Modern Emergency Alerts for Natural Disasters is needed says ACCAN, including resiliency via Starlink – techAU
As Australia’s east coast grapples with the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred—complete with heavy rain, flooding, and knocked-out mobile towers—the spotlight is shifting to cutting-edge comms tech that could keep Aussies safe during natural disasters.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), the nation’s top consumer voice in telecommunications is calling for better use of technology to help inform Australians.
After the limitations of an SMS-based system was detailed in the 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, the government greenlit funding for a National Messaging System (NMS).
This isn’t your grandma’s SMS alert—it’s a cell-broadcast setup, designed to sling hyper-targeted emergency messages to phones fast, even when networks are slammed.
Unfortunately the project has faced delays, pushing its operational timeline beyond initial projections and importantly, it wasn’t ready for Alfred.
The Australian Government allocated initial funding of $2.2 million in the 2021 budget, with a tender issued in August 2021 aiming for design and implementation to begin in January 2022 and a three-year contract starting in March 2022. Early projections suggested the system could be operational by late 2024, following an 18-month design, build, and test phase announced in May 2023 alongside a $10.1 million budget boost.
However, the timeline has slipped and some reports now have a realistic Go Live date as late as 2027.
ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett isn’t mincing words:
“The east coast’s copping it now, but with climate change cranking up, worse is coming. We need governments to fast-track tech like this to keep people safe. Connectivity dropouts aren’t just inconvenient—they’re a health and safety nightmare.”
Cyclone Alfred already took hundreds of mobile towers offline thanks to power outages, and future disasters could follow suit.
The NMS, paired with Direct-to-Device connectivity (think satellite-to-phone links), could be a game-changer. The latter’s getting a boost from Minister Rowland’s Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO), ensuring emergency updates hit your phone even when the grid’s down.
Bennett’s pushing hard for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite mobile tech, like Starlink-style systems, to go mainstream.
We call on policymakers to urgently unlock the benefits of LEO satellite (LEOSat) mobile connectivity, ensuring all Australians can access critical communications when they need it most,
She also gave a nod to telcos for their post-Alfred hustle to restore networks but added a kicker:
We commend Australia’s telecommunications companies for their diligent efforts in restoring mobile networks after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred but ideally we could avoid restoration efforts by investing more in reliable and resilient infrastructure to prevent outages in the first place,
ACCAN’s funded by the Commonwealth via telco carrier levies under the Telecommunications Act 1997.
