Australian carriers switch on Temporary Disaster Roaming after years of testing
Telstra, Optus and TPG have made Temporary Disaster Roaming available in disaster-hit parts of the country, letting phones join another carrier's network when their own fails. It carries no extra charge but works only under tight conditions.
Australia's major mobile carriers have brought Temporary Disaster Roaming (TDR) into service, according to a report published on 21 October 2026. When a natural disaster knocks out a customer's own carrier, the handset will be able to connect to another provider's network. The service is now available in parts of the country hit by severe weather, after years of testing.
Where only Telstra's network is still running in an area, Optus and TPG customers will join it automatically. Terms differ between the carriers, but customers are not charged extra to use TDR.
The carriers stress that TDR is entirely separate from the Triple Zero (000) emergency line. Roaming is switched on only when it is safe to do so and when another participating network is operating that can carry the extra traffic while keeping access to Triple Zero. According to Telstra, a single activation typically lasts 24 hours.
Telstra also warned of the limits of the service. It said TDR will not help if a prolonged power outage takes down every network in an area, and it sits alongside other network resilience work rather than replacing it. Telstra said TDR may not be offered in metropolitan areas, because it is intended for rural and regional areas affected by an eligible disaster. Roaming may also stay off during a power failure if there is no safe access to a generator.
Handset support is restricted too: TDR needs VoLTE roaming, so older phones are excluded. It works only on compatible smartphones, not on other connected devices.
Similar services operate elsewhere; Japan, for example, launched JAPAN Roaming this year.