Editing Telecommunications in Australia (section)

===Colonial period===
{{furtherinformation|History of telegraphy in Australia}}
Prior to [[Federation of Australia]] in 1901, each of the six Australian colonies had its own telephony communications network.<ref>{{Cite web|title=160 years of Australian telecommunications {{!}} Telsoc|url=https://telsoc.org/journal/ajtde-v2-n2/a43|access-date=2022-02-17|website=telsoc.org|language=en}}</ref> The Australian networks were government assets operating under colonial legislation modelled on that of Britain. The UK [[Telegraph Act 1868]] for example empowered the Postmaster-General to "acquire, maintain and work electric telegraphs" and foreshadowed the 1870 nationalisation of competing British telegraph companies.

Australia's first telephone service (connecting the [[Melbourne]] and [[South Melbourne]] offices of Robinson Brothers, a Melbourne engineering firm) was launched in 1879.<ref name="wah">{{cite web |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/16334 |title=When and How Did Telephones Come to Victoria? |website=Museums Victoria |access-date=8 November 2023 }}</ref> The private [[Melbourne Telephone Exchange Company]] opened Australia's first telephone exchange in August 1880. Around 7,757 calls were handled in 1884.<ref name="wah"/>

The nature of the networks meant that regulation in Australia was undemanding: network personnel were government employees or agents, legislation was enhanced on an incremental basis and restrictions could be achieved through infrastructure. All the colonies ran their telegraph networks at a deficit through investment in infrastructure and subsidisation of regional access, generally with bipartisan support.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Government-operated post office and telegraph networks – the largest parts of the bureaucracy – were combined into a single department in each colony on the model of the UK Post Office: [[South Australia]] in 1869, [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] in 1870, [[Queensland]] in 1880 and [[New South Wales]] in 1893.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}