Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers) Bill 2025
Senator McGRATH (Queensland) (18:38): I move amendment (1) on sheet 3458: (1)—Schedule 1, item 7, page 13 (after line 19), after section 151K, insert: 151KA Register of ECS outage events (1) The Custodian must establish and maintain a register of ECS outage events. (2) The Custodian must include an ECS outage event in the register as soon as reasonably practicable after the Custodian reasonably believes that the ECS outage event has occurred, is occurring or will occur.
(3) The register must be maintained by electronic means. (4) The Custodian must make the information contained in the register available for public inspection on the internet. (5) The regulations may make provision for and in relation to the register, including (without limitation): (a) information to be recorded in the register in relation to ECS outage events; and (b) the manner in which the register is to be maintained; and (c) correction or rectification of the register.
(6) The register is not a legislative instrument. Notwithstanding the Minister for Communications and her office hastily writing a letter and emailing it out today, this amendment will create a public register of all triple 0 outages and enshrine that in legislation. It is really important to ensure Australians have visibility of any outages within the community and that we can restore confidence in the system.
It is the belief of the coalition that that's best done through legislation rather than in a letter sent by the minister. It will also ensure that the minister; the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts; ACMA, as the regulator; and the Triple Zero Custodian, as created by this bill, are accountable and functioning as they should, as legislated by this parliament.
More transparency in the system will ensure Australians' confidence is restored and that telcos and the government are held to account if things aren't working. What the coalition is proposing is a higher level of transparency and accountability than that being proposed by the Labor Party.