Alice Jordan-Baird
Gorton · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This includes incentives like the Commonwealth Prac Payment, which means students on their mandatory nursing and midwifery placements will be paid for their work, making life easier for our nursing and midwifery students.”
“We took health care to the election, and right across the board we're legislating change. We've capped the cost of PBS-listed medicines at just $25, the lowest it's been since 2004—when I was in primary school—which has seen a saving of more than $14 million in my electorate of Gorton.”
“With competing cost-of-living pressures, these families shouldn't be worrying about the cost of seeing a doctor as well. These families deserve regular access to affordable GP appointments, and that's why this bill matters.”
“Our green and gold Medicare card means opportunity. It means receiving high-quality health care, regardless of your bank balance. I'm so proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is committed to strengthening Medicare for generations to come, and this bill, the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measur…”
“It means that, in Melbourne's western suburbs, people in our community have access to free walk-in care when they need it. With this budget, we're making urgent care clinics like the ones in Melton and Sunshine permanent. Urgent care clinics play a really important role in taking the pressure off our emergency departments.”
“Our introduction of Medicare bulk-billing clinics is really making a huge difference in our communities across the country. I'm really proud to report that, in my community, there are now 24 Medicare bulk-billing practices—up from 13 before our bulk-billing changes were introduced.”
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“Our national mobile network operators—Telstra, Optus and TPG—will, for the first time, need to provide reasonable access to outdoor baseline mobile coverage across Australia on an equitable basis. The amendment bill before us, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, is about recognising the importance of mobile services as essential services and treating them as such. That's because traditional mobile coverage is currently provided in areas where about 99 per cent of Australians work and live but covers only one-third of the Australian landmass. In those areas, of around five million squared kilometres, it is not possible to make a triple zero call. We are making sure that, when it comes to telecommunications, no-one is held back and no-one is left behind.”
“Telecommunications is essential to the lives of every Australian. In 2026 the importance of quality, reliable and affordable mobile services cannot be understated. We rely on mobile phones for connectivity more than ever. Despite that, Australia's longstanding universal service obligation does not include mobile services. For rural and remote parts of Australia, that means no access to something as basic as being able to pick up your phone and dial triple zero during an emergency. The universal outdoor mobile obligation will change that. We are, for the first time, establishing a legislative framework to create a universal outdoor mobile obligation.”
“Our government remains committed to making gender equality a core economic priority. Through significant structural reforms and sustained investments since 2022, the government has strengthened the foundations for lasting change. When everyone feels safe and valued and is able to participate fully in our economy and our society, Australia is stronger, more productive and more resilient. Everyone stands to benefit from reforms that create fairer systems, structures and attitudes. When women are involved in decision-making and policy design, outcomes are better for everyone. I am proud that we are seeing significant structural reforms, and I am proud that we have been putting in sustained investments since 2022—better for men, better for women and better for Australia.”
“The second action plan is guiding a coordinated whole-of-system response across governments, communities, employers, schools, health and justice systems, as well as frontline and prevention services, to identify high-impact solutions to prevent and end violence and hold perpetrators to account, because it takes a whole-of-system approach. We are also investing $182.6 million to deliver the most significant changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years. These changes include historic reforms which will work to reduce the weaponisation of the child support system and protect women and children from financial abuse. Reforms will also help parents navigate the system, improve the accuracy and timeliness of support payments, and crack down on those avoiding their child support obligations.”
“Under the national plan, more than 10,000 victims-survivors have been provided with financial and other supports through the Leaving Violence Program in its first five months of operation. 496 additional frontline staff supporting victims-survivors have been employed across Australia, and $985.7 million in funding has been provided to states and territories to support frontline service delivery. There is no simple solution, but we need to better support women and children who have experienced violence so they can recover. It's about working to prevent and address sexual violence and about activating more systems and more services to intervene at the earliest opportunity to disrupt violence and strengthen safety.”
“As well as the unpaid care roles, women also take on a significant amount of the paid care sector, like childcare and aged-care workers, which is why we've introduced pay rises for early childhood and aged-care workers, stronger minimum wage and award wage settings and important workplace reforms, and it's working. Women are now earning, on average, $290 more a week than in 2022. With an instant $1,000 tax deduction, women are expected to make up 54 per cent of the beneficiaries. Women's safety remains a priority in ending violence against women. To date, the government has invested over $4.4 billion under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022 to 2032.”
“Let me be clear: these changes are positive for the entire household, because, when both parents have access to paid parental leave, it gives the entire family that freedom of choice and opportunity. In the long term, facilitating women in sharing the care burden and returning to work increases overall household earnings. Everyone has a young family in their life who will benefit from this. For me, it's my sister, my sister-in-law and my cousin Hayley from Taylors Hill. Across my community in Melbourne's western suburbs, it's the hundreds of families who are experiencing these changes. It's no coincidence that Australia's first ever gender-equal cabinet has made big steps in confronting the cost-of-living barriers that women face, because, when women are at the table making the decisions, we get better outcomes for women.”
“For Aussie women, this just isn't good enough, and it's why we're expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks from July this year, and it's why we've introduced superannuation to paid parental leave. Thanks to the work of this Labor government, the gender pay gap is sitting at a historic low at 11.5 per cent. We've also expanded eligibility of the three-day guarantee, giving families access to three days a week of subsidised early childhood education and care. This is about relieving women of the primary care burden and giving women that opportunity to return to work. We've already seen more than one million families benefit from cheaper childcare investments.”
“That means we're a young community, a community full of families and a growing community as well. When babies come along into a family's life, women take breaks from work. Historically, women have taken on the burden of unpaid care. About 68 per cent of primary carers are women, taking long career breaks to take on the unpaid household labour, and it means women earn less. It means women face more obstacles towards career progression and a loss of future earning potential, and it means women retire with less super. The gender super gap is about $50,000 for Australians nearing retirement, and my electorate of Gordon is amongst the highest Victorian electorates for unpaid super.”
“Thanks to this Labor government, more than 380,000 women have accessed new, cheaper contraceptives in their first year on the PBS. More than 430,000 women have accessed new menopausal therapies. We have opened 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across the country, including in Melbourne's western suburbs, in Werribee. And 100,000 people have received a new menopause and perimenopause health assessment. It's all part of this Labor government's health package, including the opening of urgent care clinics in my community in Sunshine and Melton. With this budget we are making our urgent care clinics permanent. It's because we know that women's health care matters. In my electorate, the suburbs of Rockbank, Aintree and Truganina have the second-highest birth rate in greater Melbourne.”
“With our Women's Budget Statement, we continue to carve out change for Australian women by making sure to evaluate the impacts the budget measures will have on Aussie women and reporting on significant progress towards gender equality since 2022. The Women's Budget Statement is an essential part of ensuring gender equality is at the core of our economic agenda. Let me tell you a little bit about the impacts our budget will have on Aussie women. At the heart of our Labor government is greater opportunity for women by investing in women's health outcomes, closing the gender pay gap and delivering cost-of-living relief. When it comes to women's health, for too long not enough has been known about women's pain and conditions like endometriosis, and not enough has been done. We're changing that.”
“I stand here today on the backs of Aussie women who have worked hard for the rights and opportunities that I and all Australian women are afforded today. I'm really proud to follow my friend, the member for Lalor, a wonderful representative for women in Melbourne's western suburbs. I stand here alongside a majority female Labor caucus—the largest female representation in any government in Australian history. We are led by Australia's first gender-equal cabinet. We are a government that wants to give women choice and opportunity, safety and security and financial independence. It's not just something we talk about; it's something we act on. Back in the eighties, Labor introduced the world's first Women's Budget Statement. The Libs cut it, and in 2022 the Albanese Labor government brought it back.”
“My question is to the Minister for Housing. How is the Albanese Labor government helping Australians across the country to get into a home of their own? Are there any other approaches to housing policy?”
“What our government wants is something simple: for young people to get a fair go at owning their own home, because, right now, it's easier to buy your 10th house than your first, and that's just not right. Our budget is backing first home buyers and levelling the playing field at auctions, like with five per cent deposits for first home buyers. In my electorate of Gorton, over 3,000 people have bought their first home thanks to our five per cent deposit scheme. It's changing lives and it's doing this for families right across the country. And, to make housing more affordable, we need to build more homes. Young Aussies don't want to pay rent forever. We want more sold stickers across our communities, put there by young Australians.”
“I'm a proud millennial. I speak the language of the Veronicas, Round the Twist , Twilight and too many peace signs. But, like every young person in this country, I know that our housing system is cooked. In 1980, the average home cost about three times the annual income and took three years to save for. In 2000, it cost about four times the annual income and took seven years to save for. But, today, your first home costs eight times the annual income. It takes 11 years to save for. And first home buyers face the reality that they may never pay off their mortgage. Young Aussies have got a housing system that is stacked against them. They're doing the right thing—studying, picking up a trade, working hard and saving—yet, still, they get to auctions and are outbid by investors next to them who are backed by the Australian taxpayer.”
“The NDIS lacked basic prevention controls for fraud and noncompliance. We acted fast, investing $550 million into tackling fraud and noncompliance and passing the 'getting the NDIS back on track' act. While those opposite put reform in the too-hard basket, we're doing the real work to secure the future of the NDIS. We're making sure the scheme works for the participants it is designed for, not against them. Here we're continuing our work to crack down on fraud and noncompliance by dodgy providers. It'll mean better outcomes for people with disabilities and their families. When Labor introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it wasn't about providers taking advantage of vulnerable people; the NDIS is about dignity, and that's what this bill is here to protect.”
“This bill is about tackling fraud and rorts, slowing rapid cost increases, providing clearer eligibility requirements and delivering quality services and support for participants, all so that we can return the NDIS to its original intent. The NDIS is a lifeline for Australians with permanent and significant disability, and, if we want it to continue to be one for future generations, these changes are necessary. Let me be clear: these reforms being debated today are because of a Labor government that is addressing these issues and putting these changes forward. Under the previous coalition government, these sorts of behaviours went unchecked. When Labor came to government in 2022, we inherited a system that was not ready to meet the challenges of the future. We inherited a total mess.”
“The providers then allegedly drained the participants' plans while not providing the standard of care that was expected. This conduct should outrage us all. For vulnerable Australians to be taken advantage of in this way is absolutely disgusting. Amendments provided in this bill will also provide the NDIA with new functions to allow it to investigate criminal activity and amend certain information-gathering powers. This is to make sure that information obtained by the NDIA CEO from participants and prospective participants can be used as part of those investigations, and it will require providers, nominees and participants to retain records relating to the provision of supports. Providers who don't comply with this will be met with a civil penalty. All of these amendments have one thing in common: securing the NDIS for future generations.”
“This is about justice—justice for participants who have been taken advantage of—and we are sending a clear message to fraudulent service providers: dodgy behaviour will not be tolerated. Breaches to the NDIS Code of Conduct may include providers failing to safeguard a participant from harm or breaching a participant's privacy, and punishments for providers whose breach often involves a significant failure or involves a systemic pattern of conduct will be increased. The code of conduct is central to ensuring that participants can access the quality of care they deserve, so we are strengthening it. This comes after reports of dodgy NDIS providers intimidating participants to change service providers and reports of providers trying to attract participants with offers of alcohol, tobacco or cash.”
“Provider registration is also an important element of our government's changes. This bill expands categories of mandatory registration to include the higher-risk activities. That means that personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings will be required to register as a provider. It's more oversight and more enforcement. For NDIS participants, it's about safety; for providers, it's about accountability. Our changes are also ensuring that providers who do the wrong thing will face harsher penalties. We're introducing new offences, stronger civil and criminal penalties for misconduct and giving the NDIS commissioner more powers to punish providers, because NDIS participants and their loved ones deserve quality care.”
“It's about giving our kids the best possible start in life without forcing families to navigate the exhausting NDIS-or-nothing battle we see too often. We have service providers in my electorate of Gorton as well as right across the country working hard to support NDIS participants and doing the right thing. But we also know there are service providers out there who are behaving fraudulently and that there are breaches of the code of conduct in the system. Where we see fraud, too often we also see violence, abuse and neglect. The bill makes practical changes to crack down on fraud and misconduct by dodgy NDIS providers. This bill will tackle fraud and compliance issues within the NDIS by providing the NDIA with the necessary powers to provide stronger safeguards for participants and improve integrity of the scheme.”
“This report has a specific recommendation about transitions, to help children transition into early education, from early education into primary education or from primary education into higher education, as appropriate. By increasing funding and resources to already existing organisations who can deliver through a hub-and-spoke system, these supports can be made more readily available and therefore can improve equitable access for these children and their families, thereby ensuring that cost and distance are not a barrier. This is a model that is better suited to children with mild to moderate developmental delay and intends to provide more appropriate supports than the lengthy and individualised NDIS model.”
“They say that the system is confusing and hard to navigate, and the supports they're receiving from the NDIS just aren't targeted enough. The harsh reality is that these children are falling through the cracks. Intervention is simply not happening early enough. I'm proud to have been involved in the parliamentary inquiry report into the proposed Thriving Kids program as part of my role on the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability. We heard from experts, peak bodies, parents, families, providers, participants and those with lived experience, and I'd like to thank every single organisation and person who took the time and care to put in a submission to our report.”
“Our Thriving Kids initiative is intended to address the missing middle—children age 8 and under with developmental delay, disability and low to moderate support needs. These were not the participants with a profound disability who the NDIS was originally designed for. Nonetheless, they need adequate supports. One in five young children experience developmental delay or autism, mostly at mild to moderate levels. A school in my electorate told me that one in four of their students are NDIS participants, most of which are with developmental delay or autism at mild to moderate levels. If you speak to families in my electorate or families facing similar challenges across the country, they'll tell you the current system isn't working for them. They're waiting years for specialist appointments.”
“Closer to home, a number of constituents in my electorate of Gorton receive life-changing support from the NDIS. For people with high needs, like a constituent of mine who suffers from motor neurone disease, the NDIS provides high-intensity supports like nursing and hospital equipment that is absolutely essential for her survival. For others, like my young constituent from Caroline Springs, the NDIS helps to fund supports like therapeutic swimming lessons and day care, which are indispensable to her quality of life. This is why making sure that the NDIS is sustainable for future generations is so incredibly important. I want to acknowledge that, for many families in my community and around Australia, it's an anxious time to experience changes around NDIS supports.”
“Some requests for these reassessments are made by intermediaries like support coordinators and plan managers, sometimes without the knowledge of the participant. Our changes will make sure that only participants, their plan nominee or guardian will be able to request an unscheduled plan reassessment. These unscheduled reassessments will only be possible when there have been significant and ongoing changes to a participant's support needs which have arisen from changes in their functional capacity or if there's been an unanticipated, significant and ongoing change in the participant's living, education, work or informal support arrangements. This is about creating more predictability and equity in funding decisions and, of course, securing the NDIS so it remains viable for future generations.”
“All these access changes were recommendations of the independent review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, conducted in 2023. Considerable research has been conducted ahead of each and every one of those changes using an evidence based approach to determine what's best. At the moment, one in five plans are subject to an unscheduled reassessment every year, and the average result of these reassessments is a 20 per cent increase in plan value. It's these kinds of practices which drive inconsistency and unpredictability in funding decisions, which is why we're seeing such rapid growth in NDIS spending. That's why this bill is also limiting unscheduled planned reassessments.”
“The NDIS review found the approach we've been using for participants to access the scheme is inconsistent, inequitable and not always targeted to those with disability who require the most support. So, where definitions for who is actually an eligible participant are murky and unclear, we're clarifying them. We're defining and providing the assessment of thresholds for functional capacity. This bill will also clarify permanence in eligibility requirements where someone is or could be accessing supports from other service systems. These changes to eligibility will return the NDIS to its original purpose in supporting Australians with permanent and significant disability and support a more sustainable scheme moving forwards. These changes aren't random.”
“For that reason, I'm proud to rise in support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. We know Australians expect the NDIS to keep supporting people with a disability and their families and to transform lives. But there is a need for change. There has been unsustainable growth that has gone unchecked for too long. Under the Liberals, NDIS growth was at 22 per cent, with no moderation in sight. We've brought growth down to 10 per cent, and in January this year National Cabinet agreed to work together to bring cost growth down to five to six per cent or lower. So here we are, bringing costs down to improve the quality of supports and the operation of the scheme for participants. The first changes set out in this bill are changes to access and eligibility to the NDIS.”
“While the NDIS remains one of our country's most important social programs, it's growing faster than any other similar program, reaching unsustainable levels. It's riddled with fraud, rorts and unclear eligibility requirements. Through fighting fraud and stopping rorts, slowing rapid cost increases, providing clearer eligibility requirements and delivering quality services and support to participants, we are returning the NDIS to its original intent—providing lifetime support for Australians with permanent and significant disability—and ensuring that the NDIS remains a functioning and viable support system. This is so the next generation of Aussie families, carers and people living with permanent and significant disability can count on its promise for decades to come.”
“When the Gillard Labor government established the NDIS in 2013, then prime minister Julia Gillard told the House: Disability can affect any of us and therefore it affects all of us. She told the House: The risk of disability is universal, so our response must be universal. As we make some of the most significant reforms to the NDIS since it was introduced, I carry these words with me because this was the basis of the introduction of our National Disability Insurance Scheme—a once-in-a-generation reform, a reform which has reshaped the lives and futures of all Australians living with disability, of their families and of their carers by introducing one of Australia's most important social programs. Through this bill here today, we are securing this foundational support for future generations.”
“Our Inland Rail investments will mean that, in communities similar to mine with major freight routes, more freight will move on to rail, alleviating the burden on local roads. We're also prioritising the upgrades in the places it's most needed, because Inland Rail and proper planning for major infrastructure works need to go hand in hand. The Albanese Labor government gets that. We get that. I can't say the same for the Libs and the Nats over there. We're making the difficult but sensible decision for the progression of Inland Rail, with responsible economic planning without the cost blowouts. For the communities across Australia, we'll get the job done.”
“What we are committed to as the Albanese Labor government is investing heavily in passenger and freight rail across the country, like continuing to invest in resilience, reliability and productivity of the ARTC's existing rail freight network. Being from Melbourne's west, I know a thing or two about the burden freight can have on local roads and on the locals who share those roads with heavy freight trucks on their daily commutes. In my electorate of Gorton, we've got the Western Freeway—a major freight route with over 86,000 people on the road every single day. It's why we're upgrading our Western Freeway between Melton and Caroline Springs with Labor's $1 billion investment.”
“I don't think they could have fit those calculations on that napkin they were working on. Their failure to do any actual detailed planning works and their immature preliminary designs didn't solve any problems, and it certainly didn't build Inland Rail. Thanks to the work of our Labor government, the Inland Rail works north of Parkes will continue. We're focusing on the preservation of the rail corridor and protection of sites for future intermodal terminals in Queensland, and our decision not to proceed with the entirety of the project right now is the right decision. An unaffordable project, completely botched by those opposite, should not be coming at the expense of Aussie taxpayers or thriving regional communities.”
“So we decided to do something the Libs and Nats never did. We rolled up our sleeves and we decided to get the job done, drawing up real costings and real planning. We commissioned an independent, wide-ranging review of the project, led by Kerry Schott. This weighed up the costs and the scope of the project. The outcome of this review was plain and simple. Where the Libs had left things, it was probably going to cost more than $31 billion, and that wasn't even for the full scope of the project. Further actuarial work said it would be about $45 billion. That's more than three times the cost it was originally touted for. We've also confirmed that this project could not have been delivered until at least 2036. There was no way that money was set aside or planned for by the previous coalition government.”
“And, like any major infrastructure project, proper planning and responsible economic management are crucial to its success. But, unfortunately, proper planning and responsible economic management are not words that seem to be in the coalition's vocabulary. The Inland Rail project was bungled by the previous coalition government from the very start. It was costed on the back of a napkin—uncosted, underfunded and underplanned. Let's start at the start, shall we? When we came to government, we inherited the Inland Rail mess. The Australian Rail Track Corporation, who was building Inland Rail at the time, came to our minister for transport and infrastructure and said that this was going to need a lot more money. When the minister asked them how much, the Libs had done so little planning that they couldn't even tell her.”
“I'm delighted to be here this evening contributing to this really important discussion about rail in this country. I'm honoured to be the Labor co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Rail group here at Parliament House and, I admit, a true gunzel at heart, growing up with both my parents working in the railways. I'm truly delighted to be here following some of my Labor colleagues on this side of the House who are correcting some, pretty frankly, wild things that are being said about Inland Rail from the other side of the chamber. Inland Rail is an important investment in our freight and rail industry. It's about getting more trucks off the road and keeping our economy moving as we develop our infrastructure to meet the needs of the Australian community.”
“Making real change for working families in the outer suburbs means investing in Aussie women, with cheaper child care, expanded paid parental leave, more contraceptives and menopause treatment on the PBS and an instant $1,000 tax deduction, where women are expected to make up 54 per cent of the beneficiaries. But that's not all we're doing, with the opening of endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, including the one in Werribee and the opening of urgent care clinics, including in Melton and Sunshine, and making these permanent. These are initiatives Aussie women get when you elect a Labor government who understands the needs of an Australian community.”
“I stand here today on the backs of Aussie women who have worked hard for the rights and opportunities that I and all Australian women are afforded today. I stand here alongside a majority female caucus—the largest female representation in any government in Australian history—led by Australia's first gender-equal cabinet. We are a government who wants to give women choice and opportunity, safety and security and financial independence. It's not something we just talk about. It's something we act on, and our federal budget is testament to that. I represent a young community in Melbourne's western suburbs, with more than 50,000 working families that have chosen our community to build their futures in the outer west.”
“This process is slow and ineffective. It delays consequences for wrongdoing. The result is that Australians are left exposed while regulators jump through hoops. Families, businesses and communities affected by breaches are left waiting for providers to be penalised, while providers get yet another chance to fix something that should have never gone wrong in the first place. The bill before us cuts through all of this, removing the two-step process entirely. Industry codes will now be directly enforceable. That means, if a provider breaches the rules, ACMA can act immediately—no delays, no waiting, no repeat failures before something happens. This empowers the regulator to protect Australians in real time. It makes sure complaints are taken seriously from the start.”
“This means telcos won't be able to treat penalties as pocket change any more, and the punishment will finally fit the harm done. It also brings telecommunications in line with other major sectors that provide essential services to Australians, like energy and banking, where dodgy operators face real consequences when they fail the public. Telecommunications are essential services, and they need to be held to the same standard as other essential services. Second, this bill delivers faster enforcement of industry codes. Right now, ACMA's hands are tied. Even when a telco commits a serious breach, ACMA cannot act straight away. It must first issue a formal direction to comply, then it has to wait and see whether the telco decides to comply or not. ACMA can only take real action if the company breaks the rules again.”
“They don't reflect the real harm caused when telcos fail to meet basic standards, and they don't deter companies from doing the wrong thing. The fact is that major telco providers can absorb a fine of $200,000 pretty easily, and, because of this, it hasn't been working as a deterrent for breaches of industry codes and standards. Under the bill before us, if a telco commits a serious breach—for example, if their triple zero service goes down and they haven't put proper failsafe systems in place to keep emergency calls flowing—the Federal Court can now issue a fine of up to $10 million. In the most serious cases, the penalty can go even further. It can be set at three times the benefit the company gained from the breach or 30 per cent of the company's turnover, whichever number is higher.”
“Just two months ago, Optus was ordered to pay $100 million in penalties for unconscionable conduct for putting undue pressure on vulnerable customers to buy products and then pursuing them for debts related to these purchases. That incidents like these are still happening in our country, and that some of our telco companies have not fulfilled their duty to ensure consumers are at the core of everything they do, is disgraceful, and this government will not stand for it. The bill before us updates the Telecommunications Act 1997 to strengthen enforcement of and compliance with consumer safeguards. It does this in three ways. First, it increases the maximum civil penalties the Federal Court can issue for breaches of industry codes and standards by 40 times—from $250,000 to almost $10 million. Right now, the penalties are too low.”
“The telcos involved did not have the proper systems in place to manage the network outages and minimise harm, and when these outages occurred they didn't fulfil their duty to keep consumers informed and ensure they were looked after while the systems were restored. These incidents are indicative of a broader issue to do with the lack of consideration for consumers shown by not all, but some, of the telco companies. Some telcos have failed to provide adequate support and information to consumers experiencing financial hardship and vulnerability. They've taken liberties with customers, including breaching public safety rules by failing to upload their information to the integrated public number database used by emergency services.”
“Seeking to better regulate the telecommunications industry when it comes to essential infrastructure and services like telecommunications is incredibly important. The telecommunications amendment is part of a broader piece of work this government is doing to put consumers back at the heart of the telecommunications industry. The truth is that, for some time now, not all telcos have been putting consumers first, and the results have been devastating. In recent years, a number of network outages have seen consumers unable to make triple zero calls. The Optus network outage last September saw lives lost.”
“In 2026, the importance of quality, reliable, affordable telecommunications services really can't be understated. The amendment before us is about recognising the importance of telecommunications services as essential services and treating them as such, holding telcos accountable for providing good services to every Australian, giving our telecommunications regulator the tools it needs to crack down on telcos that are not meeting this standard and making sure the industry is transparent so that we can oversee and regulate the conduct of every provider. As the member for Gorton, I'm incredibly passionate about making sure that, when it comes to telecommunications, no-one is held back and no-one is left behind.”
“I'm also proud to be supporting this amendment, which better regulates telcos to make sure they are accountable for providing quality, reliable telecommunications services to every Australian. But I know there's still more to do, and that's why I'll keep advocating for the constituents in my electorate to get the connectivity they need as quickly as possible. Right now, I'm proud to be launching a mobile connectivity survey in my electorate so we can work with the community to gather their data on mobile black spots. We intend to use this data to engage with stakeholders so that we can address this issue. I know how important this issue is to my community, and I'll keep working until it's resolved. Telecommunications is essential to the lives of every Australian.”
“Making matters even worse, some areas in my electorate still don't have the NBN infrastructure at all. In others, developers have engaged alternative broadband providers that often fail to meet minimum expectations for speed, data and reliability. When the fixed line service isn't strong, families end up relying heavily on mobile towers just to get basic connectivity. Those towers are lifelines. When the towers are not there or the service they provide is not quality or reliable, these communities suffer greatly. I am passionate about making sure this situation improves as quickly as possible. I'm proud to say that, through round 2 of the Peri-Urban Mobile Program, the Albanese government is funding new mobile towers in my electorate and high-growth outermetro communities.”
“But, while my constituents are investing in Melbourne's outerwest, the infrastructure they depend on simply hasn't matched, meaning that in peri-urban suburbs in my electorate—namely, in the Mount Atkinson area—residents are lucky to have one or two bars of service. This is a huge issue for residents of Mount Atkinson, many of whom work online, who have family overseas they need to contact or who need the peace of mind that they can call their child on the bus to school. But, most pressingly, the poor quality of their telecommunications services has interfered with their ability to call emergency services. It's truly unacceptable that in a country like Australia, where we have some of the highest living standards in the world, there are communities that cannot reliably call triple zero in an emergency.”
“This is yet another part of a bigger picture of bringing all telcos up to standard. Poor connectivity is one of the most pressing issues faced by constituents of my electorate. Gorton is one of the fastest-growing electorates in the country. In fact, we have the area with the fastest growth rate in the country in Fraser Rise and Plumpton. In the matter of a decade, dozens of new estates have popped up and whole new communities have been established. These are beautiful communities filled with young families and new migrants who want to feel connected, supported and proud of the place they live. They believe in the west and they're committed to making these suburbs the best places to call home.”