Telecommunications must be considered critical infrastructure

Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has stressed the need for telecommunications to be considered as critical infrastructure, meeting with the Minister for Government Services to advocate to Federal Government.

After power outages left residents throughout the Euroa electorate without access to phone service, Ms Cleeland said it was integral that telecommunications were regulated and strengthened under federal laws like the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SoCI).

“Strengthening our telecommunications infrastructure is an essential step to ensuring residents are not left without access to their phones during emergencies such as power outages, floods, and fires,” Ms Cleeland said.

“With so many emergency response measures, such as CFA or SES notifications and evacuation messages, now being carried out through text messages, it is critical that telecommunications infrastructure can withstand actual emergencies.

“I have met with the Minister to discuss the importance of this and have been assured that this will be followed up with Federal Ministers tasked with this responsibility.”

Battery and energy backups, cybersecurity, and reliable service are just some of the areas that could be strengthened by including telecommunications in the SoCl, where it would join other essential services such as banking and finance, government, communications, energy, food and grocery, health, transport, and water.

“Mobile phone reception is undeniably critical infrastructure in today’s world, serving as the primary connector between individuals and emergency services,” Ms Cleeland said.

“During crises such as natural disasters or accidents, reliable mobile reception is essential for emergency response coordination, dissemination of vital information, and enabling individuals to call for help or assistance.

“We cannot stand by and hear of another emergency where someone was unable to call for help or receive warnings about nearby bushfires.”