Power and Telecommunications Outages

Outages can be caused by severe weather, such as lightning, floods, heatwaves, bushfires, high winds, or by trees contacting powerlines.

Consider the following:

• Know if your business's landline telephones need to be connected to the power supply.
• If you have a telephone that works with battery backup equipment during power outages, test the battery periodically, understand how long it should last, learn how to replace it, and consider having a spare battery that is continuously fully charged.
• If you're not sure if your phone will work during a power failure, you should:
  • read the instructions for the telephone to see if there's a warning label stating that this type of telephone will not work if there's a power failure.
  • test your telephone – unplug it from the electricity supply and make a call (make sure the phone is still connected to the telephone socket).
• Charge your mobile phone, laptop or tablet if you're advised of an imminent emergency. Also consider keeping an extra mobile battery and a mobile car charger on hand.
• Official emergency broadcasters are an important source of information during emergencies, consider keeping a battery-operated, solar-powered, or hand-crank-operated radio for use during power outages. Listen across South Gippsland on ABC 828AM, ABC 774AM, or ABC 100.7FM.
• Keep a paper copy of important contacts. Store somewhere safe and easy to find in case of a power outage.
• Keep cash on hand, as EFTPOS or ATMs may not work if there is a telecommunications or power outage.
• Visit your electricity distributor’s website to learn how your distributor can provide you with information during a power outage. Your electricity distributor may provide information using their website, SMS alerts, mobile apps, social media or email.
• For further information visit Prepare for power outage
• Get latest information on outages at Ausnet’s Outage tracker which is updated in real-time at www.outagetracker.com.au