The Government Radio Network (GRN) is a network of various systems in place across Australia that enable statewide trunked radio communication. The network operates through inter-linked sites for government and public services such as police, ambulance, fire, or roads authorities which require such a system to function properly. The main aim of the GRN is to consolidate all resources into one network, ensuring greater coverage and reliability than if each department had its own independent communication system. The existence of the GRN also reduces the amount of government money and resources needed to maintain communication between units of emergency and public service branches. Last, it allows effective intercommunication among these services in times of national or state emergency for coordination of wide-scale actions.

Australian Capital Territory Radio Network (TRN)

The Australian Capital Territory Radio Network (commonly referred to as the TRN) is a

trunked radio system A trunked radio system is a two-way radio system that uses a control channel to automatically assign frequency channels to groups of user radios. In a traditional half-duplex land mobile radio system a group of users (a ''talkgroup'') with mobi ...

operating in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

, Australia. The network was introduced in 2004, and provides 100% coverage of the ACT. The network is used by ACT Emergency Services Agencies (ESA) and other ACT Government agencies including ACTION buses, TAMS (Territory and Municipal Services), ACT Health and Roads ACT. The network is part of the NSW GRN, and is controlled and maintained as part of that network. It is managed separately by the ACT Government.

New South Wales Public Safety Network (NSW PSN)

Overview

The New South Wales Public Safety Network (previously referred to as the New South Wales Government Radio Network or NSW GRN) is a

operating in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Established in 1993, the network was the first government trunked radio network in Australia and is one of the largest in the world. The NSW GRN covers more than 80% of

and approximately 96% of the urban population. The network is owned by the

NSW Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

through the NSW Telco Authority and the network's operations are managed under contract.

Network Users

The network is used by all NSW and ACT emergency services in varying capacities, along with other agencies, departments, services, and non-government organisations, including: *

Fire & Rescue New South Wales Fire and Rescue New South Wales (previously known as New South Wales Fire Brigades), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan ar ...

New South Wales Ambulance NSW Ambulance, previously the Ambulance Service of NSW, is an agency of NSW Health and the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established pursuant to the and oper ...

NSW Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the land area of New South ...

* VRA Rescue NSW *

New South Wales State Emergency Service The New South Wales State Emergency Service (NSW SES), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, is an emergency and rescue service dedicated to assisting the community in times of natural and man-made disasters. The NSW SES is made up al ...

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

* ACT Emergency Services * Department of Attorney General and Justice *

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...

Roads & Maritime Services A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

(formally

Roads & Traffic Authority The Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA) was an agency of the New South Wales Government responsible for major road infrastructure, licensing of drivers, and registration of motor vehicles. The RTA directly managed state roads and provided fundin ...

and NSW Maritime) * Sydney Ferries * Department of Corrective Services * NSW Department of Juvenile Justice *

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

Ausgrid Ausgrid is an electricity distribution company which owns, maintains and operates the electrical networks supplying 1.8 million customers servicing more than 4 million people in Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales, ...

* Endeavour Energy * Hunter Water Corporation *

Sydney Water Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a New South Wales Government owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the B ...

* WaterNSW *

Property NSW Property NSW is a statutory body of the Government of New South Wales that manages the State's significant property portfolio and its places. Formed on 1 July 2016, Property NSW encompasses the entities of the former Government Property NSW (G ...

* Sydney Ports Corporation *Central Tablelands County Councils *

Sutherland Shire Council Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially kn ...

Child Flight Child Flight was an Australian helicopter service dedicated to the emergency transport of sick children. It operates two twin-engined instrument-flight rated helicopters. As a not-for-profit organisation, the service relies on community support a ...

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

* Chevra Hatzolah (Jewish Community sponsored and staffed medical response) The network is also used by other government departments and discrete law enforcement agencies.

Network Information

The network is a digital 9600 bps Project 25 (commonly referred to as '' P25'' or ''

APCO-25 Project 25 (P25 or APCO-25) is a suite of standards for interoperable digital two-way radio products. P25 was developed by public safety professionals in North America and has gained acceptance for public safety, security, public service, and ...

'') Phase 2

operating in the UHF band between 403

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

and 430

in 12.5 kHz steps. End user equipment is supplied mostly by

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

, and consists primarily of the APX series mobile and portable two-way radios, the XTL series mobile and XTS series portable radios (althoug
Benelec

Tait Communications Tait Communications is a multinational radio communications company with headquarters based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The company has offices in 17 countries and employs 869 staff (2011). Tait develops voice and data radio technologies, ex ...

and Simoco radios are also authorised for use).

Encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can de ...

is supported and used by some agencies on the network.

Northern Territory Emergency Services Trunk Network (NTESTN)

The Northern Territory Emergency Services Trunk Network is a

operating in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, Australia. The network is a digital Project 25 Phase 1

operating in the lower UHF band.

Queensland Government Wireless Network (GWN)

Overview

The Queensland Government Wireless Network (referred to as the GWN) is a

operating in the state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The network was built and is currently managed by Telstra under contract. The network commenced operation in 2014, and was operational for the 2014 G20 summit in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. Following that event, the network was re-purposed and is now the main communications network for emergency services in South East Queensland.

Network Users

The network provides secure radio communications for Queensland's public safety agencies. These users include: *

Queensland Ambulance Service The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) is the state emergency ambulance and patient transport provider in Queensland, Australia. QAS is part of the Queensland Government under the Queensland Health portfolio and is one of the largest ambulan ...

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) is the primary provider of fire and emergency services in Queensland, Australia. The QFES was established in 2013 to improve the coordination and planning of emergency services, adopting an "a ...

* Queensland Police Service *

Queensland State Emergency Service The Queensland State Emergency Service (QSES) in Queensland is a volunteer based organisation of the Queensland Government and forms part of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), responsible for disaster management and as an emergen ...

Network Information

The network is a digital Project 25 (known as '' P25'' or ''

'') Phase 2

operating in the UHF band. End user equipment is supplied by

is used by all network users.

South Australia Government Radio Network (SAGRN)

Overview

The SA Government Radio Network (referred to as the SAGRN) is a

operating in the state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Australia The SAGRN is one of the largest and most comprehensive public safety networks in the world, covering over 265,000 square kilometres and providing coverage to more than 99.5% of South Australia’s population including 20km offshore coverage along the State's coast. The SAGRN includes a statewide Paging network that is used for the dispatch of Ambulance, MFS, CFS and SES resources. The Paging network is integrated with the Computer Aided Dispatch system used at the Triple Zero Emergency Operations Centres. Telstra originally constructed the SAGRN in the early 2000's, the network replaced 28 separate systems. Telstra supported the network until 2010. In 2010, Motorola entered into a contract with the South Australian Government to support the SAGRN. In 2015, Motorola entered into contracts to upgrade the SAGRN and operate it.

Network Users

The SAGRN is used by over 25 government and non-government agencies including *

SA Ambulance Service SA Ambulance Service (SAAS) is a State Government agency under SA Health, that provides emergency ambulance transport, clinical care and non emergency patient transport services to over 1.5 million people, distributed across an area of 1,043,5 ...

South Australia Police South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Minister for ...

South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (SAMFS) is the fire service for metropolitan and urban South Australia, as well as large townships. The Metropolitan Fire Service is constituted under the ''Fire and Emergency Services Act''. The M ...

South Australian Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and hazardous ma ...

South Australian State Emergency Service The South Australian State Emergency Service (SASES, commonly known as the SES) is the South Australian branch of the State Emergency Service, partner of the Australian Council of State Emergency Services. The service, founded in 1962, is volun ...

SA Water SA Water is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. History SA Water was established by the proclamation of the ''South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994'' on 1 July 1995. Prior to this its predec ...

SA Power Networks SA Power Networks is the sole electricity distributor in the state of South Australia, delivering electricity from high voltage transmission network connection points operated by ElectraNet. It is the successor to the Electricity Trust of S ...

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...

Department for Correctional Services The Department for Correctional Services is the department of the Government of South Australia responsible for adult prisoners, including supervision of offenders and their rehabilitation, in order to protect the public against further crime ...

Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

St John Ambulance Australia St John Ambulance Australia (also known as St John) (SJAA) is a charitable organisation, dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight priories that f ...

* Surf Life Saving Australia The network is also used by other government departments and law enforcement agencies.

Network Information

The SAGRN Voice Network is a digital Project 25 (known as '' P25'' or ''

'') Phase 1

operating in the Harmonised Government Spectrum in the UHF band. The SAGRN Voice network is built on Motorola Astro-25 network equipment. P25 Voice terminal equipment is supplied via a panel of suppliers of compatible P25 radios.

Tasmanian Government Radio Network (TasGRN)

The Tasmanian Government Radio Network (TasGRN) is a project to establish a single digital communications network for a number of Tasmanian government organisations.

Victorian Government Radio Networks

Melbourne Metropolitan Radio (MMR)

The Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) service is a Project 25 (APCO-25) Phase 1 radio voice communications system. It provides communications over the Greater Metropolitan area supporting Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board. The current users are limited to Emergency Services which are: *

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 ...

(encrypted) *

Ambulance Victoria Ambulance Victoria (AV), a Victorian agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in Victoria. Ambulance Victoria was formed on 1 July 2008 with the merge ...

(encrypted as of July 2019) *

Fire Rescue Victoria Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) is a fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, Australia, that provides firefighting, rescue, HAZMAT and Emergency Medical Response services in areas of metropolitan Melbourne and major regional centres throu ...

Victoria State Emergency Service Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) is a volunteer-based organisation responding to natural disasters and working to ensure the safety of communities around Victoria, Australia. Each State and territory of Australia has its own independen ...

All digital scanning receivers are able to decode the unencrypted conventional P25 channels. End user equipment is supplied by Motorola, primarily XTS5000 portables and XTL5000 mobiles.

Regional Mobile Radio (RMR)

The Regional Mobile Radio (RMR) network is a digital VHF P25 (Phase I & II) trunking network managed by Telstra Corporation. The RMR was initially designed as the Regional Radio Dispatch Service (RRDS) Project for the Country Fire Authority (CFA). Towards the end of June 2013 the first two trunking sites were switched on for the RMR with all CFA bridges transitioned by August 2014 to the RMR that will become the primary communications system for contacting fire dispatchers used by the CFA. Augmenting its older Analogue VHF Network the RMR network is being used for incident dispatching and emergency communications with statewide fire dispatchers with the older analogue VHF network being slowly decommissioned or repurposed and analogue simplex radio communications being used for local and fire ground radio communications. In 2016, it was announced that regional Victoria Police would transition to the network with encryption. The transition was successfully completed to encrypted communications on the morning of 20 November 2018. The Victoria State Emergency Services, Life Saving Victoria and Corrections Victoria will also transition. The current users of the network are: *

(Encrypted) * Country Fire Authority *

Life Saving Victoria Life Saving Victoria is an Australian life saving organisation formed in 2002 from a merger of the Victorian Branch of the Royal Life Saving Society Australia and Surf Life Saving Victoria. Life Saving Victoria works to prevent drownings and o ...

Corrections Victoria Corrections Victoria is part of the Department of Justice and Community Safety in the Victorian Government, and is responsible for the provision of custodial and community-based services as an important element of the criminal justice system in ...

The current end user equipment used by the CFA is supplied by Tait Communications and consists of custom CFA branded TM9100s and TP9100s.

Victorian StateNet Mobile Radio Network (SMR)

The Victorian StateNet Mobile Radio network is a MPT1327 trunked radio system owned by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

Department of Treasury and Finance and managed by Telstra Corporation. It consists of 101 base sites which are strategically positioned to provide 96% coverage of the state to its users. PSTN interconnect features are available, with calls possible from radio to mobile telephones & landlines and vice versa.
Frequency allocation for this network start at 163.0625 MHz to 165.6875Mhz (channel spacing of 12.5 kHz). There are many government and commercial users of this network, some of which include: *

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

* Yarra Valley Water * City West Water * AusNet Services *

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...

* Sheriff's Office * FFMV (Forest Fire Management Victoria), comprising

Department of Environment and Primary Industries The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) was a state government department responsible for protecting the environment, boosting productivity in Victoria's food and fibre sector, management of natural resources and managing wate ...

, and Parks Victoria *

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a ...

* Numerous Taxi Companies *

State Emergency Service The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in oth ...

(Migrated to RMR) * Country Fire Authority (Migrated to RMR) * State Aircraft Unit The network was recently upgraded by

to give users access to a web-portal based reports system called Telstra Hosted Online Reporting (THOR). This feature allows users to track their individual network usage in greater detail. While a small number of users employ analog frequency inversion voice scrambling, the vast majority of voice traffic on the network is clear. There are no commercially available scanning receivers able to directly track MPT1327 networks, following voice conversations is possible using freely available decoding software such a
Trunkview
and a compatible scanner. Most of the current end user equipment is supplied by Motorola and consists primarily of MCS2000s, MTS2000s, MCX760s and PTX760s.

Western Australia Police Radio Network

The Western Australia Police Radio Network is an encrypted Project 25 (APCO-25) Phase 1 digital

operating in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The network commenced operation in 2011, and currently provides coverage to 20,000 square kilometres around

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, and 25,000 square kilometres around regional areas, equating to 95% of the WA population. The network is used by

WA Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

and the Department of Justice. In December 2020, the state government announced plans for a new emergency services radio network.

References

{{Reflist

External links

NSW Government Radio Network websiteNSW GRN Scan InformationNSW GRN Radio Reference PageQLD GWN Radio Reference Page
Communications in Australia Law enforcement in Australia