Exercise Disconnect & Reconnect, facilitated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), was aimed at strengthening emergency response to telecommunications outages - including impacts on the Triple Zero network - by identifying gaps, testing coordination, assessing alternatives, and addressing impacts and restoration barriers.
NEMA put participants through their paces, 'war gaming' a set of catastrophic and nationally significant scenarios based on the projected forecast for the HRWS.
Undertaking exercises like this ensures all stakeholders are working together and are prepared for a range of scenarios before Australia enters the HRWS in earnest.
The department will use observations and learnings from Exercise Disconnect & Reconnect to identify priority actions for industry and government, and to inform future policy, planning and capability development efforts.
