The delivery of a new communication technology platform for emergency services has taken a step forward with the signing of a contract in early April 2021 to develop a feasibility trial for the national Public Safety Mobile Broadband program.
The national program, overseen by the new National Emergency Management Ministers’ Meeting, is expected to deliver a mobile broadband platform to help emergency service organisations communicate more reliably.
This platform is expected to cut across organisational and geographical boundaries, helping to keep the public and our police and emergency service workers safe.
One of the lessons from the Black Summer bushfires was the critical importance of communications–staying connected and getting access to information to make decisions can save lives.
What is required is a faster and smarter national capability for our emergency services to fuse critical information, make informed decisions quickly, and act on those decisions with confidence.
The New South Wales Government, on behalf of all state and territory governments and the Australian Government have committed to work with Nokia, TPG Telecom and Optus, to develop and test technology in a trial that will help shape the design of the national platform for emergency service communications.
The Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello, said the recent floods have again reinforced the need for fast, effective, and reliable communications to help coordinate emergency responses.
“The new service announcement is real progress towards delivering the communications technology our hard-working police and emergency services want and need,” Minister Dominello said.
A Public Safety Mobile Broadband, was identified as a national priority by the National Federation Reform Council in 2020.
Expediting a Public Safety Mobile Broadband capability in Australia was also a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements following the 2019/20 Australian bushfires.
