Emergency Lift Phone Australia: A Decade of Network Disruptions and What Building Managers Must Do Now
There is a phone in every Australian lift that almost no one thinks about until the moment someone needs it. Under AS1735, the Australian Standard governing lift installations, that emergency lift phone must be capable of placing an outgoing call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without exception. Fail that requirement, and building owners, owners corporations, and strata committees face genuine legal exposure — human, financial, and reputational.
What makes compliance harder than it should be is not complacency. It is that in roughly ten years, the underlying network infrastructure supporting these phones has been disrupted three separate times. Each disruption has rendered previously compliant systems non-functional, often without a single visible fault or warning.
This article traces each era of that disruption, explains where the risk sits today, and outlines what building managers need to do to maintain a compliant, future-ready emergency lift phone in Australia.
Era 1: The PSTN Era — When Lift Phones Just Worked
For decades, lift emergency phones ran on Australia's copper landline network, the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). A dedicated analogue line ran into the building's main distribution frame. It was always on, required minimal maintenance, and was inexpensive to run.
For strata buildings, this was genuinely set-and-forget infrastructure. Lift phone compliance was not a complicated conversation because the technology was stable. That stability ended with the arrival of the NBN.
Era 2: The NBN Rollout and PSTN Copper Switch-Off (2014 to 2025)
As the NBN rolled out across Australia, copper lines were progressively decommissioned. Once a building was connected to the NBN, Telstra was required to give 18 months' notice before cutting the copper service permanently.
The outcomes varied sharply depending on the connection type assigned to each building.
For greenfield developments (new builds), NBN delivered FTTP connections with a UNI-V voice port available, allowing a relatively smooth transition. For brownfield buildings (existing residential and commercial stock), the connection type was typically FTTN, FTTB, or HFC, none of which include a UNI-V voice port. In these cases, the analogue lift phone line simply disappeared.
For many strata buildings, this was the first time anyone realised there was a PSTN lift phone compliance problem. The NBN rollout exposed a widespread assumption that someone else had already dealt with it.
Era 3: The 3G Migration — A Functional But Temporary Fix
To replace copper services lost in the NBN transition, buildings across Australia adopted 3G-based lift phones. SIM-based connectivity required no fixed line, was cost-effective, and was straightforward to deploy.
From roughly 2017 through to 2022, this became the dominant emergency lift phone solution for strata buildings. It worked. But it came with a built-in expiry date that most building managers were not told about.
Era 4: The 3G Shutdown and Its Impact on Lift Phone Compliance (2024)
Australian mobile carriers shut down their 3G networks on the following dates:
- Vodafone: January 2024
- Optus: August 2024
- Telstra: 31 August 2024
From 1 September 2024, 3G ceased to exist in Australia. Any lift phone relying on a 3G SIM stopped working. In most cases, there were no visible fault indicators. No lights. No alerts. Emergency calls could not connect, and building managers had no way of knowing unless they physically tested the device.
This created a national strata lift phone compliance issue. The core problem was not the technology failing in a dramatic way. It was the absence of awareness. Many building managers had no idea their system was 3G-dependent, and many lift phone providers had not proactively notified their clients about the shutdown and what it meant for their systems.
If your building has not audited its lift phone since early 2024, there is a real possibility it has been non-compliant for months.
Era 5: The NBN UNI-V Shutdown and the VoIP Lift Phone Transition (2025 to 2030)
Another disruption is already underway. NBN Co is progressively decommissioning the UNI-V voice port on FTTP connections. This is the same port that was used as a direct replacement for copper analogue lines in greenfield and upgraded buildings.
The timeline for this transition runs from 2025 through to 2030, but the impact is being felt now. Voice services that relied on UNI-V must migrate to VoIP over the UNI-D data port. That migration affects intercoms, fire panels, and lift emergency phones equally.
For strata buildings that moved to a UNI-V lift phone solution to replace copper, a third technology migration is now required. The NBN lift phone and UNI-V shutdown problem is less visible than the 3G shutdown, but the compliance risk is the same.
Three Disruptions in Ten Years: The Pattern Is Clear
The sequence looks like this: PSTN copper switch-off from 2014 to 2025, migration to 3G SIM solutions from 2017 to 2024, 3G network shutdown in 2024, and UNI-V port decommissioning from 2025 to 2030.
There is no longer a set-and-forget solution for lift phone compliance. The technology landscape has changed too many times, and there is no signal that it will stabilise. What building managers need now is a solution that is inherently adaptable, actively monitored, and backed by a provider who tracks these changes on their behalf.
What Is the Right Solution for an Emergency Lift Phone Today?
There are three technology categories to consider when replacing a non-compliant or at-risk system.
4G/LTE SIM-Based Lift Phones use current mobile networks. They have a longer serviceable lifecycle than 3G systems did, particularly if the hardware supports 5G for future readiness. These are straightforward to deploy and well-suited to buildings without reliable fixed-line infrastructure.
IP/VoIP Lift Phones run over a data connection rather than a legacy voice network. They carry no dependency on analogue infrastructure and are well-positioned to survive the UNI-V shutdown since they operate over UNI-D from the outset.
Dual-Path Solutions combine IP primary with mobile LTE backup. This is the configuration we recommend for any building where safety continuity is the priority. If the internet connection drops, the mobile path takes over. If the mobile network has maintenance issues, the IP path holds. Our lift gateway with VoIP, NBN, and LTE backup is purpose-built for this use case.
For buildings in areas with limited fixed-line infrastructure, our LTE-only lift gateway provides a clean mobile-first solution with 4G redundancy.
Technology selection alone is not sufficient. Active monitoring, scheduled testing, and proactive notification of upcoming network changes are what separate a compliant system from one that is merely installed.
What Building Owners and Strata Managers Should Do Now
The starting point for any strata building is a clear-eyed audit of the current system. These are the steps we recommend.
Identify what your lift phone actually runs on. Copper, 3G, 4G, UNI-V, or VoIP are all possibilities, and the answer determines your risk exposure and urgency.
Replace any 3G system immediately. These are already non-compliant as of September 2024 and should be treated as a priority remediation.
Plan for UNI-V migration before it becomes urgent. Strata approvals and physical upgrades take time. Buildings on UNI-V should be planning their VoIP lift phone transition now, not in 2028.
Ensure your provider offers active monitoring. Lift phone compliance requires ongoing verification, not just installation. Your provider should be testing regularly, flagging risks, and notifying you before problems occur.
Document everything. Keep records of your provider, the technology in use, the date of the last compliance test, and the scheduled next review. This documentation matters if a compliance question is ever raised.
Our strata management communications solutions page covers how we approach this across the full building communications stack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is my lift phone still compliant after the 3G shutdown?
A: Only if it has been upgraded to a 4G/LTE or VoIP-based solution. All 3G networks in Australia were shut down by 31 August 2024. Any lift phone still operating on a 3G SIM after that date is unable to place emergency calls and is non-compliant with AS1735. If you are unsure what technology your system uses, a site audit is the necessary first step.
Q: What does AS1735 require for an emergency lift phone in Australia?
A: AS1735 specifies that a lift must be fitted with a means of two-way communication that can be used by a trapped person to contact a responsible person or monitoring service. The phone must be capable of initiating an outgoing call at any time. It must be operable without a handset, and it must function independently of the building's normal phone or intercom system where possible. Compliance is the responsibility of the building owner or owners corporation.
Q: How does the NBN UNI-V shutdown affect strata lift phones?
A: NBN Co is decommissioning the UNI-V analogue voice port on FTTP connections progressively between 2025 and 2030. Buildings that replaced copper lift phone lines with a UNI-V-connected device will need to migrate again, this time to a VoIP solution running over the UNI-D data port. The risk is real but manageable if planned for in advance. Buildings using 4G/LTE or already-VoIP solutions are not directly affected by this change.
Q: Can a VoIP lift phone meet AS1735 compliance requirements?
A: Yes, provided the VoIP solution is correctly configured and reliably connected. The key compliance considerations are call reliability (the phone must connect every time), power continuity (the solution must handle power outages, typically with battery backup), and monitoring (regular testing to verify the system is functional). A dual-path solution that combines VoIP with a mobile LTE backup is the most robust approach for meeting AS1735 requirements over the long term.
Q: Who is responsible for lift phone compliance in a strata building?
A: In a strata building, the owners corporation is generally responsible for common property, which includes the lift and its emergency phone. The strata committee or strata manager typically administers this on behalf of the owners corporation. However, the legal duty of care sits with the owners corporation as a body. If a non-compliant lift phone contributes to harm, the owners corporation can be exposed to liability. Strata managers who are aware of a compliance issue and do not escalate it may also carry exposure.
Get a Free Lift Phone Compliance Audit
We work with strata managers, building owners, and facility managers across Australia to audit existing lift phone systems, identify compliance risks, and deploy 4G and IP-based solutions with active monitoring built in.
Our emergency lift phone solutions are designed specifically for the Australian strata and commercial building market, with hardware and monitoring that accounts for the ongoing shifts in network infrastructure.
If you manage an apartment building or mixed-use development and want to understand your options, our apartment building technology solutions page is a useful starting point.
To book a free compliance audit or speak with our team directly:
Phone: 1300 688 588 Email: [email protected]