero. It's another epic fail.

We are legislating here ahead of this technology actually being in use or even being fully developed. I quote again:

Currently SMS services are available in a number of countries on certain handsets, including in Australia, and voice services are expected to follow.

Further along, we have a caveat that makes even more nonsense of this bill. It says:

… the Bill includes a power for the Minister to determine circumstances when it would not be reasonable to make mobile coverage available …

In one short document, we've gone from universal coverage to coverage if the technology is invented to coverage if the technology is invented, providing you have the right handset, to coverage if the technology is invented, you have the right handset and the minister thinks it's a good idea. Is it any wonder this Labor government has lost the trust of those in regional Australia, many of whom are trying to run a business and a family with one hand tied behind their backs and the other up in the air trying to get a signal?

Regional Australia is our backbone. Again, it's where we grow our food and fibre and harvest our minerals. It is what sets us apart from other countries. Yes, it presents challenges. Isn't it time we told regional Australians that we are up for the challenge and that we value everything they are to our country? Isn't it time we stopped switching off technology without knowing the full impact and before something that works is in place? Isn't it time we invested a little of our nation in connecting Australians wherever they might live? We cannot continue to focus all of the government's time and Australians' money in the cities alone. We are all Australians and we all deserve to be able to connect with our loved ones and to do business the best way that we possibly can. We all deserve to be able to reach out and find help in those times of greatest need.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise today to strongly support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, a bill that will make a tangible, everyday difference for Australians in every electorate, especially for those living in our fast-growing suburbs and our outer-metro communities, like in my electorate of Pearce and the regions that keep this nation moving. I want to start, as I always do, with the people behind this policy—the families, the small-business owners and the community volunteers who have told me again and again that mobile coverage is not just about convenience anymore. It's about connection, about safety and about opportunity.

We've all experienced that moment of frustration—standing outside our homes, phone in hand, waving it about trying to find that one bar of reception. For some of us, it's a nuisance. But for too many communities, that dropped call is more than an inconvenience; it's a barrier to living, working, learning and, sometimes, even surviving. When a tradie can't process an online payment on a job site, when a parent can't reach their child's school because the signal keeps dropping, when a driver on a regional road can't call for help after an accident, that's when the reality hits home. This is not a luxury; mobile coverage is essential infrastructure. It's how we connect, how we do business and how we stay safe.

This bill finally gives that truth the weight it deserves in law. It creates a universal outdoor mobile obligation, a clear standard that says: every Australian should have reliable outdoor mobile coverage no matter where they live, work or travel. It enshrines the idea that reliable communications are not negotiable; they are part of the social and economic fabric of this country. What this legislation does is straightforward yet transformative. It ensures that telecommunications providers meet minimum standards for coverage in outdoor areas and that those standards apply consistently across all regions. It provides the framework for monitoring, for reporting and for accountability. It's not enough to rely on goodwill; Australians deserve guarantees.

I represent one of the largest and fastest growing electorates in the country. Every week, new families move in to our northern suburbs. Every month, new suburbs and estates come online. The streets appear almost overnight and the houses fill quickly, yet, time and time again, the infrastructure lags behind. Mobile coverage is one of the most common issues raised when I meet with residents and local community groups. I remember speaking with a young family in one of our newer estates. They told me their home didn't have fixed-line internet connected yet, so they relied entirely on mobile data, but the signal was so weak that even downloading a banking app could take many minutes. They had considered moving because they needed to work from home and couldn't. That's not an isolated story; it's happening daily across countless new communities. The reality is that these families aren't asking for anything extravagant. They're asking for the same basic level of service that many take for granted. They're asking for a fair go. And that's what this bill delivers.

It's also important to remember that Australia's geography adds unique challenges. We are a vast nation, with enormous distances and dispersed populations. That's why the principle of universal access has always been part of our telecommunications story, from the early telephone networks through to broadband and now mobile coverage. This bill strengthens that legacy for the mobile era.

Let's be very clear about what outdoor mobile coverage means in practical terms. It means being able to make a call or send a message when standing outside or inside your home, walking the dog at your local oval or pulling over safely on a remote highway. That's not asking for too much. It's simply setting a baseline that ensures Australians can rely on a connection when it matters most. The Albanese Labor government's vision is absolutely clear: make Australia the most connected continent in the world.

For residents in outer-metro and fast-growing fringe suburbs, this is game changing. It means that new estates will no longer be an afterthought when networks expand. For regions, it means that those long road stretches or sparsely populated areas get the recognition they deserve in national infrastructure planning. And, for small businesses, it means reliability. Across my electorate, small business is the lifeblood of our economy. From home based enterprises that rely on mobile internet to tradies using mobile payment systems and local cafes managing online orders, success depends on staying connected. When a call drops, a sale can be lost. When coverage falters, operations stumble. Connectivity is not just about communication anymore; it's about productivity.

I recently met a local builder who told me he couldn't update digital site logs from some parts of his development area, because the mobile signal kept vanishing. He said, 'Tracey, I can see the tower from here; I just can't get to it.' That frustration is so common it's almost become a punchline. But, for those running a business, it's serious. It affects livelihoods and planning, and ultimately it affects confidence in our local economy.

Beyond business and daily life, this bill is also about safety. That's perhaps the most compelling reason why we must act. In every emergency, moments matter. Whether it's during bushfires, floods or road accidents, being able to make that emergency call can mean the difference between life and death. In regional and rural Australia and even along the edges of our cities, gaps in coverage can have devastating consequences. I've heard from volunteer firefighters, local SES teams and emergency coordinators who rely on residents to raise the alarm. Without coverage, that crucial window for response can close too soon. This legislation provides greater assurance that those critical calls will go through, wherever Australians are. It's about giving people peace of mind—to know that, if they break down on the highway or if a loved one gets into trouble, they can reach someone. You can't put a price on that kind of security.

Of course, success depends on accountability and collaboration. Telecommunications companies will now be held to new performance standards, and they'll need to report transparently on how they meet these obligations. The Australian Communications and Media Authority will provide oversight, ensuring compliance isn't optional. This approach is balanced. It's not about burdening industry; it's about partnership. It's about ensuring that investment and innovation align with the national interest.

I also want to acknowledge the many councils and regional alliances that have campaigned for this outcome. Local governments have long been the voice of their communities on this issue, mapping out coverage gaps, submitting funding proposals and advocating with persistence and purpose. In my time as mayor and now as a member of this parliament, I have seen firsthand the power of that collaboration. Their advocacy has helped shape this legislation. I want to recognise the many residents who have taken the time to send coverage maps, signal tests and photos showing where their reception cuts out. Those efforts have mattered. When we legislate something as significant as universal mobile access, it's not just a technical policy achievement; it's a testament to community determination.

As we look to Australia's digital future, this bill is also a foundational piece of that journey. The move to 5G and beyond promises enormous benefits—faster data, smarter devices and new economic opportunities. But we can't leave anyone behind as we step into that future. A universal outdoor mobile obligation sets the base upon which all these new technologies can expand equitably. It means the acceleration of progress doesn't come at the cost of inclusion.

It is also worth acknowledging the broader benefits to health and education. Telehealth, for example, is now a permanent part of our healthcare system. For people in semi-rural areas, reliable mobile coverage means being able to participate in remote consultations without interruption or lag. For students studying online, it means equal access to resources and lessons, not falling behind because the signal drops out.

This reform is not simply about technology. It's about fairness. It's about recognising that connectivity is now fundamental to how Australians live, work and care for one another. I've often said that the mark of good policy is that it improves daily life—not in abstract ways but in real, tangible experiences. This legislation achieves that. It takes something that frustrates people every day, and it fixes it with foresight and fairness. It reflects a government that listens, that acts and that cares about outcomes for people in every corner of the country. So, as we debate this today, I want to remind the House what this bill truly represents. It represents a fair go for outer-suburban families. It represents safety and peace of mind for regional travellers. It represents opportunity for small business and resilience for our economy. And it represents dignity—the dignity of being able to rely on a basic service that connects you to your world.

It's 2026. Australians have every right to expect that, when they step outside their home, they will have mobile reception. It shouldn't depend on which side of a postcode line you live on or whether your suburb was built five years ago or fifty years ago. This bill draws that line clearly. It says, 'We are one connected nation.' Our communities have asked for action. The Albanese Labor government has listened. And now, through this bill, we are delivering. I am proud to support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, and I commend it to the House.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this bill, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, because so many in our communities and all around Australia were shocked when we saw the communications failure and the outages that impacted the triple zero services. The very real consequence of a system failure like that is loss of life. We have basic standards and things that all Australians must be able to rely upon. Being able to call triple zero and knowing it is there and available is an essential aspect. Mobile coverage is now essential infrastructure. There is no doubt about it. For safety, for participation in the economy and for fairness, we should all be able to access that mobile coverage no matter where we live, in urban or regional Australia. It is essential.

This bill seeks to modernise universal service settings by creating a universal outdoor mobile obligation, a baseline expectation that Australians can access outdoor mobile voice and SMS on an equitable basis. On that basis, I support this bill because it does close a very real safety gap, especially in regional and remote Australia. It must be implemented with clear benchmarks, affordability safeguards and service provider accountability so that universality is actually practically meaningful and not just a pretty word to have on a piece of legislation. It has to be universal in application in real time out in the real world. Too many Australians still move through places with no mobile coverage at all on highways, farms, remote worksites, national parks and community roads. When something goes wrong—breakdown, injury, bushfire or flood—coverage can be the difference between help being on its way and help never arriving.

In September 2025, an Optus network fault linked to a firewall upgrade meant that some customers in multiple jurisdictions could not make triple zero calls for around 13 hours. The explanations that have been provided from the government and from Optus have, respectfully, not been satisfactory. Reporting and investigations indicated that hundreds of emergency calls failed, and the incident was linked to deaths. It was an awful reminder that emergency access can fail and that the consequences can be fatal. So this is really important.

The bill amends the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection And Service Standard) Act 1999 to establish a framework so that baseline mobile coverage is reasonably available outdoors to all people in Australia on an equitable basis. Of course, there are gaps within that language and we need to make sure, again, that, in practical application, that equitable access is actually there. Initially, these changes will apply from 1 December 2027 to the three national mobile carriers—Telstra, Optus and TPG—as the primary providers. I note that date—1 December 2027. We as a parliament are still basically accepting that there will be another period of six to eight months whereby there will still be that risk of triple zero not working the way it is meant to for it to be available. I appreciate that, probably, providers are saying that it's going to take them time to make sure they've complied and these gaps in coverage are closed. That's concerning because that says that government has, to date, been asleep at the wheel in making sure that we don't have these gaps in service.

The obligation initially centres on voice calls and SMS, not full mobile data. The framework is technology-neutral, allowing providers to meet obligations using existing terrestrial networks where coverage already exists and low-Earth-orbit satellites in areas without terrestrial coverage. The bill provides a flexible framework for the minister and/or ACMA, via delegation, to set standards, rules and benchmarks, including reliability, call quality, SMS performance and congestion tolerance.

While I can understand the practicalities of why the government has crafted the bill in this way, we have to be really clear about what the expectation is. The expectation from the Australian public is that we will not get the kinds of outages and failure of triple zero we saw in the Optus outage. Whilst the minister has built into this legislation a framework for flexibility and deference to ACMA, we have to be very clear that the standards, rules and benchmarks must meet the expectations of the Australian public.

A national baseline for mobile coverage is long overdue. We already accept universal obligations for fixed voice and broadband access. Finally, the same principle is being extended to the most popular device Australians carry—our mobile phones. The policy intent and public benefit is clear: leverage new satellite-to-phone capability to reduce the safety gap across vast areas beyond terrestrial networks. People in regional and remote areas should not be structurally excluded from baseline connectivity simply because putting up a tower in their area isn't profitable. These are essential services that must be available everywhere.

It is for that reason that I support the amendments circulated by the member for Indi. Inserting an explicit meaning for concepts like 'equitable basis' and 'temporary disaster roaming' ensures the inclusion of minimum standards for affordability and guarantees access during crises such as climate driven fires and floods. If baseline coverage exists but people can't afford compatible plans or devices, universality fails in practice. The framework contemplates equitable access, so this must translate into competitive retail offerings, transparent pricing and attention to vulnerable and remote consumers in locations where market competition may be thin. It's essential that this actually work in practice, that this not be a whitewash over the top of a problem and that we actually have people kept safe with access to a triple zero service that works.

Unfortunately, we know disasters are going to escalate in severity and frequency. We know they are cascading and compounding. That means access to a reliable triple zero mobile network is essential for all Australians, especially in regional communities, where we know they are going to bear the brunt of climate disasters. They will be hit the hardest and they will be the most reliant upon a triple zero service that works to make sure they can be safe. There is no doubt, as I have repeated often in this place, we are still so far from doing the investment in resilience and adaptation that is necessary to keep Australians safe in light of the kind of climate escalated events that are going to occur. It is essential that the government starts focusing on investing in that safety piece for Australians. That starts with making sure mobile coverage is available and accessible to all.

The bill is not about guaranteeing perfect 5G everywhere—I accept that—but it is about establishing a modern, universal service baseline for voice and SMS outdoors so Australians are not left without a lifeline simply because of geography. The Optus triple zero outage last year painfully showed us that lives depend on the integrity and reach of telecommunications.

Lastly, I can give a personal example. I enjoy doing long-distance trail events, often in very remote areas of national parks. I have taken it upon myself to actually buy a mini GPS satellite device to ensure I am trackable and can be contactable by family. But that is not something that is the norm. That is not something that people in regional or remote communities should be having to do. There should be this underlying basis of essential infrastructure when it comes to mobile coverage. So I will support this legislation. As I said, I will support the amendment from the member for Indi. But I want to be very clear to the government that this has to work in practice. This can't just be legislation to look like you're addressing a problem but not actually in practice meaningfully changing mobile coverage to ensure all communities have access to triple zero.

Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak in strong support of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the inaugural member for the new electorate of Bullwinkel, it's a profound honour to stand here today and advocate for a piece of legislation that will fundamentally change the lives of my constituents. My electorate is a vibrant, diverse and sprawling part of Western Australia. It is an electorate that stretches from the bustling, growing outer-suburb hubs of Forrestfield, Stratton, Gosnells and High Wycombe, where young families are building their futures, to the historic winding roads of the Kalamunda hills, Roleystone, Mundaring and further out into the expansive golden agricultural heartlands of York, Northam, Toodyay and Beverley.

Bullwinkel is an electorate named after Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel, a woman whose name is synonymous with extraordinary courage, resilience and an unwavering dedication to her fellow Australians. As a nurse myself for over four decades, I feel a deep connection to her legacy. She was a woman who understood that, in the most dire of circumstances, care and connection are what sustain us. It is in the same spirit of service and care that I approach my duties in this place. It is in that spirit that I speak to this legislation today, because, at its heart, this bill is about care and connection. It's about ensuring that no Australian is left behind or left alone when they most need help.

The Albanese government is committed to keeping Australians connected. This isn't just a slogan; it's the core principle of our policy agenda. Whether you're a commuter navigating the morning rush on Roe Highway, a small-business owner in Mundaring or a wheat belt farmer in the far reaches of the Avon Valley, there is one common thread that binds us all—the absolute necessity of staying connected. We live in a world where digital connectivity is no longer a luxury; it is a basic utility, as essential as water or electricity. This bill is a monumental step towards making that a reality for every person in every corner of our nation.

This government believes that every Australian should have access to baseline mobile voice and text services across the entire country. For too long, our national policy has treated universal service as a relic of the Copper Age. For decades, the focus was on the traditional landline, the fixed phone in the hallway, but the world has moved on. We have moved into a digital age where the phone in your pocket is your office, your bank, your map and, most crucially, your lifeline. Yet our legislation has lagged behind our reality, and this bill addresses that.

In Bullwinkel, as across Australia, we rely on telecommunications connectivity to support our families, our businesses and our communities. Connectivity is the bridge that allows a boutique cidermaker in the suburb of Carmel to reach global markets through social media and ecommerce. It's what allows a parent in Gidgegannup to check in on their children after school while they are still at work an hour away in the city. It allows our seniors in Northam to stay in touch with their grandkids, bridging the distance that often separates families in our vast state of Western Australia. Importantly, it is the critical infrastructure we use to seek help in an emergency.

Traditional mobile coverage is currently provided in areas where about 99 per cent of Australians work and live, and on paper that sounds like a near-perfect success story, but, for the people of Western Australia and specifically those in my electorate of Bullwinkel, that remaining one per cent of the population represents a massive portion of our geography. In fact, traditional mobile coverage currently covers only one-third of Australia's landmass.

Two-thirds of our continent is currently a no-go zone for standard mobile communication. This means that, in the vast majority of our country, it is currently impossible to make a triple zero call using traditional mobile services. As a remote area nurse for four decades, I have seen firsthand the reality of what happens when communication fails or if it is absent. I have seen the difference between a positive outcome and a tragedy, and so often that difference is the speed of the emergency response. When a farmer is working alone in a paddock near York and has an accident, they shouldn't have to hope that someone will find them in due course. They should have the security of knowing that they can reach out for help.

I think of the hikers exploring the Bibbulmun Track or the families cycling The Railway Reserves Heritage Trail. These are some of the jewels of the Perth Hills that brings tourism from all over the world, bringing life to our region. But if someone takes a fall or suffers a medical emergency on a remote part of these trails, that 99 per cent phone coverage statistic is of little comfort. What matters is the one per cent of the landmass that they're standing on. In those moments, a mobile black spot isn't just a minor annoyance for someone trying to check their emails; it's a life-threatening barrier to emergency services.

Improving coverage is a key concern for communities across Bullwinkel, and it's a priority for our government. The universal outdoor mobile obligation, or UOMO, will provide the underlying connectivity needed to support expanded triple zero access and support public safety outcomes in these areas. UOMO means that outdoor coverage will be accessible almost anywhere in Australia where people can see the sky. We are moving from a system based on where we can afford to build a tower to a system based on where a person has a clear line of sight to the sky above them. This is a profound shift. Whether you're facing a natural disaster—and in the Perth Hills and the Avon Valley we know the threat of bushfires all too well—or whether you're broken down on a remote stretch of the Great Eastern Highway, injured on a farm in Beverley or lost in the bushland behind Mundaring Weir or Roleystone, under UOMO there will be outdoor mobile coverage nearly anywhere that you can look up and see the sky.

The Albanese government has heard from stakeholders, from local councils, from emergency service volunteers—like the firefighters in Darlington—and from regional businesses about the importance of mobile services. We have heard, and the message is clear, that the current universal services framework is out of date. It is designed for a time when the internet was a novelty and mobile phones were the size of bricks—remember that? It does not cover the critical form of connectivity that modern Australians actually use.

This legislation will require the mobile network operators Telstra, TPG and Optus to provide universal baseline outdoor mobile coverage where reasonably possible. We're setting a national standard. We're saying that, as a country, we will no longer accept that being out of range is just an inevitable part of living outside a capital city or being an MP for a regional area. It is anticipated that these operators will meet this obligation via a combination of our existing terrestrial infrastructure and the incredible new direct-to-device, or D2D, technology, which is available from the LEOs, the low-Earth-orbit satellites. This is the frontier of telecommunications. By using satellites that orbit much closer to the Earth than traditional ones, we can enable a standard mobile phone to connect directly to space. This bypasses the need for a physical tower in every valley and on every hill, which certainly doesn't work for Bullwinkel.

This reform is not about replacing traditional mobile phone coverage. In places like Gosnells, High Wycombe or Forrestfield we still need our towers and our high-speed 5G to support suburban growth. UOMO is about expanding the safety net. It's about reaching the areas where, despite years of government and industry co-investment, it simply hasn't been feasible to build a physical tower due to the terrain or the sheer distance.

D2D is an emerging technology. It is being rolled out right now in Australia and across the globe. Some may say that we should wait until it's fully mature before we legislate, but this government refuses to wait. We refuse to let regional Australians wait for the market to decide when they are worth the investment. We are legislating now to ensure this critical technology is deployed as widely and quickly as possible so that all Australians can benefit from this innovation.

Given the emerging nature of D2D technology, this bill sets a default date for the commencement of the UOMO of 1 December 2027. This provides a clear timeframe while allowing the flexibility to adjust the date to ensure the market is ready. Make no mistake: this timing, whilst challenging, provides a clear signal to the market. Equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage is a priority for this government, and we want these services to be available as soon as possible. We aren't sitting around waiting for the digital divide to fix itself; we are acting early to ensure Australia is at the forefront of this technological revolution.

This legislation brings mobile services into the longstanding universal services regime. For too long this regime only covered the legacy copper-based voice services. By updating this framework we are creating a system that can protect consumers and ensure mobile services are delivered in the national interest. If industry does not deliver, the government now has a framework to ensure that they do. This is a critical part of our comprehensive work to reduce the digital divide. In Bullwinkel, the digital divide is a daily reality. For businesses in Chidlow, it's the difference between being able to operate efficiently and having to struggle with basic connectivity. It's about a student in Northam having the same educational opportunities as a student in Perth.

Improving connectivity isn't just about safety; it's about productivity and economic growth. Our ag sector in the Avon Valley is becoming increasingly high-tech. Farmers are using data driven insights to manage their crops and livestock. But you can't use ag tech without a connection. By expanding mobile coverage, we are supporting the growth of our regional economies and ensuring that they can compete in the 21st century.

UOMO also builds on our other major investments. We have invested in the NBN to ensure faster, reliable internet for homes and businesses. We have focused on First Nations digital inclusion to ensure our Indigenous communities are not left behind. We have worked tirelessly to strengthen the triple 0 framework. This bill is the missing piece of that puzzle.

Our vision is absolutely clear: making Australia the most connected continent in the world. To the people I represent in Bullwinkel: I know how much this matters to you. I have sat in your kitchens in Mundaring and walked through the paddocks in York. I have spoken to firefighters at Darlington and Glen Forrest. I remember the stories from the Wooroloo fires in 2021, where the ability to receive an emergency alert and call a loved one was the difference between panic and safety. And I know the frustration of the one-bar signal that drops out just when you need it most.

This is a landmark reform. It is a bold step forward that embraces the future and puts people first, and I'm immensely proud to support this legislation. I'm proud to be part of the government that is finally delivering the connectivity that regional Australia deserves, because Labor understands the regions. I commend this bill to the House.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about an issue that matters very deeply to the people in my electorate of Indi and to communities right across regional Australia: universal telecommunications access. Every year that I have served as the Independent member for Indi, poor regional telecommunications has been one of the most frequent issues raised with me by constituents. It's why the work of the Indi Telecommunications Advisory Group has been so valuable to my community and why we've needed significant investment under programs like the Mobile Black Spot Program and the Regional Connectivity Program.

However, there is much, much more work to be done. The universal outdoor mobile obligation, UOMO for short, is a generational change in the commitment of government to ensure we all have access to a minimum level of connectivity, no matter where we live. For years, the universal service obligation included reasonable access to payphones and a landline phone in your home. For many years before mobile phones, that was enough. But times have changed, and now we work on our mobiles, run businesses on them and keep in touch with family and friends on them. We participate in telehealth appointments on them.

We've also seen the rise of the low-Earth-orbit satellites that make it possible to connect to the internet from practically anywhere with a line of sight to the sky. Many people don't realise that most smartphones produced in the past five years can already connect to satellites through emerging direct-to-device technology. It's why the government is now introducing the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 to upgrade our universal service framework so that we can access phone calls and SMS from anywhere in Australia, as long as you can see the sky. It's a potential game changer for regional communities—no question.

I've spent years fighting for better internet and connectivity for regional Australia, so I welcome this bill. With the rise of these new technologies, it will make life safer for those working, exploring or living in the bush or off the grid. In Indi people desperately want the UOMO to succeed as promised, because, whether you are a farmer in Goomalibee, a nurse travelling from Tolmie or a hiker out in Dandongadale, people are sick of second-rate access. It makes it harder to work and get by, and, in an emergency, it is absolutely life threatening.

In recent months, communities in my electorate have been devastated by bushfires, with hundreds of homes lost on the tablelands between Euroa and Alexandra and in the Upper Murray too. In many of these fire affected communities, as I heard from a woman last year in Merton, connectivity is sparse in good times and much harder to maintain in an emergency or, indeed, during tourist season. Put simply, the UOMO will save lives if implemented correctly.

I'll now discuss in more detail what this bill does, and then I'll outline my concerns and speak to important amendments I will be proposing to this bill. This bill amends the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 to incorporate the UOMO into the existing universal service regime. The UOMO will complement the existing universal service obligation by creating a new section in the act that will establish the UOMO as an existing part of Australia's telecommunications framework. Initially, three mobile network operators will be captured as primary universal outdoor mobile providers: Telstra, Optus and TPG. The minister may designate other mobile network operators in the future. In reality, this will only happen if new telcos enter the Australian market, which at this stage seems unlikely.

The UOMO will require providers to deliver baseline mobile services—voice services and short message services, SMS—to all our outdoor areas on a reasonable basis. The government expects these providers will meet UOMO requirements by using a mix of their current terrestrial land based mobile networks and rapidly evolving direct-to-device technology, which will be delivered through satellites. When operational, the UOMO will theoretically guarantee SMS and voice call coverage for significantly uninhabited or sparsely inhabited areas where it has never been and never will be viable to provide land based towers.

While the UOMO will only require provision of voice services and SMS at first, the legislation is written to enable the addition of new services, such as data, subject to technological and market developments. The bill will also establish ministerial powers to create standards, rules and benchmarks that will lay out how the UOMO will work in practice. This flexibility is important because technology can change quickly, as we've seen with the low-Earth satellites in recent years, and the legislation must be flexible enough to adapt to future innovation and changes in the technology landscape.

The bill will also allow the government to create standards that would apply in the interim period before the commencement of the UOMO in 2027, which is just under two years from now. We cannot accept avoidable delays to this date, and I implore the government to ensure the telcos know that this deadline is not aspirational. They need to be clear; it is essential. So, while the bill charts a destination—universal outdoor access—it doesn't describe every step of how we get there. That's understandable, but in its implementation the government, the regulator and the telcos must deliver a gold standard UOMO because that's what we need and that's what Australians deserve.

I have some concerns with the bill as it's currently drafted. Central to this concern is the ambiguity in what is meant by 'reasonably available' and 'equitable basis'. This bill requires that mobile coverage be reasonably available outdoors to all people in Australia on an equitable basis. While these terms sound great at face value, it isn't clear what these terms mean and how the government and the telcos will interpret them in practice. It has left key advocacy groups fearful that some groups will be left behind if 'reasonably available' is left to the for profit telcos to define.

We know the direct-to-device technology is only available to the most recent smartphones. For example, the government funded Regional Tech Hub states on its website that, currently, only iPhone 13, 14, 15 and 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25 devices are supported by Telstra's direct-to-service SMS service. It's clear that many Australians won't have one of the phones I've just listed, and it's not clear if they'll be able to access the UOMO when it launches. For those without means to purchase these compatible phones—with the latest iPhone starting at $1,399—where does this leave pensioners or young families struggling with the cost of living and living in regional or remote Australia?

There's a real risk that less well-off users will see less or no benefit from UOMO compared to those who can afford premium devices and premium plans. When the 3G shutdown occurred, the users of older devices were forced to purchase new ones. Many were using older devices because they couldn't afford a new one, and therefore they bought budget phones that now won't be compatible with direct-to-device technology.

Knowing these were concerns raised clearly in the consultation on the draft UOMO legislation, I hoped the government would have provided sufficient explanation to allay my concerns and those of key consumer advocacy groups. So I turned to the bill's explanatory memorandum, which expands on what is meant by 'reasonably' available, stating that this would include 'a choice by a consumer not to purchase an appropriate handset or plan'. A choice? For so many in my community struggling with the cost of food, the cost of housing or the cost of health care, purchasing a $1,000 phone isn't a choice for them right now. If access to a universal service is limited by income and affordability, then by definition it is not universal. I accept that we can't connect every device to satellites right away. That's just a technological fact. But to shift the responsibility for that onto the consumer is grossly unfair. The government must do more to explain how it will ensure all Australians, and especially those doing it tough, with less financial means, aren't left behind.

I've spoken with the Australian Communications and Consumer Action Network, who are similarly concerned about the lack of a clear definition for what constitutes 'reasonably available'. They've said:

This open-ended language creates significant uncertainty regarding what constitutes 'reasonable' mobile coverage. It creates opportunity for providers to circumvent their obligation …

We're trying to get a universal obligation. Similarly, I've spoken with the National Farmers' Federation, who have said:

If the UOMO is to be truly universal, it must be accessible not only in terms of coverage, but also in terms of cost.

They said that, in regional areas, 'there is a real risk that consumers in these areas will be priced out of essential mobile services, undermining the very purpose of the UOMO'.

This is why I have circulated amendments—to ensure affordability is explicit in this legislation and to ensure that the concepts of 'reasonably available' and equitable access consider the cost of mobile devices and plans. They will also clarify that 'reasonably available' includes affordability and cost as a key element.

In addition to amendments putting affordability at the heart of the UOMO, I'll be moving amendments that make three other changes to the bill. First, I will seek to introduce a power for temporary disaster roaming. This overdue reform has been recommended by inquiry after inquiry after inquiry, including most recently by the government's hand-picked regional telecommunications infrastructure review committee. Despite saying it was looking into disaster roaming over two years ago, the government is yet to act. Now, this isn't good enough for my electorate, where bushfires have this summer destroyed hundreds of homes and left communities disconnected.

Second, my amendments require the minister to set out a statement of reasons when determining a location that excludes the UOMO. This will improve transparency about decisions that limit the universality of the obligation. If the government is going to limit its universal service obligation, then it must be required to explain why and what impact it will have on affected residents.

Finally, my amendments will require performance standards to include fault rectification timeframes. This is a significant issue in regional Australia, where faults take much longer to fix, on average, than in metropolitan Australia. Standards for providing universal access should consider the time it takes to restore reliable service.

We must recognise that terrestrial infrastructure, the mobile towers and other physical assets on the ground, continue to have a central role in the telecommunications network. That's why ongoing investment to fix black spots and strengthen power backup to mobile phone towers and telephone exchanges is absolutely essential.

I support this bill as an important step towards truly universal telecommunications in Australia. The UOMO acknowledges that new technologies, including low-Earth-orbit satellites, are expanding how we connect and that our embrace of these new technologies must benefit all Australians, not just those who are well off. However, I remain concerned that, at least initially, the UOMO won't be truly universal and will favour those with access to the latest smartphones, disadvantaging vulnerable Australians and those doing it tough. So, while I commend this bill to the House, I will continue to advocate for an outdoor mobile obligation that genuinely, truly serves all Australians wherever they live and whatever their means.

Debate interrupted.