TRANSCRIPT
David Jochinke is a third-generation farmer in Victoria - and the president of the National Farmers Federation.
He says technology devices and equipment keep his operation going.
When told he needed to prepare for the shutdown of Australia's 3G network, he undertook an audit of the technology devices on his property that rely on 3G.
"What we're talking about in agricultural sense can be anything from a rain gauge to a weather station functionality on some devices; and vehicles as well to, if people get into trouble, they can press a button, it calls for help. Anything that is of relative age, so within the beyond maybe two or three years old needs to be checked just to make sure that it isn't reliant on that 3G network. We are not sure on the number of items there are out there. What we do know is the network's been around for a very long time. What we are very focused on in this conversation though, is that we don't want to see a reduction or a loss in network capacity as the 3G networks wound down."
David says getting the message out to all Australians is critical - but there are barriers.
"We are seeing more solutions come onto the market. However, to access them in the first place, you do need to have the right devices to get onto that merry-go-round itself. So once again, technology never stops. It will always progress. It's about making sure that we're making wise choices in our initial spend; and then understanding what we've actually purchased. So if changes are made that we can either understand what consequences they have for us; and then or make decisions around upgrading or modifying those devices."
The Federation has been running a website called the Regional Tech Hub to help people in regional Australia deal with the transition.
"The Regional Tech Hub is there to help answer and come up with solutions for connectivity. Once again, it doesn't or isn't able to answer specific componentry - like the weather station or the gate opener - but it can help have the conversation around what is a good option to be able to either attract or get data to that location. And what we have seen is a lot more awareness of the difference between data and coverage; and also becoming more literate in what those solutions options are."
But it's not just farmers who might be impacted by the shutdown.
Susi Tegen is the CEO of the National Rural Health Alliance.
She says the process of conducting an audit of devices can be challenging for a number of Australians - and she suggests financial support might be needed in some cases to help with device upgrades.
"And the fact that there would be a population that would not have access to triple-zero is alarming. It's really important that you have an awareness campaign, but also some people just can't afford to update their system. And it is not their own doing that there is a replacement (needed). And so we need to make sure that we support those people. Many of them, elder or vulnerable, and they rely on these devices and they don't have the money. Some of them are on pensions - disability pensions, age pensions - and we need to support them."
Carol Bennett is the CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, with member groups including community legal centres, disability advocates, and Indigenous organisations.
She says a big area that can be overlooked is medical devices, as the industry has been less proactive in contacting customers directly.
"This again, highlights the need for some kind of medical device register; and certainly some increased regulation of the medical device industry. Because we know regulation in that area is quite lax and the medical device industry needs to take some responsibility for ensuring that they know who are using their devices. And when there are these sorts of concerns about the ongoing connectivity that people might have, or any issues that occur related to their devices, that they are being proactive in contacting people and alerting them to the risks; and ensuring that they're not going to be left out in the cold when changes like this occur."
SBS contacted the Medical Technology Association of Australia, which represents manufacturers and suppliers of medical technology - and has so far not received a response to its questions.
Indigenous communities are also vulnerable.
Dr Daniel Featherstone at RMIT University has been mapping digital inclusion in remote Indigenous communities over three years.
He says the project maps progress on the 2026 target to Close the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on access to telecommunications and internet connectivity.
He is calling for more communication of how people can report loss of service as the wind down happens - and a longer-term audit of service provision.
"And I think that then it does need to be more of an audit of the quality of mobile services more generally in remote areas. And I think that then it does need to be more of an audit of the quality of mobile services more generally in remote areas. Whether it's 3G or 4G, what we see in communities is that often there's high levels of congestion, which means that the speed of the service can really slow down because there's too many users on at the same time. And that there's reliability issues, particularly if there's satellite connections for those services, they can drop out in wet season, particularly even cyclones when they're needed most."
Others are calling for better communication.
First Nations Digital Inclusion advocate Dr Dot West told NITV last month there's very little awareness of the shutdown in Indigenous communities.
"We've spoken to people within communities. And the lack of awareness of actually 3G shutting down is not there; or is very limited. So there really needs to be targeted messages to community about this shutdown."
