Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When disaster strikes, whether it's a flood, a fire, a crash or a heart attack, Australians know that they can dial three simple numbers, triple 0, and get help. Triple 0 is a service that has saved countless lives. But we saw, during the Optus outage, that our emergency system—one of the most trusted in the world—is not immune to system outages. When the outage occurred, it reinforced the need to bolster our triple 0 network, and that's exactly what this government will do. The Albanese government is bolstering oversight of the critical triple 0 service through legislation that will bolster the powers of the Triple Zero Custodian. The new laws will reinforce a key recommendation of the review into the Optus outage of November 2023 by enshrining the powers and functions of the custodian in law and providing end-to-end oversight of triple 0. Through ACMA, the custodian will be able to demand information from telecommunications providers so it can monitor triple 0 performance, identify risks, respond more quickly to outages and make improvements.

Before entering public life, I spent more than two decades working in emergency services, disaster management and public health. I sat in disaster control rooms during bushfires. I have worked alongside emergency services personnel responding to floods, cyclones and indeed major system outages. I know that in a crisis seconds matter, and, when triple 0 fails, it can cost people's lives. That is why I am so pleased to see the Albanese government acting so quickly after the Optus outage. The government has launched a full review into the resilience of the national triple 0 system because Australians deserve the most robust system possible. We are now implementing reforms to make triple 0 stronger and more resilient—real-time reporting outages to ACMA and emergency services, which will begin on 1 November. New rules, starting on 1 November, will force telcos to test triple 0 during upgrades and maintenance, and new requirements on providers will fully ensure triple 0 calls fall back to other networks, as well as mandatory improvement plans after triple 0 outages. Within six months of the commencement of the laws, the custodian through ACMA will issue additional performance requirements to telcos to ensure Australians of best practice. This isn't just about fixing what caused the outage; it is about future proofing the system, because, in the next decade, we will face more disasters, more intense storms, hotter summers and a growing population that relies on technology more than ever. Labor's reforms are building a triple 0 system that is resilient, modern and more robust, no matter where you live or which provider you use.

I do urge the opposition and the crossbench to support this bill. I am concerned to hear that amendments are going to be moved that could potentially delay the introduction of these important reforms, and I cannot believe that we'd be even contemplating not taking action and pushing that further out. I am concerned to hear that those amendments are being put forward, and I would urge the opposition to make sure that they are supporting these important reforms that get that moving on 1 November—not delaying it but getting it moving on 1 November. As someone who has worked on the front line of disaster response, I know that we need this action now, because it means saving lives, it means protecting families and it means giving every Australian the confidence that, when they dial triple 0, we have their backs.