ABC NewsRadio 1 October 2026
Temporary Disaster Roaming
Host: Now, it’s been three years in the making, but temporary disaster roaming is finally ready in Australia. It means people in regional areas will be able to access a different network to the one they pay for if their own network goes down. The nation’s three biggest telcos, Telstra, Optus and TPG, are ready to switch on the system should a natural disaster, cyclone mean one or more of the networks crashes. So how will it work and will it actually work in times of need? Well to get more on this we’re joined now by Luke Coleman who’s a Chief Executive of Australian Telecommunications Alliance. Luke welcome to News Radio.
Luke Coleman: Thanks for having me on the program.
Host: So how exactly will this work if someone’s primary network goes down in a crisis? What will happen?
Luke Coleman: If you’re in a regional part of Australia and there is a natural disaster happening which causes a network outage, what will happen is the network operator that’s facing the outage will get in touch with a surviving network operator. So if there is still another network there that’s available, they will request access to their network. That operator of the surviving network will then need to quickly assess: do they have enough capacity on the network to safely bring across all of those users from the network that’s facing an outage. Once they’ve made that assessment and they’ve decided that it’s safe to do so, they will then activate temporary disaster roaming.
And from a user’s perspective, they will just automatically be connected to that surviving network. It’ll allow them to make voice calls, to send text messages, and to use some low-bandwidth data services like WhatsApp or iMessage, or even to check emergency services websites like Fires Near Me.
Host: And when it comes to switching on this in the first place, who decides when a crisis level has reached the point when it’s needed and who ultimately makes that decision? Because it is split across multiple networks. So who does that responsibility lie with?
Luke Coleman: The decision will be between the telcos. So one telco will know when they’re facing an outage, they will have an alarm go off that says a certain mobile base station has gone offline due to a natural disaster, and they will then reach out to the other telco, which still has a network online, to put in that request.
It’s only the telcos that have that operational data at their fingertips so that they can make an assessment – is there sufficient capacity on network? Can I safely bring across all of those users? And if that assessment is made and it’s safe to do so, they will then activate temporary disaster roaming.
The reason that the telcos need to make that decision is, the only thing worse than one network outage is two network outages. And if you had a process that just automatically turned temporary disaster roaming on before they’ve done that thorough assessment, there’s a real risk that the surviving network could be overloaded – and that needs to be avoided at all costs.
Host: Now, developing this process or the system has been years in the making. Do we have any idea of how long it would take when a telco knows their network has gone down for them to make that assessment and then switch on this emergency roaming?
Luke Coleman: It will happen as quickly as possible. Telcos will know immediately if their network faces an outage. They will have a network operations centre, which is a 24-7 facility, which is looking at where their network is operating, particularly when there’s a natural disaster in place, and they will be able to very quickly reach out to that operator with a surviving network, and they will make that assessment as quickly as possible if they can bring that traffic across and activate temporary disaster roaming.
Host: Australia is a pretty big place and there’s a lot of, well, you know, most of Australia in the regions and rural Australia doesn’t have access to multiple networks. They really only have Telstra or one network available. What will happen in those scenarios?
Luke Coleman: Where there’s only the Telstra network available, Telstra will still make temporary disaster roaming available to Optus and Vodafone customers if it is safe to do so and if they have sufficient capacity on their network. That’s even in areas where there is only the Telstra network available.
Now, it is still the case that if there is only one infrastructure network in place, and that network faces an outage, then there will not be any mobile coverage. Temporary disaster roaming does not solve that. In areas where there’s only one network and it faces an outage, there’s no alternative in place.
Host: And is this an Australian, or a world first? Have we seen this play out in other countries and how has it worked there? Have there been any faults that we should take note of?
Luke Coleman: It is certainly world leading, even if it’s not the world first. It has been done in a few other countries around the world, I think Japan is one example. But what Australian telcos have done here is certainly world leading.
It’s required a lot of work for the telcos to establish those protocols between their network operation centres to ensure that the service works. Over recent months, they’ve been rigorously testing the service, pressure testing it, to make sure that if it does need to be activated over this high-risk weather season, that it can safely do so.
Host: We’ve been talking here a lot about ensuring, you know, relying on systems working and checks and balances and communication between the different telcos. All three telcos have seen major outages in the last few years affecting Triple Zero calls. So the most serious of call a person could ever make. How much trust can Australians have that the telcos will be able to operate this framework smoothly? And are there safeguards in place or any mechanism for reporting any incidents that might happen?
Luke Coleman: I think this is a really important step for the telco industry to be rebuilding trust with Australians. They have delivered this service off their own bat. It is not a requirement, they have made all of the substantial investments required to stand up temporary disaster roaming by themselves. They put all of the operational situation and requirements in place to stand this up. And it will be a really innovative service for Australians. It comes at no cost, if you’re a user and you just have your usual mobile service there’s no additional cost to use temporary disaster roaming. And I think it’s something that Australians will really appreciate when they’re facing a disaster situation.
This is more than just emergency calling. It’s more than just being able to call Triple Zero. It means that Australians can stay in touch with their family and friends and loved ones, and let them know that they’re okay when a disaster strikes.
Host: Now, Regional Independent MP Helen Haines the federal member for Indi, has been pushing to make this system legislated. So far, she’s been unsuccessful on that front. Is this self-governed and self-run now by the telcos? And would it give Australians more peace of mind if this system was mandatory and legislated by government?
Luke Coleman: Because this is the first time that’s been activated in Australia, it has been done, to this point. completely by the industry itself. I think it’s only right that for this high-risk weather season, we let the system be tested, be used in the real world. We hope that there are no natural disasters, but there is always a big risk over the summer season. We’re going to learn a lot of lessons this summer over how temporary disaster roaming operates.
The telcos already stay in very close contact with the emergency services organisations when a natural disaster strikes. We’ll certainly be in touch with Commonwealth agencies as well. So we will learn a lot of lessons over this high-risk weather season about how it operates, and we will take those lessons and put them into place to ensure it’s as safe as possible.
Host: Well, Luke, thank you so much for taking us through how it’ll work. And yes, it has started operating on the first official day of the bushfire season here in Australia. So hopefully we won’t see that it’s needed to be used. this summer or for quite some time. We appreciate you speaking to us today.
Luke Coleman: Thanks for having me on the program.
Host: And that is Luke Coleman, who’s the Australian Telecommunications Alliance CEO. You’re listening to ABC News Radio.
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