Most Australians are able to call for help when they're in trouble, but Deb Donation lives in constant fear for the safety of her community in remote Western Australia, where mobile phone reception is non-existent.
Ms Donation is a Ngarinyin woman and the chair of Kupungarri community, one of the most remote Aboriginal communities in the state.
"It's challenging and also scary because it's always on the back of our minds," she said.
Located in the Kimberley region 2,500 kilometres north-east of Perth and about 450km from the Northern Territory border, the town's residents have been waiting two years for a tower to be installed after receiving funding through the federal Mobile Black Spot Program (MBSP).
The closest hospital by road is a four-hour drive to Derby and in an emergency the only way to reach the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is by using the landline at the roadhouse.
Triple-0 not an option
Ms Donation has faced the terrifying reality of being unable to call emergency services when her son and his partner were involved in a car rollover just outside the community.
"His partner needed medical attention, so he just had to run with her back into community," she said.
"She was unconscious, drifting in and out.
The pair were found at the creek and the injured woman was flown to Halls Creek Hospital where she recovered.
The lack of mobile access impacts on the day-to-day lives of the community. As well as the safety risk, it also prevents people from accessing essential services such as Centrelink and Medicare.
Ms Donation said residents were forced to drive between four and six hours to the closest towns to get reception, but as most families don't own a car, many have to wait for a lift into Broome or Derby.
Access to essential services
"Some people go without payments or can't get access to their documents or MyGov due to not being able to get access to their SMS," Ms Donation said.
And now the expected arrival of COVID-19 has heightened her anxiety.
Western Australia's Aboriginal communities have the worst vaccination rates in the country, with 53 per cent of people in regional WA fully vaccinated according to Department of Health data reported by WA Today.
Since the start of the pandemic, state and territory governments have pledged to prioritise the safety of Aboriginal people living in remote communities, as they were identified as a high-risk group for health complications from COVID-19.
Almost all 200 remote Aboriginal communities have been closed to visitors since the start of the pandemic, but even with the closures, communities with publicly accessible roadhouses and shops face exposure to COVID-19. And without mobile reception the risks are even greater.
WA border fears
Jodie Newman manages the Mt Barnett roadhouse at Kupungarri on the Gibb River Road, a popular travel route for tourists seeking a rugged outback adventure and an essential stop for fuel and supplies.
She said mobile reception was vital for protecting the community as national and international tourists were set to flood back in.
"You need to link your Medicare to MyGov to obtain your vaccination status certificate and to do that you must receive an SMS verification code which you cannot do unless you have mobile service," she said.
She said the community had been in negotiations about the location of the tower with the service provider and the Department of Lands Planning and Heritage (DPLH) for more than 12 months.
"I think it's just more about it getting a bit too-hard-basket, which I don't understand when we've got to protect our community," she said.
Ms Newman said the community would consider whether the roadhouse would remain open to the public.
A spokesperson from DPLH said it was working with Telstra to secure an appropriate site.
Issues unified across the country
Andrew Williams, acting chief executive of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said access to education, telehealth, medical information and QR code check-ins were among the most reported telecommunication problems in remote and regional Australia.
Mr Williams wants telecommunications recognised as an essential service nationwide and for the MBSP to fund open access mobile towers to allow service providers to share infrastructure.
The ABC asked the federal Minister for Regional Communications, Bridget McKenzie, how many Aboriginal communities were waiting for mobile towers nationally, but the response from a spokesperson did not clarify.
The spokesperson said the MBSP had funded 1,270 mobile base stations across Australia costing $875 million.
"Timing and delivery of a base station is subject to a number of external parties that are directly and indirectly involved in the deployment process," the spokesperson said.
