About the Emergency Call Service
Regulatory framework
ACMA regulates and monitors the provision of the Emergency Call Service (ECS) under Part 8 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
Emergency Call Persons
The
Telecommunications (Emergency Call Persons) Determination 2019 (the Determination), specifies the operators of the Emergency Call Services. The Determination details the national operators for these numbers.
The Determination recognises Telstra as the Emergency Call Person for Triple Zero (000) and 112. Telstra has responsibility for providing the service which answers calls to these numbers, and transfers them, with relevant associated information, to the requested emergency service organisation.
Under the Determination, the
National Relay Service (NRS) provider has the same responsibility with regard to the emergency service number 106 Text Emergency Relay Service number, for callers who are deaf or who have a hearing or a speech impairment. The provider of the NRS is Concentrix Services Pty Ltd.
The
Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019 sets out obligations on carriers, carriage service providers and the emergency call persons to ensure that they have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls. Access to the Emergency Call Service must be provided free of charge.
The Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts has federal policy responsibility for the Triple Zero Emergency Call Service.
Emergency Service Organisations
It is the responsibility of states and territories to protect the life and property of Australians. Each state and territory has its own Emergency Service Organisations which send Police, Fire and/or Ambulance to emergencies.
After the Emergency Call Person has taken your call they will hand the call to the relevant emergency service organisation. Please stay on the line until you are connected to the emergency service.
A list of emergency service organisations can be found on the
state and territory Emergency Services Organisations page on this site.
The
Department of Home Affairs has federal responsibility for emergency matters, including assisting for state and territory Emergency Service Organisations.