Wireless Priority Service System

The ability to maintain effective communications during a crisis is essential to the Government’s national security and emergency preparedness capability. Mobile telephones, which often provide a first layer of crisis communications, can be particularly affected by network congestion during an emergency due to heightened levels of call traffic and/or damage to network infrastructure. 

The Wireless Priority Service System (WPSS) allows key decision makers and emergency service providers across the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to communicate in a crisis via priority access to the 2G mobile network. During times of network congestion, the WPSS will therefore provide users with a significantly greater chance of completing their calls.

The WPSS is not designed for public use, or for the use of all emergency service personnel. Rather, the WPSS has been developed to enhance the resilience of mobile telecommunications for key personnel during a crisis, to facilitate effective information-sharing and timely decision-making, while having a minimal impact on the capacity of the underlying network. Furthermore, the WPSS does not impact on emergency calls.

The WPSS is managed by a Secretariat within the National Security Policy Branch of the Attorney-General’s Department. The Secretariat can be contacted at WPSS@ag.gov.au. Where possible, current or prospective users should contact their agency, portfolio or jurisdictional coordinating officer in the first instance.