National Broadband Network

What is the National Broadband Network?

The National Broadband Network (NBN) will ensure that all Australians have access to very fast broadband using a mix of technologies. The Australian Government is committed to completing the construction of the NBN sooner, at less expense for taxpayers and more affordably for consumers.

You can find out more about the NBN on NBN Co's website.

Statement of Expectations

The Government has issued NBN Co with a new Statement of Expectations. This statement will guide the next steps in delivering the NBN. It replaces the interim Statement of Expectations issued in September 2013 and all previous statements.

• Shareholder Ministers' advice to NBN Co (PDF, 746 KB)
• Shareholder Ministers' advice to NBN Co (DOC, 79 KB)
• Interim Statement of Expectations (PDF, 799 KB)
• Interim Statement of Expectations (DOC, 253 KB)

NBN Co Review

The Government has committed to undertake a series of reviews into the NBN in order to refocus the rollout around its policy objectives which include using a wider range of technologies to connect homes and businesses to the network sooner. The individual reviews will cover:

• NBN Co's costs, structure, commercial prospects and strategic plans
• the public policy process which led to the NBN and NBN Co's governance
• the economic and social costs and benefits of the availability of high speed broadband of differing properties via various technologies, the role of Government support and a number of other longer-term industry matters.

On 3 October 2013, the Minister outlined the Terms of Reference for the first of these reviews, which has been undertaken by the new NBN Co Board. The Government received a draft of NBN Co's Strategic Review on 2 December 2013. On 12 December 2013, NBN Co published the Strategic Review into the NBN rollout after detailed consideration. Further information on the conduct and timing of the other reviews will be provided as decisions are announced by Government.

• Ministerial Statement (PDF, 170.1 KB)
• Ministerial Statement (DOC, 83.0 KB)

Independent Audit of the NBN Public Policy Process

On 7 March 2014, the Government announced the appointment of Mr Bill Scales AO to conduct an independent audit of the public policy processes that led to the establishment of the NBN.

More information on the audit can be found on the Independent audit of the NBN Public Policy Process page.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Review of Regulation

On 12 December 2013, the Government announced the terms of reference for the Cost-Benefit Analysis and Review of Regulation of NBN (the third of the reviews listed above) and the Panel of Experts who will provide a report to the Government.

Broadband Availability and Quality Project

The Department of Communications has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of broadband availability and quality in over 78,000 local areas of Australia to assist with the prioritisation of the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout.

On 20 February 2014, the Minister for Communications published the full results of this analysis, following the release of a national summary report on 23 December 2013.

The full Broadband Availability and Quality Report compares the broadband technologies available to Australians in every part of the country and the download speeds that can typically be achieved over each platform. A complementary website, MyBroadband, allows people to view results for their local area and provide feedback on the broadband quality and availability ratings.

• Broadband Availability and Quality Report (PDF, )
• MyBroadband website: http://communications.gov.au/mybroadband
• Broadband Availability and Quality: Summary Report (DOC, )
• Broadband Availability and Quality: Summary Report (PDF, )

The Broadband Availability and Quality report has been provided to NBN Co. The company has been asked to consider the findings and prioritise construction work in underserved areas of the country, where is it logistically and commercially feasible to do so.