Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers) Bill 2025

Ms WELLS (Lilley—Minister for Sport and Minister for Communications) (16:15): I move: That the amendment be agreed to. At the outset, I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate on and consideration of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers) Bill 2025 both here and in the other place. The bill returns to the House with a single amendment to insert penalty provisions for failing to comply with an emergency call service direction or the emergency call service determination.

I thank Senator Hanson-Young and the Greens for engaging constructively on this amendment. I also thank the coalition for their proposed amendments and valuable contributions to the debate. Although those amendments were not taken up, we all appreciated the engagement of the shadow minister and her office.

These reforms will ensure the government has the appropriate powers to maintain effective oversight of the triple 0 service and will strengthen ACMA's role as an active participant in the triple 0 ecosystem while enshrining the custodian in law as a coordinating body for the management of the end-to-end triple 0 ecosystem. This bill acts on the tragic lessons of past outages in the triple 0 system by establishing into law the powers and functions of the Triple Zero Custodian.

The custodian will support the effective functioning of the triple 0 system, ensuring that all persons can maintain trust in its operation and that first responder services will be accessible in the event of an emergency without impediment. I commend the bill as amended to the House.