Communities across Australia can face extremes of nature such as bushfires, floods and cyclones. Telstra’s Disaster Relief Assistance is designed to help Australians when they are affected by natural disasters.
Telstra’s first priority in a disaster situation is to assist emergency and essential service organisations by setting up communications. Typically, communications technicians are among the first to enter disaster affected areas to help restore services.
To assist Telstra customers, relief packages may be offered depending on the nature and scale of the specific event. These packages can include:
- free call diversion from an affected home phone service to a fixed or mobile service of the customer’s choice, regardless of the carrier
- translation of call costs from mobile phone rates to fixed phone rates for customers whose fixed home phones are affected
- a dedicated emergency assistance hotline to assist customers affected by the disaster with their telecommunications service needs;
- cancellation of a fixed phone and/or BigPond internet service with a free reconnection within 12 months for customers whose homes have been affected by the disaster;
- a one-off $50 credit to eligible Telstra mobile services customers whose homes were affected by the disaster and who did not have a fixed phone.
Volunteer and First Response Leave is available to Telstra employees, which allows them time off work to assist emergency crews during disasters.
Jonathon Welch
Jonathon is considered one of the finest tenors of his generation, integrating a busy 30-year professional performing career and ongoing commitments to youth and community music education.
