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- 28 February 2001
Emergency Calls
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Page: 12088
Mr DEBNAM (Vaucluse) [5.57 p.m.]: I speak about emergency call arrangements. On Sunday 18 February just after 5.00 p.m. I was in Old South Head Road just north of Rose Bay and saw the aftermath of an attempted bag snatch. I followed a fellow running up the street and when he got into a car I followed that car for some five or six minutes. During that time my wife and I attempted to make an emergency call to the police to say that we were following a bag snatcher. My concern is not with this particular incident but with the personal experience of the difficulties of trying to make an 000 emergency call.
Every member of this House would be aware of a number of media stories and constituent concerns about the 000 line and the delays inherent in the system. My recent personal experience certainly focused my mind on it and I would like to address that issue. My wife and I made two calls to 000. The Telstra operator answered the first call and tried to put us through to the police. The phone rang and rang trying to get through to the police and then it dropped out. I do not know for how long it rang because I have not timed the tape from Telstra of that particular call, but it rang for a considerable period of time. We rang 000 once again and the Telstra operator once again tried to get through to the police. The phone rang for 40 seconds before the Telstra operator in frustration said that he would try another number.
The police answered that call and we spent a number of minutes trying to explain the sense of urgency. We had a feeling that the reaction that we were getting over the telephone was simply that it was only a bag snatch. We were attempting to explain that we were actually still following the bag snatcher, who was by that stage in a car. We gave police the details of the people in the car and a description of the car. I hope that that incident will be satisfactorily resolved through the efforts of local police.
The young lady who was attacked was certainly traumatised by the incident and I hope it will be resolved quickly. However, it raises two issues. I was very concerned to find out from Telstra that there is one call centre operating in New South Wales and one in Melbourne. I am not sure whether our call was handled by Melbourne or Sydney. It could have been handled by Melbourne, but it certainly raises the necessity for a local call centre. Taking economic efficiency in relation to emergency calls to the extreme by saying there will be a call centre interstate is absurd when one is dealing with an emergency call. However, the call centre should be local to avoid any confusion about the location that one is calling from. I am aware that with caller identification, Telstra can tell where a call from a fixed line is coming from.
Mr George: That does not work either.
Mr DEBNAM: I am told that does not work either. An increasing percentage of phones are obviously mobile phones and Telstra has not yet invested sufficient money to show which tower one is calling through. There are problems in the interface between Telstra and police. Police take about 14 million calls a year on the emergency line, two-thirds of which are nuisance calls. In my one experience of trying to get through, we had a drop-out on the first call and no answer for 40 seconds on the second call. I have written to the chief executive of Telstra expressing my concerns about the use of an out-of-State call centre and the potential for confusion over locations. I do not understand why people in New South Wales should put up with that. The emergency services in New South Wales should call on Telstra to make absolutely certain that calls go through a call centre in New South Wales to avoid any further confusion.
I ask the Minister for Police to address my concerns resulting from the experience I have referred to. My second call was redirected to another number after ringing for 40 seconds. Clearly, there are real problems in the interface between Telstra and the emergency service. I do not know what the problem is or whether the emergency services were having particular difficulties on the afternoon of Sunday 18 February. It is time we had a good look at the emergency calls and the arrangements for them. I call on the Minister for Police to urgently review the call centre arrangements and the interface between Telstra and emergency services for all calls in New South Wales. As I said at the outset, there are continual problems with emergency calls to the Ambulance Service. I am not sure how many calls to the fire brigade result in problems, but there are certainly problems with calls to police. It is time to fix the problem, because a loss of life could result.
Ms NORI (Port Jackson—Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Tourism) [6.01 p.m.]: I cannot comment at a technical level on the matter raised by the honourable member for Vaucluse. I undertake to draw the honourable member's concerns to the attention of the Minister for a direct reply.
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