MARCH 2025
Inside this issue
- ACRS Director’s report – Peter Lamont
- Cyber Wardens webinar invitation to ACRS members
- Business opportunities for ACRS cablers
- ACMA compliance update
- NBN update
- Cyclone Alfred grants
- Technical update
ACRS Director’s report by Peter Lamont
Welcome to the first edition for 2025. We are already well into what has been a long hot summer with a number of climatic challenges and natural disasters that have dire consequences on our towns and also challenge critical infrastructure within our industry. We have seen extreme temperatures, severe bushfires and continuous downpours that leave devastating floods in their wake.
In our modern era today, communications infrastructure is a critical means of relaying information and calling for assistance when it is needed. That is why our data and telecommunications workers are so heavily involved in putting in place the building blocks that maintain people’s essential contacts, wherever they live or work, including people in regional and remote locations.
Talking of regional and remote locations, it is also important that if you work in regional areas that you use the most viable ways to ensure potential customers know what work you can do and how to contact you. One of the best ways to do this is to ensure your business is listed on the Australian Registered Cablers website.
ACRS is one of the cabler registration companies that makes active use of this site. It is available to the public and lists cablers by geographic location. It is a searchable website that has over 36,000 unique visitors per annum looking for cablers and companies such as the NBN co, Telstra, Optus, TPG, iiNet, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) refer consumers to this site. Contact ACRS and our helpful staff can assist you with details on how to get your business listed.
At this time, ACRS is also working with the national regulator, ACMA, on a range of regulatory compliance matters. This includes on matters relating to compliance investigations and also on legislative and regulatory change proposals. In all these matters ACRS seeks to represent the best interests of registered cablers and to ensure that the cabler industry has a voice when talking to government.
I think this year is going to a busy but fruitful year ahead.
IMPORTANT WEBINAR INVITATION TO ALL ACRS CABLERS
ACRS is a supporter of the Australian Registered Cablers Website (https://registeredcablers.com.au/) and the Cyber Wardens Programme (https://cyberwardens.com.au/). The following FREE webinar is highly recommended.
Imagine if you lost access to your work emails, project files, or supplier accounts-how would you keep your jobs on track and your business running? Cyber security is becoming a major issue for the cabling industry, with the average cost of a cyber attack reaching $49,600. That’s why Australian Registered Cablers is partnering with Cyber Wardens to bring you the Cyber Wardens Foundations webinar.
In this free webinar, you’ll learn about the biggest cyber security threats facing small businesses like cabling contractors, the red flags that signal your business might be at risk, and everyday habits that could make you more vulnerable to cyber crime. Plus, we’ll cover why cyber security is a team effort and how to protect your business with simple, practical steps you can start using right away-at no cost!
When:
Thursday 3 April 7:00-8:00am AEST
Register Here. Your details will be recorded by Cyberwardens and shared with the Australian Registered Cablers website.
Link also here: https://share.hsforms.com/2YjfWdlAeRLuH0u8WG9KI8wqjwmp
Business opportunities for cabling companies on the Australian Registered Cabler Website
ACRS is a member of the Australian Registered Cabler Website consortium.
The site is for our registered cablers and is open to industry stakeholders and the public, as an advisory service.
ACRS Open Registered Cablers with Structured and Co-Axial (and Fibre where required) – can register their business on the RCWS website to gain leads to NBN, internet, telephone and smart wiring work.
ACRS works with ACMA on a range of compliance matters
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is the regulator within the data and telecommunications industry. ACRS continually works with ACMA on compliance matters and legislative and regulatory responses.
In recent investigations by ACMA on complaints regarding the standard of cable work, two primary areas of investigation relate to cablers not being qualified or not following the Cabler Wiring Rules (S009). The main areas of complaints to ACMA relate to cablers undertaking work that:
- Provides inadequate depth of conduit
- Inappropriately bundling data cables with electrical cables
- Using non-compliant cables
- TCA1 forms not being completed
All cablers need to be aware that the Cabler Wiring Rules (S009) are mandatory and they have been designed to keep both cablers and customers safe and to provide reliability of service. To not follow S009 could result in unfortunate consequences, including injury to persons or property, possible prosecutions by the regulator, insurance claims not being allowed, litigation and possibly loss of your registration and therefore your livelihood. In particular, bundling data and telecommunications cables with electric cables is intrinsically dangerous and could result in electrical induction that would electrify the data cable.
ACMA is also currently calling for submissions on priorities for compliance for 2025-26 and is finalizing consultation on the sunset review of the Cabler Provider Rules (CPR). ACRS is providing ACMA with comments on each of these matters.
Why $3 billion in funding is being injected into the NBN
The $3 billion funding promise would upgrade fibre-to-the-node connections, providing an additional 622,000 new fibre connections, with more than half in regional and rural areas.
The government says when that major upgrade is complete by 2030, more than 11 million homes and businesses will have access to connections enabling speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, far beyond the current average connection speed of 76.64 Mbps.
“Whether Australians are working from home, whether Australians are running businesses, whether they’re learning online, whether they’re accessing telehealth, whether they’re gaming or whether they’re simply streaming or downloading their favourite shows, faster speed will mean an improvement to the internet services you use today,” Ms Sweeney said.
“This is the final piece in the puzzle … today’s announcement will mean access to faster and more reliable internet for millions of Australians.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said thousands of Australian homes were “stranded” on copper lines that were ageing and degrading.
Click on the link below, to read the whole article:
| Tropical Cyclone Alfred Grant Applications Now Open For all those communities in South East Queensland and Northern NSW affected by the recent Cyclone Alfred, the Queensland Government, NSW Government and Federal Governments have all introduced a number of grants and financial assistance program to help affected individuals and businesses get back on their feet. Details of the different grants and assistance can be found through: Apply for Personal Hardship Assistance, Tropical Cyclone Alfred, March 2025 | Service NSW Tropical Cyclone Alfred March 2025 | Community support | Queensland Government How to claim the Qld Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Mar 2025 – Disaster Recovery Allowance – Qld Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Mar 2025 – Disaster Recovery Allowance – Services Australia |
What Are Your Obligations for Other Peoples Work and the Condition of an Existing Electrical Installation Wiring
To effectively manage your risk of liability related to work performed by others and the condition of an existing electrical installation, it is essential to maintain a clear and well-documented paper trail. Specifically, as the electrician responsible for testing and energising, you may be held liable for certain aspects of the installation, even if the work was performed by others. This is due to your responsibility to ensure the installation is safe prior to energisation.
To mitigate this risk as far as reasonably practicable, it is important to ensure that your Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW) includes a detailed description of your work, as well as any work carried out by others. Given that the descriptor section of a CCEW may have limited space, we recommend supplementing this using AS/NZS3019 Electrical installation – Periodic assessment (available in MKB) Form 1 in appendix A. This form will detail what you have observed or identified as defective electrical wiring or issues with the work done by others. This form can be attached to the CCEW as part of the documentation.
Additionally, should you identify any serious or immediate risks, as a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU), you have a duty of care under Section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act and Clause 149 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations. This requires you to take all reasonable steps to de-energise the system and make it safe until repairs can be made and the installation can be safely re-energised.
$50K fine follows “blatant disregard for public safety“
A former electrical contractor has received a $50,000 fine in Western Australia for notification delays that prevented timely safety inspections of electrical work.
Following prosecution by WA safety regulator Building and Energy, the company was convicted of 15 offences under WA’s electricity licensing regulations at Perth Magistrates Court in February 2025.
The court heard that there were 64 occasions when the company, now in voluntary liquidation, failed to lodge notices of completion with the network operator within three days of completing electrical work. Two-thirds of the lodgements took 100 days or more – with one provided after 302 days.
Electrical businesses are legally required to provide timely notices of completion so that prompt sample inspections of electrical work can take place to ensure the work is compliant, safe and completed.
Describing the company’s overall conduct as “a very poor example of compliance”, Magistrate Michelle Harries ordered the contractor to pay a global penalty of $50,000 and costs of $494.24, noting the inherent seriousness of electrical matters due to the risks involved.
WA’s Director of Energy Safety, Saj Abdoolakhan, said the significant fine should send a clear message about electrical contractors’ responsibilities.
“Electrical faults can put people at risk of serious injury or death,” he said.
“Notices of completion must be submitted within three days to trigger the inspection process and mitigate the hazards of dangerous defects remaining undetected for extended periods.
“This company lodged the notices far too late and only after Building and Energy intervened. This conduct is unacceptable and shows a blatant disregard for public safety and the statutory obligations of electrical contractors.”
Article ECD magazine 5 March 2025