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This Determination is the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.
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Commonwealth legislation
What this instrument does (mechanically)
It imposes operational, technical and administrative rules on three groups: carriers (owners/operators of networks), carriage service providers (retail providers who sell phone/data services) and emergency call persons (the organisations that operate the national emergency call services for 000/112 and 106). See sections 5, 8–11, 36.
It requires providers to ensure end‑users can access emergency numbers (000, 112, 106), to carry emergency calls to defined network points, and to transmit caller identity and the “most precise location information available” automatically when a call is made. See sections 14–21 and 23–25; Division 3.4 (51–53).
It sets service performance targets and handling rules for emergency call operators (for example: daily targets that 85% of calls be answered within 5 seconds and 95% within 10 seconds, subject to force‑majeure type exceptions). See sections 48–49.
It imposes obligations to minimise non‑genuine (spam/accidental/malicious) emergency calls and emergency registrations, and gives powers to block or disconnect calls or registrations where an “ECS disablement event” is suspected. See sections 31, 31A, 50, 50A.
It requires carriers and CSPs to have written arrangements and to keep networks for emergency calls resilient (diversity, redundancy, or fall‑over agreements). See sections 8–11.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.
This Determination is the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.
This Determination is made under subsection 147(1) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
(1) For subsection 147(1) of the Act, this Determination imposes requirements on: (a) carriers; (b) carriage service providers; (c) emergency call persons; in relation to emergency call services. (2) The objects of this Determination are to: (a) ensure that the highest levels of access, integrity and service continuity of the emergency call service are maintained; (b) ensure that controlled networks and controlled facilities are able to successfully carry emergency calls to the emergency call service; (c) ensure that a carriage service provider, as far as practicable, carries emergency calls in a way that would give an end user of an emergency telephone service the appearance of a single national emergency call system; and (d) ensure that customers who are supplied with an emergency telephone service can make an emergency call.
Note: To achieve these objects this Determination includes provisions which require:
(a) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to detect and prevent high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.5 and 3.3);
(b) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to supply the most precise location information available for emergency calls to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.3 and 3.4);
(c) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to coordinate communications where there is a disruption to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.4 and 3.5);
(d) carriers and carriage service providers to take measures to ensure mobile phones are able to access the emergency call service and calls are delivered to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 (see Part 4 and Division 5.1);
(e) carriers to provide and share information during an outage and prior to proposed changes to operations or networks that will impact the delivery of calls to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 (see Divisions 5.2 and 5.3); and
(f) carriers, carriage service providers and the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to follow protocols during and after a major outage (see Part 6 and Schedule 1).
In this Determination, unless the contrary intention appears:
ABS Remoteness Structure means the Remoteness Structure described as such in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3, July 2021-June 2026, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Note: The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) divides Australia into five classes of remoteness. The ASGS is available, free of charge, on the website of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and could, at the time of the making of this instrument, be accessed at the following website: www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/latest-release.
Act means the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
Alternate Address Flag means the field in the IPND that provides information about whether the physical location of an end‑user may reliably be taken to be at the service address provided to the IPND Manager for the service.
announcement for Caller No Response Calls means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that:
(a) asks the end‑user to dial or press ‘55’ if the end‑user requires emergency assistance; and
(b) if played in full, repeats the request described in paragraph (a) three times.
announcement for emergency calls means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that advises the end‑user that they have made a call to an emergency call service.
Note: announcement for non‑emergency contacts means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that explains how to find any person’s or organisation’s telephone number.
announcement for number check means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that advises the end‑user to check the number.
announcement for State and Territory emergency services means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that includes:
(a) an explanation that a State or Territory emergency service cannot be contacted through the emergency call service; and
(b) information on how to contact a State or Territory emergency service.
business day means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday in the place concerned.
Caller No Response Call means a call made to an emergency service number by an end‑user who, when asked at least twice by the call‑taker if police, fire or ambulance is required, has not responded, or has not indicated in another way, that police, fire or ambulance is required.
call‑taker means an individual who responds to a call made to an emergency service number on behalf of:
(a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112; or
(b) the emergency call person for 106.
Note: The emergency service numbers are defined by section 466 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency service numbers were 000, 106 and 112.
common system means the processing system used by the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to identify the relevant emergency service organisation to which an emergency call should be transferred and to transfer an emergency call to that emergency service organisation with the required information about the caller.
core network means the part of the telecommunications network that is not the customer access network.
customer access network means that part of the telecommunications network that allows end-users to connect to the local switch, base station, node or exchange.
default CLI means the default calling line identification (CLI) for a call that is provided by the telecommunications network from which the call originated, where:
denial of service attack means an attack or attempted attack on a telecommunications network involving the use of Internet traffic (or packets) to deny end-users access to the emergency call service.
Disruption Protocols means the protocols set out in Schedule 1.
disruption to the emergency call service means the situation where due to an incident or series of incidents, an emergency call person is unable to answer, handle or transfer an emergency call.
Note: An ECS disablement event is an example of an incident that can lead to a disruption to the emergency call service.
diversity means ensuring that a telecommunications network has two or more independent connections that:
(a) route between any two points over more than one geographic or physical path; and
(b) have no common points of connection along the way, with the exception of the end points.
ECS disablement event means an incident (whether deliberate or not) that results in a disruption to the emergency call service and may include:
(a) unauthorised impairment of communications;
(b) equipment programming errors which result in a high volume of non-genuine calls being made to the emergency call service; or
(c) a denial of service attack.
emergency call means a call made to an emergency service number, during which a response is sought from an emergency service organisation to deal with a time‑critical event:
(a) that is perceived to threaten life; or
(b) that the organisation is established to respond to.
emergency call camp on functionality means the mobile phone-initiated function that enables a mobile phone end-user, in cases where the end-user cannot access the emergency call service using the end-user’s usual carrier’s mobile network, to access another carrier’s mobile network that is available and within range to connect the end-user’s mobile phone to the emergency call service.
Note: Emergency call camp on functionality may occur when an end-user’s mobile phone is out of range from its usual carrier’s mobile network or the end-user’s usual carrier’s mobile network is unavailable for some other reason.
emergency call person for 000 and 112 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service numbers 000 and 112.
Note: At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 was Telstra.
emergency call person for 106 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service number 106.
Note: At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency call person for 106 was Concentrix Services Pty Ltd (ACN 166 171 991).
emergency registration means the process by which a mobile device attaches to a public mobile telecommunications network for the purpose of making an emergency call to the emergency service number 000 or 112.
emergency service organisation has the meaning given by subsection 147(11) of the Act.
emergency telephone service means any of the following:
(a) a standard telephone service;
(b) a public mobile telecommunications service:
(i) that is not a standard telephone service;
(ii) that enables the carriage of an emergency call; and
(iii) for which the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number to the carriage service provider.
end‑user’s State or Territory means the State or Territory from which the call is being made, according to the information available to the call‑taker.
exempt satellite service means a satellite service that:
(a) is supplied to a non-handheld satellite device;
(b) is a satellite service supplied by means of a satellite owned, controlled or operated by Inmarsat Global Limited (incorporated in the United Kingdom); and
(c) is not supplied in fulfilment of the universal service obligation.
Note: The expression universal service obligation has the meaning given by section 9 of the Act.
financial hardship customer has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.
fixed local service means a carriage service that:
(a) is supplied by a carriage service provider;
(b) is capable of voice telephony;
(c) is supplied for receiving incoming calls wholly, or principally, at one fixed location which can be identified, from the number called, by the provider of the carriage service used to make the call; and
(d) is located at either:
(i) a switching facility; or
(ii) the premises occupied or used by a customer.
Industry Guideline means:
(a) the guideline titled Location Information for Emergency Calls (G557:2014), published by Communications Alliance Ltd; or
(b) a guideline published by Communications Alliance Ltd that replaces the guideline specified in paragraph (a).
Note: The Industry Guideline consists of five Parts, under the general title Location Information for Emergency Calls. A copy of the guideline could, at the time of making this Determination, be obtained from Communication Alliance Ltd’s website www.commsalliance.com.au free of charge.
internet of things data-only service means a carriage service that:
(a) is only accessible on a carriage service provider’s network;
(b) is used for consumer and enterprise connected internet of things devices and applications; and
(c) only requires access to data (internet protocol and non-internet protocol) services.
internet of things devices means devices and objects with sensors, processing ability, software or other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communication networks.IPND means:
(a) the Integrated Public Number Database provided and maintained by Telstra Limited in accordance with a condition of its carrier licence; or
(b) if the Minister has determined, under subsection 472(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997, that a specified person other than Telstra Limited is to provide and maintain an integrated public number database — that database.
IPND Manager means:
(a) Telstra Limited; or
(b) if the Minister has determined, under subsection 472(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997, that a specified person other than Telstra Limited is to provide and maintain an integrated public number database — that person.
major outage means any unplanned adverse impact to a telecommunications network used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users that:
(a) results in an end-user being unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service; and
(b) affects, or is likely to affect:
(i) 100,000 or more services in operation; or
(ii) all relevant carriage services provided by a carrier or carriage service provider in a State or Territory; and
(c) is expected to be, or is, of a duration longer than 60 minutes.
material change means a change to the scale, geographic area, number or type of relevant carriage services impacted or expected time of restoration of the relevant carriage services affected by a major outage or significant local outage, that is likely to result in a significant increase or decrease in the severity of the outage, or in the time taken to restore the relevant carriage services affected by the outage.
mobile base station means a base station in a mobile network in a fixed location, equipped with one or more antennae, that transmits and receives signals between mobile networks and mobile phones.
mobile network means a telecommunications network that is used principally to supply public mobile telecommunications services.
mobile phone includes a handheld mobile device that is capable of voice communications when connected to, or intended for use in connection with, a mobile network but does not include a device which is capable of using a mobile network that is not ordinarily considered to be a mobile phone such as:
(a) fixed broadband gateways;
(b) internet of things devices;
(c) personal alert devices;
(d) smartwatches; or
(e) tablets.
most precise location information available means the most precise location information that a carriage service provider, carrier or emergency call person has available, about the geographic or physical location of the customer equipment from which an emergency call originated, which includes, at a minimum, the location information specified in the Industry Guideline.
Note: The Industry Guideline provides information about the types of most precise location information that may be available.
National Emergency Management Agency means the body known as the National Emergency Management Agency established by the Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency.
Note: The Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency was an order made under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999 and can be accessed, free of charge, at https://www.legislation.gov.au.
non-genuine call means a call made to an emergency service number that:
(a) is not an emergency call; and
(b) includes but is not limited to:
(i) calls that are vexatious, menacing, harassing, or offensive;
(ii) accidental calls or misdials;
(iii) a call intended by the person making the call to induce a false belief that an emergency exists; or
(iv) calls resulting from an ECS disablement event.
non-genuine emergency registration means an emergency registration or attempted emergency registration that is not for the purpose of making an emergency call to the emergency service number 000 or 112.
non-handheld satellite device means customer equipment that is:
(a) designed for use in connection with the supply of a satellite service; and
(b) capable of operating only when connected to other customer equipment, other than a SIM.
payment assistance policy means a policy established by a carriage service provider under section 7 of the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.
personal alert devices means wearable devices that can be activated to communicate wirelessly with an alarm monitoring company or other programmed phone numbers to summon help in the event of an emergency.
public payphone means a public telephone that is managed by a carrier or a carriage service provider and is located in a public place, but does not include a public telephone that is located in a public place and is leased to a person by a carrier or a carriage service provider.
public place means a place to which the public usually has access including a place where access is restricted during certain hours or certain days of the week, but does not include:
(a) a place to which a person (other than the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory) is entitled to deny the public entry; or
(b) a vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other means of transport.
quarter means a period of 3 months starting on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October in a year.
redundancy means ensuring that a telecommunications network has an alternative path or paths for network communication, to ensure the continuity of network services.
regional Australia means the area classified as Inner Regional Australia or Outer Regional Australia under the ABS Remoteness Structure.
relevant answering point means:
(a) for a call to the emergency service number 000 or 112, the point in the network of the emergency call person for 000 and 112, after the point at which the announcement for emergency calls is played, at which a call‑taker is able to respond to the call; and
(b) for a call to the emergency service number 106, the point in the network of the emergency call person for 106, after the point at which the announcement for emergency calls is played, at which a call‑taker is able to respond to the call.
relevant carriage service means a carriage service, excluding an internet of things data-only service.
relevant termination point means:
(a) for a call to the emergency service number 000 or 112, the point in the network of the emergency call person for 000 and 112 reasonably specified by that person as the point to which a call using a particular type of carriage service must be carried; and
(b) for a call to the emergency service number 106, the point in the network of the emergency call person for 106 reasonably specified by that person as the point to which a call using a particular type of carriage service must be carried.
remote Australia means the area classified as Remote or Very Remote Australia under the ABS Remoteness Structure.
satellite service means a carriage service where customer equipment used in connection with the supply of the service communicates directly with a satellite‑based facility.
Note: A satellite service may be used to provide a fixed or public mobile telecommunications service to an end‑user.
service address means the address supplied by a customer to their carriage service provider and required to be given to the IPND Manager by the carriage service provider in compliance with Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1997.
services in operation means relevant carriage services that are:
(a) connected to a telecommunications network, or would, but for a major outage or a significant local outage, be connected to a telecommunications network; and
(b) provided to an end-user under an arrangement between a carriage service provider and the end-user.
significant local outage means any unplanned adverse impact to a telecommunications network used to supply a relevant carriage service to end-users, that:
(a) results in an end-user being unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service; and
(b) affects, or is likely to affect:
(i) 1,000 or more services in operation in regional Australia; or
(ii) 250 or more services in operation in remote Australia; and
(c) is expected to be, or is of a duration longer than:
(i) if the affected services in operation are in regional Australia – 6 hours; or
(ii) if the affected services in operation are in remote Australia – 3 hours; and
(d) is not a major outage.
SIM means a subscriber identity module.
SMS means short message service.
State or Territory emergency service means any of the following services established under a law of a State or Territory:
(a) the State Emergency Service of New South Wales;
(b) the Victoria State Emergency Service;
(c) the State Emergency Service of Queensland;
(d) the Department of Fire and Emergency Services Western Australia;
(e) the South Australian State Emergency Service;
(f) the State Emergency Service of Tasmania;
(g) the ACT State Emergency Service; or
(h) the part of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service that is not an emergency service organisation.
unsuccessful emergency call means an emergency call made by an end-user where the call was not carried to the relevant termination point or the relevant answering point, as the case may be.
welfare check means the process of checking on the safety and well-being of an end-user including, at a minimum:
if the end-user made an unsuccessful emergency call using an emergency telephone service:
attempting to contact the end-user by phone; and
if the phone call is unsuccessful, referring the matter to the police force or service in the State or Territory in which the end-user is located; or
if the end-user made an unsuccessful emergency call using a public mobile telecommunications service:
sending an SMS (first SMS) to the end-user requesting that the end-user respond in the manner prescribed in the message;
if no response is received to the first SMS within a reasonable time after the message is sent, sending another SMS (second SMS) containing the same information as the first SMS; and
if no response is received to the second SMS within a reasonable time after the message is sent, referring the matter to a police force or service in the State or Territory in which the end-user is located.
wilt, in relation to a mobile base station, means to prevent the mobile base station providing any connectivity to a mobile phone via that base station.
Note: A number of expressions used in this Determination are defined in section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1997, and are incorporated into the Act by subsection 5(1) of the Act, including:
(a) access (in relation to an emergency call service);
(b) ACMA;
(c) carriage service;
(d) carriage service provider;
(e) carrier;
(f) controlled carriage service;
(g) controlled facility;
(h) controlled network;
(i) customer equipment;
(j) emergency call person;
(k) emergency call service;
(l) emergency service number;
(m) Home Affairs Department
(n) public mobile telecommunications service;
(o) public number;
(p) recognised person who operates an emergency call service;
(q) standard telephone service;
(r) telecommunications network;
(s) Telstra;
(t) Telstra Limited.
In this Determination, unless the contrary intention appears: (a) a reference to any other legislative instrument is a reference to that other legislative instrument as in force from time to time; and (b) a reference to any other kind of instrument is a reference to that other instrument as in force from time to time.
Note 1: For references to Commonwealth Acts, see section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and see also subsection 13(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 for the application of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to legislative instruments.
Note 2: All Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Note 3: For paragraph (b), see subsection 147(8) of the Act and section 589 of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
Part 2—Requirements for carriers and carriage service providers
A carrier must ensure that it has written arrangements in place for: (a) dealing with emergency calls that the carrier may be required to carry; and (b) doing everything reasonably necessary to ensure that carriage service providers using the carrier’s controlled networks or controlled facilities are able to comply with their obligations under this Determination.
A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must have written arrangements in place that enable the provider to comply with the requirements imposed by this Determination in relation to emergency calls made using the service.
Examples:
(a) Procedures that enable calls made to an emergency service number to be delivered to an emergency call service in accordance with this Determination.
(b) Arrangements ensuring that calls made using a telecommunications device for the deaf to the emergency service number 106 are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(c) Agreements with any other carrier or carriage service provider whose carriage service, controlled network or controlled facility is required for the delivery of emergency calls in accordance with this Determination.
(d) Arrangements to ensure that calls made using a satellite service, other than an exempt satellite service, are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(1) In this section, provider 1 is a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service. (2) A carrier must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that the carrier controls them, or has reasonable access to them. (3) A carriage service provider (provider 2) must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that provider 2 controls them, or has reasonable access to them.
(1) Carriers and carriage service providers must maintain, as far as practicable, the proper and effective functioning of their controlled networks and their controlled facilities that are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service. (2) Carriers and carriage service providers must: (a) ensure that their controlled networks which are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service have diversity and redundancy; or (b) have written arrangements in place with other carriers or carriage service providers to carry emergency calls made using their controlled networks or controlled facilities in circumstances where the first mentioned carrier or carriage service providers’ controlled network or controlled facility is unable to carry the calls. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) is intended to limit subsection (1).
(1) This subdivision does not apply to a carriage service provider if the provider is prohibited or prevented from giving an end‑user access to an emergency call service because of something required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law.
Note: Example: Things required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law include:
(a) A carrier or carriage service provider has acted, in good faith, under subsection 313(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to prevent its networks or facilities from being used in, or in relation to, the commission of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.
(b) A carriage service provider has received a request from a police force or service under section 315 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to suspend the service.
(c) A carrier or carriage service provider that manages a telecommunications network or facility has disconnected customer equipment or customer cabling from that network or facility under subsection 447(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 because of its honest belief that the equipment or cabling was, or was likely to be, a threat to the integrity of the network or facility.
(2) This subdivision does not apply if: (a) a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to give an end-user access to the emergency call service; or (b) the emergency telephone service used to make the emergency call is an exempt satellite service.
Note: Matters beyond the control of a carriage service provider which may materially and adversely affect a provider’s technical ability to give an end‑user access to an emergency call service include:
(a) Failure of customer equipment or network equipment at the premises of the customer for that service because of a mains power outage, interference with or misuse of customer equipment or network equipment by end‑users, or wear and tear.
(b) Failure of in‑building wiring because of physical damage at the customer’s premises.
(c) Failure of an access line because of damage or interference caused by a third party or by environmental factors.
(d) Failure due to access to an emergency call service being barred on the customer equipment by the customer.
(e) Failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of a denial of service attack where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such an attack.
Before a carriage service provider first supplies an exempt satellite service to a customer, the provider must notify the customer in writing that the service cannot be used to make an emergency call.
A carriage service provider must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities give an end‑user access to emergency call services whether or not a number is currently issued to the end‑user in relation to a service.
Note: The provider is subject to the requirement even if a relevant controlled network or controlled facility is owned or operated by a carrier. A carrier must be prepared to assist a provider to comply with this requirement — see section 8.
(1) If: (a) a carriage service provider supplies an emergency telephone service; and (b) an end user makes an emergency call on the service using the emergency service number 000, the carriage service provider must give the end user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112. (2) If an end-user uses the emergency service number 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service, the carriage service provider who supplies the service must give the end-user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
(1) This section applies if: (a) an end‑user uses the emergency service number 112 on a satellite service; and (b) the customer equipment used to supply the satellite service is capable of being used to access a public mobile telecommunications service. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the satellite service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
If an end‑user uses the emergency service number 106 on a carriage service that is a standard telephone service as described in subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the carriage service provider must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Note 1: Calls can be made to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106 in a way that includes a text component. Technology currently available for making calls with a text component includes:
(a) teletypewriters (TTY); and
(b) a telecommunications device for the deaf.
Note 2: Other technology may, in time, become available as a form of standard telephone service within the meaning of the Act and this Determination. This Determination will apply to that technology.
(1) This section applies if an end-user uses the emergency service number 106 on a satellite service that is technically capable of carrying a call using that emergency service number. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service other than an exempt satellite service must ensure that an emergency call made using the service is carried to the relevant termination point for the call: (a) on the provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the relevant termination point for the call— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a carrier must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities are configured to carry an emergency call on its network to the relevant termination point for the call. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider or carrier materially and adversely affects the provider’s or carrier’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the relevant termination point.
Note: An example of a matter that may be beyond the carrier’s control includes a failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of non-genuine emergency registrations on a mobile network where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such registrations. Other examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the emergency call is made from a mobile phone that is not configured to be able to access the emergency call service.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider who supplies a carriage service to an emergency service organisation (ESO service provider) must ensure that an emergency call transferred to the organisation by a call taker is carried from the relevant transfer point to the ESO answering point: (a) on the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the emergency service organisation— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if a matter beyond the control of the ESO service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the ESO answering point.
Note: Examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(3) In this section:
ESO answering point means the point in the network of the ESO service provider at which an emergency service organisation is able to answer an emergency call transferred to the organisation.
relevant transfer point means:
(1) This section applies if an end‑user makes an emergency call using the emergency service number 000 or 112. (2) The carriage service provider who carries the call must, if the call is carried within its network, ensure that the call is transferred to the relevant termination point with the highest priority.
This Division applies to: (a) a carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or a controlled facility used to carry an emergency call; and (b) a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
This section applies where an emergency call is made to the emergency service number 000, 112 or 106. Subject to subsection (3):
(a) a carrier must, as far as practicable, ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility used to carry the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically carry information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point; and
(b) a carriage service provider must, as far as practicable, ensure that the emergency telephone service used to make the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically transfer information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if: (a) the end‑user has made the call using the emergency service number 000 or 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service; and (b) the carrier or carriage service provider is unable to identify the public number from which the call is made. (4) The carrier or carriage service provider must also ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility, or the emergency telephone service, automatically carries the most precise location information available at the time the call is made, to the relevant termination point.
(1) This section applies if an emergency service organisation asks a carriage service provider to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation. (2) The carriage service provider must give the organisation as much of the requested information as possible, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 imposes requirements on carriage service providers, carriers and emergency call persons to protect the confidentiality of certain information. Those requirements are subject to a number of exceptions on the use or disclosure of specified information or documents, including section 286 of that Act which relates to calls to an emergency service number.
(1) If an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to provide information about the location of an emergency call: (a) that originated from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility at the time the emergency call was made; (b) that has been transferred to the emergency service organisation; and (c) where the emergency service organisation is unable to identify the location of the caller, the carrier must give the emergency service organisation the most precise location information available about the location of the customer equipment from which the emergency call originated, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Circumstances in which the most precise location information may not be available to a carrier include instances where the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number.
(2) If: (a) an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation; and (b) the emergency call did not originate from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility, the carrier must notify the emergency service organisation immediately and take all reasonable steps to assist the emergency service organisation in identifying the owner or operator of the controlled network or controlled facility to which the customer equipment, from which the emergency call originated, was connected. (3) A carrier must ensure that: (a) emergency service organisations are able to request information from the carrier about emergency calls transferred to the organisation, at all times; (b) emergency service organisations are provided with a designated contact and telephone number to which requests for information can be made, or a specified process to be followed when such requests are made; and (c) all requests received are processed without delay.
(1) A carriage service provider must ensure that: (a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112 is informed of the provider’s correct contact details including business address, contact telephone numbers and email address; (b) a person is always available to answer at least one telephone number provided under paragraph (a); and (c) a person is available to respond to email requests sent to the address provided under paragraph (a) at all times. (2) If a carriage service provider’s contact details provided in accordance with subsection (1) change, the provider must: (a) provide updated contact details to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 by the end of the next business day after the change occurs; and (b) ensure that the previous contact details of the carriage service provider remain active at least until the updated contact details have been provided to the emergency call person. (3) If the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106 contacts a carriage service provider on the contact details provided under this section on a matter relating to the emergency call service, the provider must respond immediately to the contact made by the emergency call person. Note: Section 54 requires the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to share information that is provided to it under this section with the emergency call person for 106.
(1) A carriage service provider must, as soon as practicable after: (a) becoming aware of a major outage that adversely affects a controlled network or controlled facility that the provider owns or operates; or (b) being notified of a major outage under section 8 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024, undertake, or arrange to be undertaken, a welfare check on an end-user who made an unsuccessful emergency call during the outage using an emergency telephone service supplied by the carriage service provider. Note: The Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 may be accessed free of charge from the Federal Register of Legislation. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where: (a) the carriage service provider cannot identify that the end-user has made the unsuccessful emergency call; (b) the carriage service provider is satisfied that the end-user subsequently made a successful emergency call; or (c) the end-user made the unsuccessful call using a public mobile telecommunications service, and the carriage service provider, as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the unsuccessful emergency call, identifies that the location of the customer equipment from which the call was made has changed since the call was made.
If there is a disruption to the emergency call service, carriers and carriage service providers must cooperate as far as practicable with the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to: (a) enable end-users to access the emergency call service; and (b) enable an emergency call person to answer and handle an emergency call.
(1) This section applies if an end‑user: (a) uses an emergency telephone service; (b) dials or presses the digits of an emergency service number, in order; and (c) then dials or presses at least 1 more digit. (2) A carriage service provider supplying the emergency telephone service may transfer the call to the announcement for number check.
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls carried using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (2) A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls made using the service which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (3) The steps are to: (a) monitor the number of calls made to the emergency service numbers 000 and 112, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to identify high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service that are likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; (b) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to stop non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (a); (c) cooperate with the emergency call person and emergency service organisations to identify the source of non-genuine calls that are not likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; and (d) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to minimise non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (c). (4) Before giving a direction under paragraph 1(b) or 2(b), the ACMA must: (a) consult with the carrier or carriage service provider concerned; and (b) have regard to any submissions made by the carrier or carriage service provider. (5) A carrier or carriage service provider who is given a direction under this section may ask the ACMA to reconsider the decision (reconsideration request). (6) A reconsideration request must: (a) be in writing; (b) be given to the ACMA within 14 days of the day on which the carrier or carriage service provider received the direction; and (c) include reasons for the request. (7) Upon receiving a reconsideration request the ACMA must, within 28 days: (a) reconsider the decision; and (b) affirm, vary or revoke the direction. (8) The ACMA must give written notice of its decision under subsection (7) and if the decision is to affirm or vary the primary decision, the notice must include: (a) the reasons for its decision; (b) a statement to the effect that if the carrier or carriage service provider affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the decision so affirmed or varied, the carrier or carriage service provider may, subject to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of the decision; and (c) a statement to the effect that the carrier or carriage service provider may request a statement under section 268 of that Act in relation to the decision so affirmed or varied. (9) The carrier or carriage service provider concerned may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal to review a decision of a kind referred to in subsection (5) if the ACMA has affirmed or varied the decision under subsection (7).
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must, as far as practicable, stop or minimise the number of non-genuine emergency registrations using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
This Division applies to a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
A carriage service provider must give each end‑user of the service access to emergency call services free of charge.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider must not charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for an emergency service organisation to be charged, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation. (2) However, the provider may charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for it to be charged, for a service mentioned in subsection (1) if: (a) the emergency service organisation agrees with the provider for the service to be supplied at a level significantly higher than the level of service provided to most emergency service organisations; and (b) the provider’s charge for the service relates only to the higher level of service.
Note: Examples: Methods used to provide significantly higher levels of service include:
(a) network based queueing facilities;
(b) capabilities for multiple site call splaying and overflow; and
(c) redundancy lines.
A carriage service provider must not charge, or arrange to charge, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation.
A carrier must ensure that it has written arrangements in place for: (a) dealing with emergency calls that the carrier may be required to carry; and (b) doing everything reasonably necessary to ensure that carriage service providers using the carrier’s controlled networks or controlled facilities are able to comply with their obligations under this Determination.
A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must have written arrangements in place that enable the provider to comply with the requirements imposed by this Determination in relation to emergency calls made using the service.
Examples:
(a) Procedures that enable calls made to an emergency service number to be delivered to an emergency call service in accordance with this Determination.
(b) Arrangements ensuring that calls made using a telecommunications device for the deaf to the emergency service number 106 are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(c) Agreements with any other carrier or carriage service provider whose carriage service, controlled network or controlled facility is required for the delivery of emergency calls in accordance with this Determination.
(d) Arrangements to ensure that calls made using a satellite service, other than an exempt satellite service, are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(1) In this section, provider 1 is a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service. (2) A carrier must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that the carrier controls them, or has reasonable access to them. (3) A carriage service provider (provider 2) must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that provider 2 controls them, or has reasonable access to them.
(1) Carriers and carriage service providers must maintain, as far as practicable, the proper and effective functioning of their controlled networks and their controlled facilities that are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service. (2) Carriers and carriage service providers must: (a) ensure that their controlled networks which are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service have diversity and redundancy; or (b) have written arrangements in place with other carriers or carriage service providers to carry emergency calls made using their controlled networks or controlled facilities in circumstances where the first mentioned carrier or carriage service providers’ controlled network or controlled facility is unable to carry the calls. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) is intended to limit subsection (1).
Part 2—Requirements for carriers and carriage service providers
A carrier must ensure that it has written arrangements in place for: (a) dealing with emergency calls that the carrier may be required to carry; and (b) doing everything reasonably necessary to ensure that carriage service providers using the carrier’s controlled networks or controlled facilities are able to comply with their obligations under this Determination.
A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must have written arrangements in place that enable the provider to comply with the requirements imposed by this Determination in relation to emergency calls made using the service.
Examples:
(a) Procedures that enable calls made to an emergency service number to be delivered to an emergency call service in accordance with this Determination.
(b) Arrangements ensuring that calls made using a telecommunications device for the deaf to the emergency service number 106 are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(c) Agreements with any other carrier or carriage service provider whose carriage service, controlled network or controlled facility is required for the delivery of emergency calls in accordance with this Determination.
(d) Arrangements to ensure that calls made using a satellite service, other than an exempt satellite service, are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(1) In this section, provider 1 is a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service. (2) A carrier must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that the carrier controls them, or has reasonable access to them. (3) A carriage service provider (provider 2) must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that provider 2 controls them, or has reasonable access to them.
(1) Carriers and carriage service providers must maintain, as far as practicable, the proper and effective functioning of their controlled networks and their controlled facilities that are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service. (2) Carriers and carriage service providers must: (a) ensure that their controlled networks which are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service have diversity and redundancy; or (b) have written arrangements in place with other carriers or carriage service providers to carry emergency calls made using their controlled networks or controlled facilities in circumstances where the first mentioned carrier or carriage service providers’ controlled network or controlled facility is unable to carry the calls. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) is intended to limit subsection (1).
(1) This subdivision does not apply to a carriage service provider if the provider is prohibited or prevented from giving an end‑user access to an emergency call service because of something required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law.
Note: Example: Things required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law include:
(a) A carrier or carriage service provider has acted, in good faith, under subsection 313(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to prevent its networks or facilities from being used in, or in relation to, the commission of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.
(b) A carriage service provider has received a request from a police force or service under section 315 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to suspend the service.
(c) A carrier or carriage service provider that manages a telecommunications network or facility has disconnected customer equipment or customer cabling from that network or facility under subsection 447(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 because of its honest belief that the equipment or cabling was, or was likely to be, a threat to the integrity of the network or facility.
(2) This subdivision does not apply if: (a) a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to give an end-user access to the emergency call service; or (b) the emergency telephone service used to make the emergency call is an exempt satellite service.
Note: Matters beyond the control of a carriage service provider which may materially and adversely affect a provider’s technical ability to give an end‑user access to an emergency call service include:
(a) Failure of customer equipment or network equipment at the premises of the customer for that service because of a mains power outage, interference with or misuse of customer equipment or network equipment by end‑users, or wear and tear.
(b) Failure of in‑building wiring because of physical damage at the customer’s premises.
(c) Failure of an access line because of damage or interference caused by a third party or by environmental factors.
(d) Failure due to access to an emergency call service being barred on the customer equipment by the customer.
(e) Failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of a denial of service attack where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such an attack.
Before a carriage service provider first supplies an exempt satellite service to a customer, the provider must notify the customer in writing that the service cannot be used to make an emergency call.
A carriage service provider must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities give an end‑user access to emergency call services whether or not a number is currently issued to the end‑user in relation to a service.
Note: The provider is subject to the requirement even if a relevant controlled network or controlled facility is owned or operated by a carrier. A carrier must be prepared to assist a provider to comply with this requirement — see section 8.
(1) If: (a) a carriage service provider supplies an emergency telephone service; and (b) an end user makes an emergency call on the service using the emergency service number 000, the carriage service provider must give the end user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112. (2) If an end-user uses the emergency service number 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service, the carriage service provider who supplies the service must give the end-user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
(1) This section applies if: (a) an end‑user uses the emergency service number 112 on a satellite service; and (b) the customer equipment used to supply the satellite service is capable of being used to access a public mobile telecommunications service. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the satellite service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
If an end‑user uses the emergency service number 106 on a carriage service that is a standard telephone service as described in subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the carriage service provider must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Note 1: Calls can be made to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106 in a way that includes a text component. Technology currently available for making calls with a text component includes:
(a) teletypewriters (TTY); and
(b) a telecommunications device for the deaf.
Note 2: Other technology may, in time, become available as a form of standard telephone service within the meaning of the Act and this Determination. This Determination will apply to that technology.
(1) This section applies if an end-user uses the emergency service number 106 on a satellite service that is technically capable of carrying a call using that emergency service number. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service other than an exempt satellite service must ensure that an emergency call made using the service is carried to the relevant termination point for the call: (a) on the provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the relevant termination point for the call— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a carrier must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities are configured to carry an emergency call on its network to the relevant termination point for the call. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider or carrier materially and adversely affects the provider’s or carrier’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the relevant termination point.
Note: An example of a matter that may be beyond the carrier’s control includes a failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of non-genuine emergency registrations on a mobile network where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such registrations. Other examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the emergency call is made from a mobile phone that is not configured to be able to access the emergency call service.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider who supplies a carriage service to an emergency service organisation (ESO service provider) must ensure that an emergency call transferred to the organisation by a call taker is carried from the relevant transfer point to the ESO answering point: (a) on the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the emergency service organisation— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if a matter beyond the control of the ESO service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the ESO answering point.
Note: Examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(3) In this section:
ESO answering point means the point in the network of the ESO service provider at which an emergency service organisation is able to answer an emergency call transferred to the organisation.
relevant transfer point means:
(1) This section applies if an end‑user makes an emergency call using the emergency service number 000 or 112. (2) The carriage service provider who carries the call must, if the call is carried within its network, ensure that the call is transferred to the relevant termination point with the highest priority.
This Division applies to: (a) a carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or a controlled facility used to carry an emergency call; and (b) a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
This section applies where an emergency call is made to the emergency service number 000, 112 or 106. Subject to subsection (3):
(a) a carrier must, as far as practicable, ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility used to carry the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically carry information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point; and
(b) a carriage service provider must, as far as practicable, ensure that the emergency telephone service used to make the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically transfer information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if: (a) the end‑user has made the call using the emergency service number 000 or 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service; and (b) the carrier or carriage service provider is unable to identify the public number from which the call is made. (4) The carrier or carriage service provider must also ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility, or the emergency telephone service, automatically carries the most precise location information available at the time the call is made, to the relevant termination point.
(1) This section applies if an emergency service organisation asks a carriage service provider to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation. (2) The carriage service provider must give the organisation as much of the requested information as possible, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 imposes requirements on carriage service providers, carriers and emergency call persons to protect the confidentiality of certain information. Those requirements are subject to a number of exceptions on the use or disclosure of specified information or documents, including section 286 of that Act which relates to calls to an emergency service number.
(1) If an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to provide information about the location of an emergency call: (a) that originated from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility at the time the emergency call was made; (b) that has been transferred to the emergency service organisation; and (c) where the emergency service organisation is unable to identify the location of the caller, the carrier must give the emergency service organisation the most precise location information available about the location of the customer equipment from which the emergency call originated, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Circumstances in which the most precise location information may not be available to a carrier include instances where the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number.
(2) If: (a) an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation; and (b) the emergency call did not originate from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility, the carrier must notify the emergency service organisation immediately and take all reasonable steps to assist the emergency service organisation in identifying the owner or operator of the controlled network or controlled facility to which the customer equipment, from which the emergency call originated, was connected. (3) A carrier must ensure that: (a) emergency service organisations are able to request information from the carrier about emergency calls transferred to the organisation, at all times; (b) emergency service organisations are provided with a designated contact and telephone number to which requests for information can be made, or a specified process to be followed when such requests are made; and (c) all requests received are processed without delay.
(1) A carriage service provider must ensure that: (a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112 is informed of the provider’s correct contact details including business address, contact telephone numbers and email address; (b) a person is always available to answer at least one telephone number provided under paragraph (a); and (c) a person is available to respond to email requests sent to the address provided under paragraph (a) at all times. (2) If a carriage service provider’s contact details provided in accordance with subsection (1) change, the provider must: (a) provide updated contact details to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 by the end of the next business day after the change occurs; and (b) ensure that the previous contact details of the carriage service provider remain active at least until the updated contact details have been provided to the emergency call person. (3) If the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106 contacts a carriage service provider on the contact details provided under this section on a matter relating to the emergency call service, the provider must respond immediately to the contact made by the emergency call person. Note: Section 54 requires the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to share information that is provided to it under this section with the emergency call person for 106.
(1) A carriage service provider must, as soon as practicable after: (a) becoming aware of a major outage that adversely affects a controlled network or controlled facility that the provider owns or operates; or (b) being notified of a major outage under section 8 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024, undertake, or arrange to be undertaken, a welfare check on an end-user who made an unsuccessful emergency call during the outage using an emergency telephone service supplied by the carriage service provider. Note: The Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 may be accessed free of charge from the Federal Register of Legislation. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where: (a) the carriage service provider cannot identify that the end-user has made the unsuccessful emergency call; (b) the carriage service provider is satisfied that the end-user subsequently made a successful emergency call; or (c) the end-user made the unsuccessful call using a public mobile telecommunications service, and the carriage service provider, as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the unsuccessful emergency call, identifies that the location of the customer equipment from which the call was made has changed since the call was made.
If there is a disruption to the emergency call service, carriers and carriage service providers must cooperate as far as practicable with the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to: (a) enable end-users to access the emergency call service; and (b) enable an emergency call person to answer and handle an emergency call.
(1) This section applies if an end‑user: (a) uses an emergency telephone service; (b) dials or presses the digits of an emergency service number, in order; and (c) then dials or presses at least 1 more digit. (2) A carriage service provider supplying the emergency telephone service may transfer the call to the announcement for number check.
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls carried using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (2) A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls made using the service which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (3) The steps are to: (a) monitor the number of calls made to the emergency service numbers 000 and 112, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to identify high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service that are likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; (b) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to stop non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (a); (c) cooperate with the emergency call person and emergency service organisations to identify the source of non-genuine calls that are not likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; and (d) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to minimise non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (c). (4) Before giving a direction under paragraph 1(b) or 2(b), the ACMA must: (a) consult with the carrier or carriage service provider concerned; and (b) have regard to any submissions made by the carrier or carriage service provider. (5) A carrier or carriage service provider who is given a direction under this section may ask the ACMA to reconsider the decision (reconsideration request). (6) A reconsideration request must: (a) be in writing; (b) be given to the ACMA within 14 days of the day on which the carrier or carriage service provider received the direction; and (c) include reasons for the request. (7) Upon receiving a reconsideration request the ACMA must, within 28 days: (a) reconsider the decision; and (b) affirm, vary or revoke the direction. (8) The ACMA must give written notice of its decision under subsection (7) and if the decision is to affirm or vary the primary decision, the notice must include: (a) the reasons for its decision; (b) a statement to the effect that if the carrier or carriage service provider affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the decision so affirmed or varied, the carrier or carriage service provider may, subject to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of the decision; and (c) a statement to the effect that the carrier or carriage service provider may request a statement under section 268 of that Act in relation to the decision so affirmed or varied. (9) The carrier or carriage service provider concerned may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal to review a decision of a kind referred to in subsection (5) if the ACMA has affirmed or varied the decision under subsection (7).
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must, as far as practicable, stop or minimise the number of non-genuine emergency registrations using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
This Division applies to a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
A carriage service provider must give each end‑user of the service access to emergency call services free of charge.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider must not charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for an emergency service organisation to be charged, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation. (2) However, the provider may charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for it to be charged, for a service mentioned in subsection (1) if: (a) the emergency service organisation agrees with the provider for the service to be supplied at a level significantly higher than the level of service provided to most emergency service organisations; and (b) the provider’s charge for the service relates only to the higher level of service.
Note: Examples: Methods used to provide significantly higher levels of service include:
(a) network based queueing facilities;
(b) capabilities for multiple site call splaying and overflow; and
(c) redundancy lines.
A carriage service provider must not charge, or arrange to charge, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation.
Part 2—Requirements for carriers and carriage service providers
A carrier must ensure that it has written arrangements in place for: (a) dealing with emergency calls that the carrier may be required to carry; and (b) doing everything reasonably necessary to ensure that carriage service providers using the carrier’s controlled networks or controlled facilities are able to comply with their obligations under this Determination.
A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must have written arrangements in place that enable the provider to comply with the requirements imposed by this Determination in relation to emergency calls made using the service.
Examples:
(a) Procedures that enable calls made to an emergency service number to be delivered to an emergency call service in accordance with this Determination.
(b) Arrangements ensuring that calls made using a telecommunications device for the deaf to the emergency service number 106 are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(c) Agreements with any other carrier or carriage service provider whose carriage service, controlled network or controlled facility is required for the delivery of emergency calls in accordance with this Determination.
(d) Arrangements to ensure that calls made using a satellite service, other than an exempt satellite service, are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(1) In this section, provider 1 is a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service. (2) A carrier must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that the carrier controls them, or has reasonable access to them. (3) A carriage service provider (provider 2) must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that provider 2 controls them, or has reasonable access to them.
(1) Carriers and carriage service providers must maintain, as far as practicable, the proper and effective functioning of their controlled networks and their controlled facilities that are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service. (2) Carriers and carriage service providers must: (a) ensure that their controlled networks which are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service have diversity and redundancy; or (b) have written arrangements in place with other carriers or carriage service providers to carry emergency calls made using their controlled networks or controlled facilities in circumstances where the first mentioned carrier or carriage service providers’ controlled network or controlled facility is unable to carry the calls. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) is intended to limit subsection (1).
(1) This subdivision does not apply to a carriage service provider if the provider is prohibited or prevented from giving an end‑user access to an emergency call service because of something required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law.
Note: Example: Things required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law include:
(a) A carrier or carriage service provider has acted, in good faith, under subsection 313(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to prevent its networks or facilities from being used in, or in relation to, the commission of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.
(b) A carriage service provider has received a request from a police force or service under section 315 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to suspend the service.
(c) A carrier or carriage service provider that manages a telecommunications network or facility has disconnected customer equipment or customer cabling from that network or facility under subsection 447(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 because of its honest belief that the equipment or cabling was, or was likely to be, a threat to the integrity of the network or facility.
(2) This subdivision does not apply if: (a) a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to give an end-user access to the emergency call service; or (b) the emergency telephone service used to make the emergency call is an exempt satellite service.
Note: Matters beyond the control of a carriage service provider which may materially and adversely affect a provider’s technical ability to give an end‑user access to an emergency call service include:
(a) Failure of customer equipment or network equipment at the premises of the customer for that service because of a mains power outage, interference with or misuse of customer equipment or network equipment by end‑users, or wear and tear.
(b) Failure of in‑building wiring because of physical damage at the customer’s premises.
(c) Failure of an access line because of damage or interference caused by a third party or by environmental factors.
(d) Failure due to access to an emergency call service being barred on the customer equipment by the customer.
(e) Failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of a denial of service attack where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such an attack.
Before a carriage service provider first supplies an exempt satellite service to a customer, the provider must notify the customer in writing that the service cannot be used to make an emergency call.
A carriage service provider must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities give an end‑user access to emergency call services whether or not a number is currently issued to the end‑user in relation to a service.
Note: The provider is subject to the requirement even if a relevant controlled network or controlled facility is owned or operated by a carrier. A carrier must be prepared to assist a provider to comply with this requirement — see section 8.
(1) If: (a) a carriage service provider supplies an emergency telephone service; and (b) an end user makes an emergency call on the service using the emergency service number 000, the carriage service provider must give the end user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112. (2) If an end-user uses the emergency service number 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service, the carriage service provider who supplies the service must give the end-user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
(1) This section applies if: (a) an end‑user uses the emergency service number 112 on a satellite service; and (b) the customer equipment used to supply the satellite service is capable of being used to access a public mobile telecommunications service. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the satellite service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
If an end‑user uses the emergency service number 106 on a carriage service that is a standard telephone service as described in subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the carriage service provider must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Note 1: Calls can be made to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106 in a way that includes a text component. Technology currently available for making calls with a text component includes:
(a) teletypewriters (TTY); and
(b) a telecommunications device for the deaf.
Note 2: Other technology may, in time, become available as a form of standard telephone service within the meaning of the Act and this Determination. This Determination will apply to that technology.
(1) This section applies if an end-user uses the emergency service number 106 on a satellite service that is technically capable of carrying a call using that emergency service number. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service other than an exempt satellite service must ensure that an emergency call made using the service is carried to the relevant termination point for the call: (a) on the provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the relevant termination point for the call— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a carrier must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities are configured to carry an emergency call on its network to the relevant termination point for the call. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider or carrier materially and adversely affects the provider’s or carrier’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the relevant termination point.
Note: An example of a matter that may be beyond the carrier’s control includes a failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of non-genuine emergency registrations on a mobile network where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such registrations. Other examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the emergency call is made from a mobile phone that is not configured to be able to access the emergency call service.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider who supplies a carriage service to an emergency service organisation (ESO service provider) must ensure that an emergency call transferred to the organisation by a call taker is carried from the relevant transfer point to the ESO answering point: (a) on the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the emergency service organisation— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if a matter beyond the control of the ESO service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the ESO answering point.
Note: Examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(3) In this section:
ESO answering point means the point in the network of the ESO service provider at which an emergency service organisation is able to answer an emergency call transferred to the organisation.
relevant transfer point means:
(1) This section applies if an end‑user makes an emergency call using the emergency service number 000 or 112. (2) The carriage service provider who carries the call must, if the call is carried within its network, ensure that the call is transferred to the relevant termination point with the highest priority.
This Division applies to: (a) a carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or a controlled facility used to carry an emergency call; and (b) a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
This section applies where an emergency call is made to the emergency service number 000, 112 or 106. Subject to subsection (3):
(a) a carrier must, as far as practicable, ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility used to carry the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically carry information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point; and
(b) a carriage service provider must, as far as practicable, ensure that the emergency telephone service used to make the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically transfer information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if: (a) the end‑user has made the call using the emergency service number 000 or 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service; and (b) the carrier or carriage service provider is unable to identify the public number from which the call is made. (4) The carrier or carriage service provider must also ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility, or the emergency telephone service, automatically carries the most precise location information available at the time the call is made, to the relevant termination point.
(1) This section applies if an emergency service organisation asks a carriage service provider to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation. (2) The carriage service provider must give the organisation as much of the requested information as possible, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 imposes requirements on carriage service providers, carriers and emergency call persons to protect the confidentiality of certain information. Those requirements are subject to a number of exceptions on the use or disclosure of specified information or documents, including section 286 of that Act which relates to calls to an emergency service number.
(1) If an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to provide information about the location of an emergency call: (a) that originated from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility at the time the emergency call was made; (b) that has been transferred to the emergency service organisation; and (c) where the emergency service organisation is unable to identify the location of the caller, the carrier must give the emergency service organisation the most precise location information available about the location of the customer equipment from which the emergency call originated, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Circumstances in which the most precise location information may not be available to a carrier include instances where the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number.
(2) If: (a) an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation; and (b) the emergency call did not originate from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility, the carrier must notify the emergency service organisation immediately and take all reasonable steps to assist the emergency service organisation in identifying the owner or operator of the controlled network or controlled facility to which the customer equipment, from which the emergency call originated, was connected. (3) A carrier must ensure that: (a) emergency service organisations are able to request information from the carrier about emergency calls transferred to the organisation, at all times; (b) emergency service organisations are provided with a designated contact and telephone number to which requests for information can be made, or a specified process to be followed when such requests are made; and (c) all requests received are processed without delay.
(1) A carriage service provider must ensure that: (a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112 is informed of the provider’s correct contact details including business address, contact telephone numbers and email address; (b) a person is always available to answer at least one telephone number provided under paragraph (a); and (c) a person is available to respond to email requests sent to the address provided under paragraph (a) at all times. (2) If a carriage service provider’s contact details provided in accordance with subsection (1) change, the provider must: (a) provide updated contact details to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 by the end of the next business day after the change occurs; and (b) ensure that the previous contact details of the carriage service provider remain active at least until the updated contact details have been provided to the emergency call person. (3) If the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106 contacts a carriage service provider on the contact details provided under this section on a matter relating to the emergency call service, the provider must respond immediately to the contact made by the emergency call person. Note: Section 54 requires the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to share information that is provided to it under this section with the emergency call person for 106.
(1) A carriage service provider must, as soon as practicable after: (a) becoming aware of a major outage that adversely affects a controlled network or controlled facility that the provider owns or operates; or (b) being notified of a major outage under section 8 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024, undertake, or arrange to be undertaken, a welfare check on an end-user who made an unsuccessful emergency call during the outage using an emergency telephone service supplied by the carriage service provider. Note: The Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 may be accessed free of charge from the Federal Register of Legislation. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where: (a) the carriage service provider cannot identify that the end-user has made the unsuccessful emergency call; (b) the carriage service provider is satisfied that the end-user subsequently made a successful emergency call; or (c) the end-user made the unsuccessful call using a public mobile telecommunications service, and the carriage service provider, as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the unsuccessful emergency call, identifies that the location of the customer equipment from which the call was made has changed since the call was made.
If there is a disruption to the emergency call service, carriers and carriage service providers must cooperate as far as practicable with the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to: (a) enable end-users to access the emergency call service; and (b) enable an emergency call person to answer and handle an emergency call.
(1) This section applies if an end‑user: (a) uses an emergency telephone service; (b) dials or presses the digits of an emergency service number, in order; and (c) then dials or presses at least 1 more digit. (2) A carriage service provider supplying the emergency telephone service may transfer the call to the announcement for number check.
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls carried using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (2) A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls made using the service which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (3) The steps are to: (a) monitor the number of calls made to the emergency service numbers 000 and 112, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to identify high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service that are likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; (b) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to stop non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (a); (c) cooperate with the emergency call person and emergency service organisations to identify the source of non-genuine calls that are not likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; and (d) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to minimise non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (c). (4) Before giving a direction under paragraph 1(b) or 2(b), the ACMA must: (a) consult with the carrier or carriage service provider concerned; and (b) have regard to any submissions made by the carrier or carriage service provider. (5) A carrier or carriage service provider who is given a direction under this section may ask the ACMA to reconsider the decision (reconsideration request). (6) A reconsideration request must: (a) be in writing; (b) be given to the ACMA within 14 days of the day on which the carrier or carriage service provider received the direction; and (c) include reasons for the request. (7) Upon receiving a reconsideration request the ACMA must, within 28 days: (a) reconsider the decision; and (b) affirm, vary or revoke the direction. (8) The ACMA must give written notice of its decision under subsection (7) and if the decision is to affirm or vary the primary decision, the notice must include: (a) the reasons for its decision; (b) a statement to the effect that if the carrier or carriage service provider affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the decision so affirmed or varied, the carrier or carriage service provider may, subject to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of the decision; and (c) a statement to the effect that the carrier or carriage service provider may request a statement under section 268 of that Act in relation to the decision so affirmed or varied. (9) The carrier or carriage service provider concerned may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal to review a decision of a kind referred to in subsection (5) if the ACMA has affirmed or varied the decision under subsection (7).
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must, as far as practicable, stop or minimise the number of non-genuine emergency registrations using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
This Division applies to a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
A carriage service provider must give each end‑user of the service access to emergency call services free of charge.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider must not charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for an emergency service organisation to be charged, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation. (2) However, the provider may charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for it to be charged, for a service mentioned in subsection (1) if: (a) the emergency service organisation agrees with the provider for the service to be supplied at a level significantly higher than the level of service provided to most emergency service organisations; and (b) the provider’s charge for the service relates only to the higher level of service.
Note: Examples: Methods used to provide significantly higher levels of service include:
(a) network based queueing facilities;
(b) capabilities for multiple site call splaying and overflow; and
(c) redundancy lines.
A carriage service provider must not charge, or arrange to charge, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation.
(1) This subdivision does not apply to a carriage service provider if the provider is prohibited or prevented from giving an end‑user access to an emergency call service because of something required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law.
Note: Example: Things required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law include:
(a) A carrier or carriage service provider has acted, in good faith, under subsection 313(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to prevent its networks or facilities from being used in, or in relation to, the commission of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.
(b) A carriage service provider has received a request from a police force or service under section 315 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to suspend the service.
(c) A carrier or carriage service provider that manages a telecommunications network or facility has disconnected customer equipment or customer cabling from that network or facility under subsection 447(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 because of its honest belief that the equipment or cabling was, or was likely to be, a threat to the integrity of the network or facility.
(2) This subdivision does not apply if: (a) a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to give an end-user access to the emergency call service; or (b) the emergency telephone service used to make the emergency call is an exempt satellite service.
Note: Matters beyond the control of a carriage service provider which may materially and adversely affect a provider’s technical ability to give an end‑user access to an emergency call service include:
(a) Failure of customer equipment or network equipment at the premises of the customer for that service because of a mains power outage, interference with or misuse of customer equipment or network equipment by end‑users, or wear and tear.
(b) Failure of in‑building wiring because of physical damage at the customer’s premises.
(c) Failure of an access line because of damage or interference caused by a third party or by environmental factors.
(d) Failure due to access to an emergency call service being barred on the customer equipment by the customer.
(e) Failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of a denial of service attack where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such an attack.
Before a carriage service provider first supplies an exempt satellite service to a customer, the provider must notify the customer in writing that the service cannot be used to make an emergency call.
A carriage service provider must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities give an end‑user access to emergency call services whether or not a number is currently issued to the end‑user in relation to a service.
Note: The provider is subject to the requirement even if a relevant controlled network or controlled facility is owned or operated by a carrier. A carrier must be prepared to assist a provider to comply with this requirement — see section 8.
(1) If: (a) a carriage service provider supplies an emergency telephone service; and (b) an end user makes an emergency call on the service using the emergency service number 000, the carriage service provider must give the end user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112. (2) If an end-user uses the emergency service number 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service, the carriage service provider who supplies the service must give the end-user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
(1) This section applies if: (a) an end‑user uses the emergency service number 112 on a satellite service; and (b) the customer equipment used to supply the satellite service is capable of being used to access a public mobile telecommunications service. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the satellite service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
If an end‑user uses the emergency service number 106 on a carriage service that is a standard telephone service as described in subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the carriage service provider must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Note 1: Calls can be made to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106 in a way that includes a text component. Technology currently available for making calls with a text component includes:
(a) teletypewriters (TTY); and
(b) a telecommunications device for the deaf.
Note 2: Other technology may, in time, become available as a form of standard telephone service within the meaning of the Act and this Determination. This Determination will apply to that technology.
(1) This section applies if an end-user uses the emergency service number 106 on a satellite service that is technically capable of carrying a call using that emergency service number. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Part 2—Requirements for carriers and carriage service providers
A carrier must ensure that it has written arrangements in place for: (a) dealing with emergency calls that the carrier may be required to carry; and (b) doing everything reasonably necessary to ensure that carriage service providers using the carrier’s controlled networks or controlled facilities are able to comply with their obligations under this Determination.
A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must have written arrangements in place that enable the provider to comply with the requirements imposed by this Determination in relation to emergency calls made using the service.
Examples:
(a) Procedures that enable calls made to an emergency service number to be delivered to an emergency call service in accordance with this Determination.
(b) Arrangements ensuring that calls made using a telecommunications device for the deaf to the emergency service number 106 are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(c) Agreements with any other carrier or carriage service provider whose carriage service, controlled network or controlled facility is required for the delivery of emergency calls in accordance with this Determination.
(d) Arrangements to ensure that calls made using a satellite service, other than an exempt satellite service, are delivered to the relevant emergency call person.
(1) In this section, provider 1 is a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service. (2) A carrier must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that the carrier controls them, or has reasonable access to them. (3) A carriage service provider (provider 2) must provide provider 1 with access to controlled carriage services, controlled networks and controlled facilities: (a) to the extent necessary to enable provider 1 to comply with this Determination; and (b) to the extent that provider 2 controls them, or has reasonable access to them.
(1) Carriers and carriage service providers must maintain, as far as practicable, the proper and effective functioning of their controlled networks and their controlled facilities that are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service. (2) Carriers and carriage service providers must: (a) ensure that their controlled networks which are used for the carriage of emergency calls to the emergency call service have diversity and redundancy; or (b) have written arrangements in place with other carriers or carriage service providers to carry emergency calls made using their controlled networks or controlled facilities in circumstances where the first mentioned carrier or carriage service providers’ controlled network or controlled facility is unable to carry the calls. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) is intended to limit subsection (1).
(1) This subdivision does not apply to a carriage service provider if the provider is prohibited or prevented from giving an end‑user access to an emergency call service because of something required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law.
Note: Example: Things required by, or authorised under, a Commonwealth, State or Territory law include:
(a) A carrier or carriage service provider has acted, in good faith, under subsection 313(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to prevent its networks or facilities from being used in, or in relation to, the commission of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.
(b) A carriage service provider has received a request from a police force or service under section 315 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to suspend the service.
(c) A carrier or carriage service provider that manages a telecommunications network or facility has disconnected customer equipment or customer cabling from that network or facility under subsection 447(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 because of its honest belief that the equipment or cabling was, or was likely to be, a threat to the integrity of the network or facility.
(2) This subdivision does not apply if: (a) a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to give an end-user access to the emergency call service; or (b) the emergency telephone service used to make the emergency call is an exempt satellite service.
Note: Matters beyond the control of a carriage service provider which may materially and adversely affect a provider’s technical ability to give an end‑user access to an emergency call service include:
(a) Failure of customer equipment or network equipment at the premises of the customer for that service because of a mains power outage, interference with or misuse of customer equipment or network equipment by end‑users, or wear and tear.
(b) Failure of in‑building wiring because of physical damage at the customer’s premises.
(c) Failure of an access line because of damage or interference caused by a third party or by environmental factors.
(d) Failure due to access to an emergency call service being barred on the customer equipment by the customer.
(e) Failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of a denial of service attack where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such an attack.
Before a carriage service provider first supplies an exempt satellite service to a customer, the provider must notify the customer in writing that the service cannot be used to make an emergency call.
A carriage service provider must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities give an end‑user access to emergency call services whether or not a number is currently issued to the end‑user in relation to a service.
Note: The provider is subject to the requirement even if a relevant controlled network or controlled facility is owned or operated by a carrier. A carrier must be prepared to assist a provider to comply with this requirement — see section 8.
(1) If: (a) a carriage service provider supplies an emergency telephone service; and (b) an end user makes an emergency call on the service using the emergency service number 000, the carriage service provider must give the end user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112. (2) If an end-user uses the emergency service number 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service, the carriage service provider who supplies the service must give the end-user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
(1) This section applies if: (a) an end‑user uses the emergency service number 112 on a satellite service; and (b) the customer equipment used to supply the satellite service is capable of being used to access a public mobile telecommunications service. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the satellite service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
If an end‑user uses the emergency service number 106 on a carriage service that is a standard telephone service as described in subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the carriage service provider must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
Note 1: Calls can be made to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106 in a way that includes a text component. Technology currently available for making calls with a text component includes:
(a) teletypewriters (TTY); and
(b) a telecommunications device for the deaf.
Note 2: Other technology may, in time, become available as a form of standard telephone service within the meaning of the Act and this Determination. This Determination will apply to that technology.
(1) This section applies if an end-user uses the emergency service number 106 on a satellite service that is technically capable of carrying a call using that emergency service number. (2) The carriage service provider supplying the service must give the end‑user access to the emergency call service operated by the emergency call person for 106.
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service other than an exempt satellite service must ensure that an emergency call made using the service is carried to the relevant termination point for the call: (a) on the provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the relevant termination point for the call— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a carrier must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities are configured to carry an emergency call on its network to the relevant termination point for the call. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider or carrier materially and adversely affects the provider’s or carrier’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the relevant termination point.
Note: An example of a matter that may be beyond the carrier’s control includes a failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of non-genuine emergency registrations on a mobile network where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such registrations. Other examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the emergency call is made from a mobile phone that is not configured to be able to access the emergency call service.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider who supplies a carriage service to an emergency service organisation (ESO service provider) must ensure that an emergency call transferred to the organisation by a call taker is carried from the relevant transfer point to the ESO answering point: (a) on the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the ESO service provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the emergency service organisation— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if a matter beyond the control of the ESO service provider materially and adversely affects the provider’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the ESO answering point.
Note: Examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(3) In this section:
ESO answering point means the point in the network of the ESO service provider at which an emergency service organisation is able to answer an emergency call transferred to the organisation.
relevant transfer point means:
(1) This section applies if an end‑user makes an emergency call using the emergency service number 000 or 112. (2) The carriage service provider who carries the call must, if the call is carried within its network, ensure that the call is transferred to the relevant termination point with the highest priority.
This Division applies to: (a) a carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or a controlled facility used to carry an emergency call; and (b) a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
This section applies where an emergency call is made to the emergency service number 000, 112 or 106. Subject to subsection (3):
(a) a carrier must, as far as practicable, ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility used to carry the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically carry information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point; and
(b) a carriage service provider must, as far as practicable, ensure that the emergency telephone service used to make the call will, at the time the call is made, automatically transfer information about the public number from which the call is made to the relevant termination point.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if: (a) the end‑user has made the call using the emergency service number 000 or 112 on a public mobile telecommunications service; and (b) the carrier or carriage service provider is unable to identify the public number from which the call is made. (4) The carrier or carriage service provider must also ensure that the controlled network or controlled facility, or the emergency telephone service, automatically carries the most precise location information available at the time the call is made, to the relevant termination point.
(1) This section applies if an emergency service organisation asks a carriage service provider to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation. (2) The carriage service provider must give the organisation as much of the requested information as possible, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 imposes requirements on carriage service providers, carriers and emergency call persons to protect the confidentiality of certain information. Those requirements are subject to a number of exceptions on the use or disclosure of specified information or documents, including section 286 of that Act which relates to calls to an emergency service number.
(1) If an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to provide information about the location of an emergency call: (a) that originated from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility at the time the emergency call was made; (b) that has been transferred to the emergency service organisation; and (c) where the emergency service organisation is unable to identify the location of the caller, the carrier must give the emergency service organisation the most precise location information available about the location of the customer equipment from which the emergency call originated, as soon as practicable after the request is received.
Note: Circumstances in which the most precise location information may not be available to a carrier include instances where the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number.
(2) If: (a) an emergency service organisation asks a carrier to give it information about an emergency call that has been transferred to the organisation; and (b) the emergency call did not originate from customer equipment connected to the carrier’s controlled network or controlled facility, the carrier must notify the emergency service organisation immediately and take all reasonable steps to assist the emergency service organisation in identifying the owner or operator of the controlled network or controlled facility to which the customer equipment, from which the emergency call originated, was connected. (3) A carrier must ensure that: (a) emergency service organisations are able to request information from the carrier about emergency calls transferred to the organisation, at all times; (b) emergency service organisations are provided with a designated contact and telephone number to which requests for information can be made, or a specified process to be followed when such requests are made; and (c) all requests received are processed without delay.
(1) A carriage service provider must ensure that: (a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112 is informed of the provider’s correct contact details including business address, contact telephone numbers and email address; (b) a person is always available to answer at least one telephone number provided under paragraph (a); and (c) a person is available to respond to email requests sent to the address provided under paragraph (a) at all times. (2) If a carriage service provider’s contact details provided in accordance with subsection (1) change, the provider must: (a) provide updated contact details to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 by the end of the next business day after the change occurs; and (b) ensure that the previous contact details of the carriage service provider remain active at least until the updated contact details have been provided to the emergency call person. (3) If the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106 contacts a carriage service provider on the contact details provided under this section on a matter relating to the emergency call service, the provider must respond immediately to the contact made by the emergency call person. Note: Section 54 requires the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to share information that is provided to it under this section with the emergency call person for 106.
(1) A carriage service provider must, as soon as practicable after: (a) becoming aware of a major outage that adversely affects a controlled network or controlled facility that the provider owns or operates; or (b) being notified of a major outage under section 8 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024, undertake, or arrange to be undertaken, a welfare check on an end-user who made an unsuccessful emergency call during the outage using an emergency telephone service supplied by the carriage service provider. Note: The Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 may be accessed free of charge from the Federal Register of Legislation. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where: (a) the carriage service provider cannot identify that the end-user has made the unsuccessful emergency call; (b) the carriage service provider is satisfied that the end-user subsequently made a successful emergency call; or (c) the end-user made the unsuccessful call using a public mobile telecommunications service, and the carriage service provider, as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the unsuccessful emergency call, identifies that the location of the customer equipment from which the call was made has changed since the call was made.
If there is a disruption to the emergency call service, carriers and carriage service providers must cooperate as far as practicable with the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to: (a) enable end-users to access the emergency call service; and (b) enable an emergency call person to answer and handle an emergency call.
(1) This section applies if an end‑user: (a) uses an emergency telephone service; (b) dials or presses the digits of an emergency service number, in order; and (c) then dials or presses at least 1 more digit. (2) A carriage service provider supplying the emergency telephone service may transfer the call to the announcement for number check.
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls carried using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (2) A carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service must: (a) as far as practicable, take the steps specified in subsection (3) to stop or minimise the number of non-genuine calls made using the service which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112; and (b) take any additional steps that the ACMA directs in writing should be taken for this section. (3) The steps are to: (a) monitor the number of calls made to the emergency service numbers 000 and 112, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to identify high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service that are likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; (b) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to stop non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (a); (c) cooperate with the emergency call person and emergency service organisations to identify the source of non-genuine calls that are not likely to cause a disruption to the emergency call service; and (d) document and implement a process between the emergency call person, carriers and carriage service providers to minimise non-genuine calls of the type referred to in paragraph (c). (4) Before giving a direction under paragraph 1(b) or 2(b), the ACMA must: (a) consult with the carrier or carriage service provider concerned; and (b) have regard to any submissions made by the carrier or carriage service provider. (5) A carrier or carriage service provider who is given a direction under this section may ask the ACMA to reconsider the decision (reconsideration request). (6) A reconsideration request must: (a) be in writing; (b) be given to the ACMA within 14 days of the day on which the carrier or carriage service provider received the direction; and (c) include reasons for the request. (7) Upon receiving a reconsideration request the ACMA must, within 28 days: (a) reconsider the decision; and (b) affirm, vary or revoke the direction. (8) The ACMA must give written notice of its decision under subsection (7) and if the decision is to affirm or vary the primary decision, the notice must include: (a) the reasons for its decision; (b) a statement to the effect that if the carrier or carriage service provider affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the decision so affirmed or varied, the carrier or carriage service provider may, subject to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of the decision; and (c) a statement to the effect that the carrier or carriage service provider may request a statement under section 268 of that Act in relation to the decision so affirmed or varied. (9) The carrier or carriage service provider concerned may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal to review a decision of a kind referred to in subsection (5) if the ACMA has affirmed or varied the decision under subsection (7).
(1) A carrier who owns or operates a controlled network or controlled facility used to carry emergency calls, must, as far as practicable, stop or minimise the number of non-genuine emergency registrations using its networks or facilities which are received by the emergency call person for 000 and 112.
This Division applies to a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service.
A carriage service provider must give each end‑user of the service access to emergency call services free of charge.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a carriage service provider must not charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for an emergency service organisation to be charged, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation. (2) However, the provider may charge an emergency service organisation, or arrange for it to be charged, for a service mentioned in subsection (1) if: (a) the emergency service organisation agrees with the provider for the service to be supplied at a level significantly higher than the level of service provided to most emergency service organisations; and (b) the provider’s charge for the service relates only to the higher level of service.
Note: Examples: Methods used to provide significantly higher levels of service include:
(a) network based queueing facilities;
(b) capabilities for multiple site call splaying and overflow; and
(c) redundancy lines.
A carriage service provider must not charge, or arrange to charge, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 or the emergency call person for 106, directly or indirectly, for any of the following services: (a) a carriage service used to connect calls using an emergency service number; (b) a carriage service used to transfer such calls to an emergency service organisation; or (c) a carriage service used to give information in relation to such calls to an emergency service organisation.
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a carriage service provider who supplies an emergency telephone service other than an exempt satellite service must ensure that an emergency call made using the service is carried to the relevant termination point for the call: (a) on the provider’s telecommunications network; or (b) if the provider’s telecommunications network does not allow direct delivery to the relevant termination point for the call— by another telecommunications network. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a carrier must ensure that its controlled networks and controlled facilities are configured to carry an emergency call on its network to the relevant termination point for the call. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if a matter beyond the control of the carriage service provider or carrier materially and adversely affects the provider’s or carrier’s technical ability to carry the emergency call to the relevant termination point.
Note: An example of a matter that may be beyond the carrier’s control includes a failure of a controlled network or controlled facility because of non-genuine emergency registrations on a mobile network where reasonable measures have been taken to minimise the impact of such registrations. Other examples of matters that may be beyond the provider’s control are described in the note to subsection 12(2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the emergency call is made from a mobile phone that is not configured to be able to access the emergency call service.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
This Determination is the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.
This Determination is made under subsection 147(1) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
(1) For subsection 147(1) of the Act, this Determination imposes requirements on: (a) carriers; (b) carriage service providers; (c) emergency call persons; in relation to emergency call services. (2) The objects of this Determination are to: (a) ensure that the highest levels of access, integrity and service continuity of the emergency call service are maintained; (b) ensure that controlled networks and controlled facilities are able to successfully carry emergency calls to the emergency call service; (c) ensure that a carriage service provider, as far as practicable, carries emergency calls in a way that would give an end user of an emergency telephone service the appearance of a single national emergency call system; and (d) ensure that customers who are supplied with an emergency telephone service can make an emergency call.
Note: To achieve these objects this Determination includes provisions which require:
(a) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to detect and prevent high volumes of non-genuine calls to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.5 and 3.3);
(b) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to supply the most precise location information available for emergency calls to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.3 and 3.4);
(c) carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons to coordinate communications where there is a disruption to the emergency call service (see Divisions 2.4 and 3.5);
(d) carriers and carriage service providers to take measures to ensure mobile phones are able to access the emergency call service and calls are delivered to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 (see Part 4 and Division 5.1);
(e) carriers to provide and share information during an outage and prior to proposed changes to operations or networks that will impact the delivery of calls to the emergency call person for 000 and 112 (see Divisions 5.2 and 5.3); and
(f) carriers, carriage service providers and the emergency call person for 000 and 112 to follow protocols during and after a major outage (see Part 6 and Schedule 1).
It prohibits charging emergency service organisations and emergency call persons for routine carriage/transfer of emergency calls, and requires emergency access be free for end users. See sections 33–35 and 58–59.
It makes specific rules for mobile contexts: obligations to test emergency call handling, to support “emergency call camp on” (a handset can camp onto another operator’s network to place an emergency call), to wilt (disable) a base station that has lost connectivity in certain circumstances, and to share outage data in real time during major or significant local outages. See Part 4 (sections 61–71) and Part 5 (sections 72–79, 73–75).
It imposes consumer‑facing duties on CSPs when selling or provisioning mobile phones: identify whether a handset can access emergency calls on the provider’s network and (if it cannot) notify and refuse or later cease supply to that device with warning timelines; includes an exception for short‑term foreign travellers. See sections 64–71.
It requires record keeping and quarterly reporting of detailed call statistics by emergency call persons, and reporting/after‑action reporting by carriers after major outages (including an “Outcomes Plan”). See sections 60 and 79.
It requires management plans and advance notice for planned, significant changes to network architecture likely to affect emergency call carriage (e.g. decommissioning a technology generation). See section 80.
It creates a structured protocol for responses to disruptions (Schedule 1 / Disruption Protocols) and sets administrative processes for ACMA directions and reconsideration/tribunal review where ACMA gives directions (for example about blocking steps). See section 31(4)–(9), 50(4)–(9), and Schedule 1 (81).
Who this affects
Carriers (network owners/operators) — must build in network diversity/redundancy, test emergency call paths, wilt base stations when connectivity is lost, share outage information, submit management plans for significant changes, and comply with disruption protocols. (Sections 8–11, 73–80.)
Carriage service providers (retail telcos, MVNOs, device sellers) — must ensure end users can place emergency calls, have written procedures, detect and refuse to supply devices that cannot access emergency services, support welfare checks after outages, and keep contact details and cooperate. (Sections 9, 14, 28, 64–71.)
Emergency call persons (organisations operating 000/112 and 106) — must operate call handling to set standards, play announcements, share location and caller data to emergency services, run welfare checks during disruptions, keep records and may block suspicious call traffic. (Divisions 3.1–3.7: 36–60, especially 40–55, 50, 50A.)
Emergency service organisations (police, fire, ambulance, State/Territory services) — recipients of call transfers and of outage information; they receive extra operational data in real time during outages. (Sections 24–26, 78.)
End users / customers — enjoy free access to emergency calls and protections (e.g. welfare checks for unsuccessful emergency calls during outages), but may be prevented from buying or kept on notice about mobile phones that cannot access emergency calls. (Sections 33, 28, 64–69.)
Why it matters (stated purpose, and testing that purpose against costs, incentives and trade‑offs)
Stated purpose (section 5): to maintain high access, integrity and continuity of emergency call services; to ensure controlled networks/facilities can carry emergency calls; to present, so far as practicable, a single national emergency call system; and to make sure customers can make emergency calls.
How the instrument advances those aims (mechanics → incentives):
Visibility and coordination: carriers must share real‑time outage information with emergency call persons, ESOs and agencies (section 78). That improves situational awareness but increases operational reporting costs and requires carriers to have processes and personnel ready to share frequent updates (every six hours initially).
Resilience requirements: diversity/redundancy or contractual fall‑over (section 11) plus mandatory management plans for significant changes (section 80) push carriers to design for continuity. This supports long‑term availability but imposes capital and planning costs and may slow technology change (carriers must plan 6 months ahead and implement mitigation steps).
Mobile‑specific rules: emergency camp‑on, base station wilting and testing obligations (sections 73–75) preserve emergency access in degraded conditions. They can increase operational complexity (e.g. coordination between multiple core networks) and create edge cases where wilting or blocking could unintentionally prevent legitimate calls if misapplied (implementation risk).
Reducing non‑genuine calls: monitoring and blocking powers (sections 31, 50, 50A) give emergency operators and network owners tools to stop attacks or floods. That reduces denial‑of‑service risk but creates risk of false positives — legitimate calls/registrations might be blocked unless safeguards and oversight (ACMA consultation and review rights) are effective.
Consumer protection vs commercial friction: CSPs must refuse or later cease supply to devices that cannot access emergency calls and must assist financially vulnerable customers to obtain compliant handsets (sections 64–70). This shifts consumer protection costs to providers and may restrict some low‑cost device markets (IoT data‑only devices, some imported handsets), but the rule is explicitly targeted at devices that cannot reach emergency services.
Privacy and data sharing: emergency call persons and carriers are required to share caller location, public number and customer name to emergency services when available (sections 23, 25, 51). Those disclosures are confined by existing privacy/confidentiality provisions in the Telecommunications Act (noted in the Determination) but operationalisation requires secure, audited flows — an implementation and privacy‑governance cost.
Administrative burdens and enforcement: carriers/CSPs and emergency call persons must keep detailed daily/monthly records and submit quarterly/after‑outage reports (sections 60, 79). Compliance requires investment in logging, staffing and audit trails; ACMA directions and review paths create an administrative enforcement regime.
Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: the most concentrated beneficiaries are emergency call operators and emergency services (faster access to location/real‑time outage data). Costs are borne by carriers/CSPs (network upgrades, monitoring, reporting) and potentially by some device manufacturers/sellers (restrictions and notification duties).
Unintended consequences / substitution effects to watch for (mechanism‑based):
Carriers may accelerate decommissioning older technologies only after more extensive management planning to avoid the 6‑month planning friction (section 80).
Blocking tools to manage non‑genuine calls could be used aggressively and temporarily degrade access for legitimate users unless ACMA oversight and reconsideration mechanisms function smoothly (sections 31, 50 and the reconsideration procedures).
The device‑supply restrictions could shift low‑cost sales to less‑regulated channels or to data‑only devices that fall outside some definitions — the Determination does exclude certain IoT data‑only services explicitly, but boundaries will require operational interpretation (definitions around mobile phone and IoT). See definitions in section 6 and Parts 4 (61–71).
Key implementation points and risks
Coordination: the Determination depends on rapid cooperation across multiple private parties and two national agencies (ACMA and the Department), and on the IPND Manager supplying reliable location updates (section 53). Misalignment in procedures or data formats risks delays.
Testing and auditability: mandatory testing and monthly/daily record obligations require carriers and emergency call persons to have measurable processes and evidence; failure to maintain records can complicate post‑incident analysis (sections 60, 75, 79).
Oversight and remedies: ACMA has direction powers (e.g. to require additional measures to minimise non‑genuine calls) and affected parties have a route to administrative review, which balances operational discretion with procedural protections (sections 31(4)–(9), 50(4)–(9)).
Select section references (representative, not exhaustive)
In this Determination, unless the contrary intention appears:
ABS Remoteness Structure means the Remoteness Structure described as such in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3, July 2021-June 2026, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Note: The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) divides Australia into five classes of remoteness. The ASGS is available, free of charge, on the website of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and could, at the time of the making of this instrument, be accessed at the following website: www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/latest-release.
Act means the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
Alternate Address Flag means the field in the IPND that provides information about whether the physical location of an end‑user may reliably be taken to be at the service address provided to the IPND Manager for the service.
announcement for Caller No Response Calls means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that:
(a) asks the end‑user to dial or press ‘55’ if the end‑user requires emergency assistance; and
(b) if played in full, repeats the request described in paragraph (a) three times.
announcement for emergency calls means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that advises the end‑user that they have made a call to an emergency call service.
Note: announcement for non‑emergency contacts means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that explains how to find any person’s or organisation’s telephone number.
announcement for number check means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that advises the end‑user to check the number.
announcement for State and Territory emergency services means a pre‑recorded voice announcement that includes:
(a) an explanation that a State or Territory emergency service cannot be contacted through the emergency call service; and
(b) information on how to contact a State or Territory emergency service.
business day means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday in the place concerned.
Caller No Response Call means a call made to an emergency service number by an end‑user who, when asked at least twice by the call‑taker if police, fire or ambulance is required, has not responded, or has not indicated in another way, that police, fire or ambulance is required.
call‑taker means an individual who responds to a call made to an emergency service number on behalf of:
(a) the emergency call person for 000 and 112; or
(b) the emergency call person for 106.
Note: The emergency service numbers are defined by section 466 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency service numbers were 000, 106 and 112.
common system means the processing system used by the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106 to identify the relevant emergency service organisation to which an emergency call should be transferred and to transfer an emergency call to that emergency service organisation with the required information about the caller.
core network means the part of the telecommunications network that is not the customer access network.
customer access network means that part of the telecommunications network that allows end-users to connect to the local switch, base station, node or exchange.
default CLI means the default calling line identification (CLI) for a call that is provided by the telecommunications network from which the call originated, where:
denial of service attack means an attack or attempted attack on a telecommunications network involving the use of Internet traffic (or packets) to deny end-users access to the emergency call service.
Disruption Protocols means the protocols set out in Schedule 1.
disruption to the emergency call service means the situation where due to an incident or series of incidents, an emergency call person is unable to answer, handle or transfer an emergency call.
Note: An ECS disablement event is an example of an incident that can lead to a disruption to the emergency call service.
diversity means ensuring that a telecommunications network has two or more independent connections that:
(a) route between any two points over more than one geographic or physical path; and
(b) have no common points of connection along the way, with the exception of the end points.
ECS disablement event means an incident (whether deliberate or not) that results in a disruption to the emergency call service and may include:
(a) unauthorised impairment of communications;
(b) equipment programming errors which result in a high volume of non-genuine calls being made to the emergency call service; or
(c) a denial of service attack.
emergency call means a call made to an emergency service number, during which a response is sought from an emergency service organisation to deal with a time‑critical event:
(a) that is perceived to threaten life; or
(b) that the organisation is established to respond to.
emergency call camp on functionality means the mobile phone-initiated function that enables a mobile phone end-user, in cases where the end-user cannot access the emergency call service using the end-user’s usual carrier’s mobile network, to access another carrier’s mobile network that is available and within range to connect the end-user’s mobile phone to the emergency call service.
Note: Emergency call camp on functionality may occur when an end-user’s mobile phone is out of range from its usual carrier’s mobile network or the end-user’s usual carrier’s mobile network is unavailable for some other reason.
emergency call person for 000 and 112 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service numbers 000 and 112.
Note: At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 was Telstra.
emergency call person for 106 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service number 106.
Note: At the commencement of this Determination, the emergency call person for 106 was Concentrix Services Pty Ltd (ACN 166 171 991).
emergency registration means the process by which a mobile device attaches to a public mobile telecommunications network for the purpose of making an emergency call to the emergency service number 000 or 112.
emergency service organisation has the meaning given by subsection 147(11) of the Act.
emergency telephone service means any of the following:
(a) a standard telephone service;
(b) a public mobile telecommunications service:
(i) that is not a standard telephone service;
(ii) that enables the carriage of an emergency call; and
(iii) for which the customer equipment used to make the call does not provide a unique customer identifying number to the carriage service provider.
end‑user’s State or Territory means the State or Territory from which the call is being made, according to the information available to the call‑taker.
exempt satellite service means a satellite service that:
(a) is supplied to a non-handheld satellite device;
(b) is a satellite service supplied by means of a satellite owned, controlled or operated by Inmarsat Global Limited (incorporated in the United Kingdom); and
(c) is not supplied in fulfilment of the universal service obligation.
Note: The expression universal service obligation has the meaning given by section 9 of the Act.
financial hardship customer has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.
fixed local service means a carriage service that:
(a) is supplied by a carriage service provider;
(b) is capable of voice telephony;
(c) is supplied for receiving incoming calls wholly, or principally, at one fixed location which can be identified, from the number called, by the provider of the carriage service used to make the call; and
(d) is located at either:
(i) a switching facility; or
(ii) the premises occupied or used by a customer.
Industry Guideline means:
(a) the guideline titled Location Information for Emergency Calls (G557:2014), published by Communications Alliance Ltd; or
(b) a guideline published by Communications Alliance Ltd that replaces the guideline specified in paragraph (a).
Note: The Industry Guideline consists of five Parts, under the general title Location Information for Emergency Calls. A copy of the guideline could, at the time of making this Determination, be obtained from Communication Alliance Ltd’s website www.commsalliance.com.au free of charge.
internet of things data-only service means a carriage service that:
(a) is only accessible on a carriage service provider’s network;
(b) is used for consumer and enterprise connected internet of things devices and applications; and
(c) only requires access to data (internet protocol and non-internet protocol) services.
internet of things devices means devices and objects with sensors, processing ability, software or other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communication networks.IPND means:
(a) the Integrated Public Number Database provided and maintained by Telstra Limited in accordance with a condition of its carrier licence; or
(b) if the Minister has determined, under subsection 472(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997, that a specified person other than Telstra Limited is to provide and maintain an integrated public number database — that database.
IPND Manager means:
(a) Telstra Limited; or
(b) if the Minister has determined, under subsection 472(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997, that a specified person other than Telstra Limited is to provide and maintain an integrated public number database — that person.
major outage means any unplanned adverse impact to a telecommunications network used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users that:
(a) results in an end-user being unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service; and
(b) affects, or is likely to affect:
(i) 100,000 or more services in operation; or
(ii) all relevant carriage services provided by a carrier or carriage service provider in a State or Territory; and
(c) is expected to be, or is, of a duration longer than 60 minutes.
material change means a change to the scale, geographic area, number or type of relevant carriage services impacted or expected time of restoration of the relevant carriage services affected by a major outage or significant local outage, that is likely to result in a significant increase or decrease in the severity of the outage, or in the time taken to restore the relevant carriage services affected by the outage.
mobile base station means a base station in a mobile network in a fixed location, equipped with one or more antennae, that transmits and receives signals between mobile networks and mobile phones.
mobile network means a telecommunications network that is used principally to supply public mobile telecommunications services.
mobile phone includes a handheld mobile device that is capable of voice communications when connected to, or intended for use in connection with, a mobile network but does not include a device which is capable of using a mobile network that is not ordinarily considered to be a mobile phone such as:
(a) fixed broadband gateways;
(b) internet of things devices;
(c) personal alert devices;
(d) smartwatches; or
(e) tablets.
most precise location information available means the most precise location information that a carriage service provider, carrier or emergency call person has available, about the geographic or physical location of the customer equipment from which an emergency call originated, which includes, at a minimum, the location information specified in the Industry Guideline.
Note: The Industry Guideline provides information about the types of most precise location information that may be available.
National Emergency Management Agency means the body known as the National Emergency Management Agency established by the Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency.
Note: The Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency was an order made under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999 and can be accessed, free of charge, at https://www.legislation.gov.au.
non-genuine call means a call made to an emergency service number that:
(a) is not an emergency call; and
(b) includes but is not limited to:
(i) calls that are vexatious, menacing, harassing, or offensive;
(ii) accidental calls or misdials;
(iii) a call intended by the person making the call to induce a false belief that an emergency exists; or
(iv) calls resulting from an ECS disablement event.
non-genuine emergency registration means an emer
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