ACT to upgrade emergency services radio network

The ACT Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Joy Burch, has announced that the territory’s emergency radio communications network will undergo a major upgrade over the next three years, with $14.728 million allocated in the upcoming ACT Budget.

The project will upgrade Territory Radio Network (TRN) repeater tower infrastructure as well as radio and terminal equipment. The TRN is a government critical system involved in the Emergency Services Agency’s (ESA) emergency call taking, dispatch, response and communications. The system represents a significant part of the ESA’s response capability.

“The funding will be spent over the next three years to progress upgrades to TRN, which is used by the ACT ESA as the agency’s primary communication method, particularly during emergency events. The TRN is also used by other government agencies,” said Burch.

“The TRN not only supports the emergency activities of the ESA but supports other ACT Government agencies including ACTION, TAMS, ACT Policing, ACT Health, Roads ACT. It also provides the ESA with interoperability with other emergency services during cross border incidents,” she said.

The TRN was introduced to the ACT in 2004 with key infrastructure components housed at a number of strategically located sites across the territory to provide close to 100% geographic coverage. Operator consoles in the ESA’s Communications Centre, radio handsets and vehicle-mounted radio sets communicate via the TRN infrastructure.

This initiative follows the funding of other key emergency services infrastructure in the 2014-15 Budget including the replacement of the TRN Microwave Ring and the upgrade of the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system used in by staff in the ESA Communications Centre at Fairbairn.