WELCOME $55 MILLION BOOST TO STAY CONNECTED DURING DISASTERS

One Gippsland has welcomed a $55 million Federal Government investment to boost mobile connectivity and resilience in areas vulnerable to natural disasters.

The funding will be available under round eight of the Mobile Black Spot Program and target regional and rural Australia prone to natural disasters to improve community safety and assistance during and after emergencies.

One Gippsland spokesperson Cr Scott Rossetti said better mobile services could save lives during disasters.

“Over the past 10 years, Gippsland has endured almost 40 natural disasters, including bushfires, floods and storms,” Cr Rossetti said.

“Gippslanders know disaster-ready services need to be activated at any time and this infrastructure must be resilient and reliable,” Cr Rossetti said.

“One Gippsland has been advocating for ongoing investment and policy shifts to improve telecommunication resilience in our region, so this funding is a welcome start,” Cr Rossetti said.

Councils and parliamentarians can suggest projects or areas needing better coverage. This information will help mobile network operators and infrastructure providers when developing their funding applications.

In its submission to 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review, One Gippsland called for telecommunications to be recognised as an essential service and for providers to be required to meet service continuity standards to prevent prolonged, widespread outages during natural disasters.

The review committee’s report delivered to the Federal Government this week reflected recommendations made in One Gippsland’s submission. These included:

·           continuing to fund existing Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters (STAND) facilities; and

·           minimum backup power periods for new critical telecommunications infrastructure installations in regional, rural and remote Australia.

Cr Rossetti said communication black and grey spots needed to be eliminated to ensure communities across Gippsland were disaster-ready.

“Gippsland is a popular destination with holiday makers and authorities need to reach them to communicate safety messages or warn them of dangers,” Cr Rossetti said.

“Reliable communications is an essential tool in community disaster planning, management and recovery,” Cr Rossetti said.

One Gippsland will continue to make the case for improvements to vital communication services needed to protect our community when disaster strikes,” Cr Rossetti said.

Suggestions for areas or projects to be funded in round eight of the Mobile Black Spot Program can be submitted to a project noticeboard until 7 February, 2025.