News and events
Survey of health professionals and the NRS
10 May 2012
The NRS works closely with health professionals such as audiologists, audiometrists, speech pathologists, nurses, social workers and occupational therapists. It’s important that professionals such as yourselves, who are respected by people with ...
Internet relay improvements
3 April 2012
The NRS has released a new version of internet relay with a number of important improvements for users. Fix for calls from Windows Live Messenger (MSN) Internet relay calls are working as ...
AIM issue resolved
14 March 2012
NRS internet relay users were unable to access AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) earlier today. This was caused by the AIM network ‘locking out’ the NRS user name. The AIM channel was inaccessible ...
Get your survey in to have a chance to win
5 March 2012
The NRS is surveying our customers to find out what you think about the service. We want to know about your experiences when you use the NRS and your ideas on how ...
Windows Messenger link not working – all other NRS calls okay
8 February 2012
Update We are still investigating the connection issues regarding the ‘gateway’ connecting the NRS and Windows Live Messenger (MSN) following the decision by Microsoft to stop supporting the previous gateway software. We ...
Victorian CFA now Relay Service friendly
8 February 2012
The NRS has been working with the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) to ensure the CFA’s bushfire information phone line is relay service friendly. Existing relay service users in Victoria can now ...
Important rights of NRS users clarified
2 November 2011
Two important public watchdogs have recently clarified a number of grey areas concerning the rights of NRS users. The Disability Discrimination Act, administered by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), has been ...
Winner for Quiet Signs of Love competition
30 September 2011
Congratulations to the winner of the NRS iPad 2 Competition – Melissa Kagie from Dubbo! Melissa was randomly chosen from all those who commented about our short film Quiet Signs of Love ...
Internet relay back online
21 September 2011
Update 11 am (Sydney time) Internet relay is now working reliably. You will be able to make calls as usual through your preferred option – the Web, Windows Messenger or AIM. We ...
MSN internet relay interruption now fixed
6 September 2011
7.30 pm (Sydney time) Internet relay is now fully functioning. We apologise to customers who were unable to make calls through MSN or AIM for a period this afternoon due to intermitent ...
Internet relay interruption now fixed
5 September 2011
Apologies to any users who were affected by an outage in our internet relay via MSN service last night. Calls could not be made through MSN from approximately 9pm Sunday (Sydney time). ...
A better deal for NRS call centre customers
10 August 2011
The NRS will be working with staff in a wide range of call centres during Hearing Awareness Week this year to improve their practical knowledge about handling calls from NRS users. People ...
Census 2011 – Relay Service friendly
29 July 2011
The Australian Census happens only once every five years but it’s coming very soon. Census staff are now out in the field delivering census forms to households and on Tuesday 9 August, ...
Have your say in review of NRS
27 July 2011
The terms of reference to the government review of access to telecommunication services by people with disability, older Australians and people experiencing illness, were recently announced by the Minister for Broadband, Communications ...
YouTube love story promotes NRS
14 July 2011
The 15-minute love-story, designed for online viewing only, aims to promote a relay service that makes it easier for Australians with hearing and speech impairments to make phone calls. Quiet Signs of ...
Relay call centre back to normal
7 July 2011
UPDATE 5.30 pm (Sydney time) The NRS call centre is now back to normal operation following an afternoon of delays and difficulties in connection for some callers. Optus has advised that its ...
NRS contracts extended
24 June 2011
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has annouced extensions to the current contracts for the management of the NRS for the next two years. The Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) - which ...
Update on NRS response to the Brisbane floods
20 June 2011
NRS call centre evacuation The NRS national call centre in Brisbane was evacuated at 1pm on Wednesday 12 January due to concerns about staff safety and access during the floods. The premises ...
NRS examines disaster operations following Brisbane floods
28 March 2011
The National Relay Service is working closely with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to examine what has been learnt from the January floods in Brisbane for the planning and future ...
Fill in your survey in to have a chance to win
10 March 2011
The NRS is carrying out a survey to find out what users think about the service. During February we recruited some 700 NRS users to participate in the survey and we thank ...
NRS gears up to help with response to Yasi
2 February 2011
The NRS is rostering on more relay officers from midday today to deal with an expected increase in calls as Cylone Yasi nears the coast. We expect to maintain increased rostering until ...
NRS back to normal after floods
15 January 2011
The intense, extraordinary flooding in the Brisbane area affected many essential services including power, phone and transport. These problems had a severe impact on NRS services. Although the NRS relay centre building ...
New-look website for NRS!
13 December 2010
The National Relay Service today launched a new, easier-to-use version of its website. "The website is an important resource for NRS users and would be-users" said NRS Outreach manager Deborah Fullwood. "It ...
Minister Conroy honours country bloke who became a beacon of hope
7 June 2010
A hearing impaired Australian has been honoured at Parliament House in Canberra for his contribution to raising awareness about the NRS. Murph Emond, an ex-truck driver from the town of Meredith in ...
Community consultation for NRS
20 April 2010
Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, announced the consultation at a CommsDay Summit in Sydney 'Making services accessible is essential for consumers to be able to ...
Minister to investigate emergency SMS
20 April 2010
Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, has announced his 'intention to establish an SMS emergency service for people with disabilities'. He has asked his department to ...
