What is the Public Safety Mobile Broadband?

The Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB) is a national capability that will provide Public Safety Agency personnel with prioritised, fast, safe and secure data, video and voice communications. This capability will improve the safety, effectiveness and coordination of our front-line responders, in turn helping to protect the people, property and businesses of Australia. 

The PSMB will also provide quick access to data and images in live situations. This will allow:

• real-time analytics 
• situational awareness
• cross-agency and cross-border communication and interoperability.

Why is the PSMB important?

The PSMB will be the most significant uplift in communications capability for Australian Public Safety Agencies (PSAs) in decades. 

The current communication capabilities of PSAs including fire, ambulance, police, emergency services and other government agencies, largely depend on existing Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks with limited data services. The current LMR networks provide mission-critical voice services, but do not provide the mission-critical data and video features required by PSAs. With the continuing rise in number and intensity of disasters and other national emergencies, this requirement is increasingly critical. PSAs require a broader range and diversity of technologies that will be prioritised to support the critical work they do.

The PSMB capability will strengthen Australia's emergency preparedness. It will help to ensure PSAs are equipped with modern technology and digital connectivity to improve operational outcomes, effectiveness and coordination during emergencies and disasters. It will provide PSA personnel with prioritised, fast, and secure data, images, video and voice communications, enabling situational awareness, detailed analytics and cross-border interoperability in disasters, emergencies and critical incidents. The PSMB capability will significantly enhance the safety of our first responders and assist them in keeping the communities of Australia safe and resilient.

Public Safety Operations examples

The use cases included here are representative of several PSAs across Australia. These use cases are generic. Their initial purpose was to provide context for the PSMB Approach to Market Request for Information (RFI) phase to illustrate the critical nature of the work undertaken by PSAs. Each of these has been endorsed by jurisdictional representatives of the PSAs, for release as part of the RFI artefacts. This set of use cases for PSMB is not exhaustive. The Taskforce will continue to add other use cases to highlight the benefits of the National PSMB capability. They are for contextual and illustrative purposes only.

• Urban Fire Use Case (PDF 19.2MB)
• SES Use Case (PDF 21.6MB)
• Rural/Regional Fire Use Case (PDF 6.3MB)
• Police Use Case (PDF 3.6MB)
• Ambulance Use Case (PDF 32.2MB)

How is the Australian Government supporting the PSMB?

The PSMB Strategic Review (PDF 1.64MB) was conducted in 2022.

In response, the Australian Government invested $10.1 million over the 2023–24 and 2024-25 financial years. They used this funding to set up and fund the PSMB Taskforce to take forward the recommendations of the 2022 Strategic Review.

Additionally, in the 2025–26 Budget, the Australian Government announced a further $5.4 million, allowing the PSMB Taskforce to continue to collaborate with jurisdictions to complete the design of the PSMB capability.

In the 2026–27 Budget, $6 million has been provided to continue this work and to explore detailed options for delivering the PSMB capability.

What is the PSMB Taskforce?

The Taskforce was established by the Australian Government in August 2023 to deliver on the recommendations of the 2022 Strategic Review. This has culminated in the development of a National Strategic Business Case for consideration by the Australian Government and jurisdictions, with a focus on the Discovery Phase of the PSMB Solution. 

Part of this work is in developing the framework that drives the delivery of a national PSMB capability. This includes establishing an Inter-Governmental Agreement and working in collaboration with states and territories to ensure national support for the PSMB. 

NEMA leads the Taskforce closely with:

• The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
• State and territory government agencies. 

The Taskforce has engaged with the telecommunications industry to understand how industry can support the delivery of a national PSMB capability.

Watch our video to learn more.