UPCOMING EVENTS

Critical Communications Conference: Brisbane 30 July, 2026

Critical Communications Conference: Brisbane 30 July, 2026

Third on the ARCIA conference circuit is Brisbane! Join us for the QLD Critical Communications Conference and QLD State Networking Dinner in July 2026!

Following a fantastic conference in 2025, we’re heading back to sunny Brisbane on 30 July 2026.

Bookings now open!

Join us for the ARCIA Critical Communications Conference in Brisbane at Rydges South Bank. The Brisbane conference features a jam-packed stream of radio and critical communications presentations on Thursday, 30 July.

Finish off the day by getting together with your peers at the QLD Networking Dinner, where the highly anticipated winner of the QLD State Professional of the Year Award will be announced. You can make a nomination for this State Award via the ARCIA website until 3 July, 2026.

ARCIA have opened Expressions of Interest for the Land Mobile Radio | Antenna and Transmission Line Fundamentals and Testing workshop to be held on Wednesday, 29 July. This workshop would be available to book in addition to the conference program and QLD State Networking Dinner. Please let us know if you are interested in this course by completing the expression of interest form.

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Event Details

Conference and State Networking Dinner: Thursday 30 July
Venue and Address: Rydges, 9 Glenelg Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101
Time: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm (Conference), 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm (QLD State Networking Dinner)

Numbers are strictly limited due to venue capacity for the conference and the dinner, so book your seats for you and your colleagues ASAP. Discounts apply on all rates for current ARCIA Members. Not a member yet? Join ARCIA now >> 

Stay updated on event information by following us on LinkedIn or subscribe to our Mailing List.

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Membership and Partner Information

Discounts apply to all rates for current ARCIA Members, and Partners receive their State Dinner Entitlements.

Sign up to become an ARCIA Member and save $$$ on every ticket purchased. 

ARCIA Partners: Use the partner ACCESS CODE to unlock your allocated complimentary tickets. For assistance, contact [email protected].



Brisbane 2026 Conference Stream | 9.00 AM – 4.30 PM

If you would like to be the first to know about conference announcements, follow us on LinkedIn or subscribe to our Mailing List.

Conference Program coming soon

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LRDR: The Resilience Layer When Everything Else Fails

Presented by: Robbie Huxley | CEO, Mobile Communications

Key Takeaways:

  1. What modern digital HF/LRDR can do (voice, data, ALE/3G/4G, security)
  2. How LRDR complements satellite/IP and keeps ops running during failures
  3. Practical integration: HF–VHF/ UHF–LTE/ Sat via gateways (e.g., SmartPatch)

The session will draw on real regional deployments and lessons learned from operating in infrastructure-limited environments, aligning well with the conference’s focus on innovation, interoperability, and resilience.

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Star Wars, The LEO Strikes Back –An impartial review of the satellite industry revolution currently underway

Presented by: Dale Stacey | Managing Director, SAT Pty Ltd

There is a revolution taking place within the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) sector of the broadband communications industry. The sector is volatile and disruptive, with implications for the terrestrial mobile networks and traditional thinking of backhaul for the carriers, for Public Safety Users and for domestic and commercial users being challenged. This sector of communications has seen exceptional growth recently, with the costs of sat comms tumbling. However, there are whispers about congestion, a bandwidth ceiling, possible increasing costs and concerns over sovereignty and weaponisation.

This presentation is a snapshot in time of now and some crystal balling as to where it will go. 

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ARCIA’s Role in a Critical Communications Environment

Presented by: Hamish Duff | Managing Director, Mastercom

Abstract coming soon

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Panel Discussion: The Evolving Radio and Critical Communications Ecosystem – How Disruptive are Emerging Technologies?

Moderated by: Chris Stevens

Panelists: To be Announced

Much discussion is now focusing not only on when MCX will become the norm for critical communications right around the world, but what role satellite should and will play. Land Mobile Radio still plays a crucial role in many environments, and significant investment continues to be made by many for their communications requirements, but are we now seeing a shift that will hasten the end of LMR networks, with increasing spend on emerging technologies? 

Today, we have heard from a range of experts, with various backgrounds and opinions on currently available technologies, and now we will hear again from some of them, as we open up to our panel, giving them the opportunity to share with our audience where they see the radio and critical communications sector heading. 

Are we really seeing the demise of Land Mobile Radio, or do the numbers around the world tell a different story? Will the surge in LEO adoption curtail investment in MCX by certain users, or will we continue to see the mix of technologies we see today for many years to come, based on use case, budget, security, coverage and many other factors?

 



Conference Chair

 

Chris Stevens

Photo of Chris Stevens, Managing Director, CartGIS

Managing Director, CartGIS

Chris Stevens is Managing Director of CartGIS Pty Ltd, an emergency management, GIS and mapping and communications consultancy company based in Melbourne. Chris has extensive experience in LMR network design, planning and implementation as well as GIS and mapping application design and commissioning.

CartGIS Pty Ltd also specialises in bespoke training and education for the critical communication community. Chris has extensive qualifications and experience in secondary, tertiary and workplace training and education, which, coupled with his communication experience, delivers industry and client focused outcomes.

Chris is also Co-Vice President of ARCIA, and Sub-committee convenor of training and education for ARCIA.

Presenter Biographies

Dale Stacey

Photo of Dale StaceyManaging Director, SAT Pty Ltd

Dale Stacey has spent more than 25 years in the telecommunications industry.

He is a Chartered Engineer (IET,UK and IEAust, Australia and a member of IEEE,USA) and has an extensive range of knowledge and experience in the worldwide radio communications sector.

Dale has managed and delivered many major projects through all phases of their life cycle, from concept and strategy, through development of the business case, design, optimisation, installation, integration, test and commission, acceptance and maintenance. Dale has gained experience of such projects from a number of perspectives, including that of the supplier, vendor, buyer, user, integrator and consultant.

Dale’s previous experience includes numerous design and implementation assignments for major public utilities both worldwide and within Australia (electricity, gas, oil and water), and telecommunications carrier projects (GSM, 3G and microwave projects for Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, BT).

More recently, he has been involved in extensive coverage analysis, optimisation and drive testing of private networks, and 3G and 4G networks. He is currently working on the 5G revolution and other private network innovations in emergency services, smart city and IoT.

Hamish Duff

Hon. President, ARCIA and Managing Director, Mastercom

Hamish is the Managing Director of Mastercom and a founding Director of the Orion Network.

A specialist in wide–area radio networks, Hamish has a genuine understanding of the pressures faced in the field and the role that efficient communications plays to help people every day. With a career in communications spanning more than 40 years, Hamish is skilled in making complex, simple engineering communication solutions to support the needs of all users, from the control room to the field.

Hamish is the honorary president of the Australian Radio Communications Industry Association and an honorary director of the Digital Mobile Radio Association.

Neil JamiesonNeil Jamieson of Hypha

Group CEO, Hypha

Neil has been involved with exploring Satellite communications and applications for over 20 years with a specific interest in the Public Safety Sector.

As a founder, and the Group CEO of Hypha Ltd. Neil has been at the forefront of Satellite applications in the Public Safety sector in Australia. From simple PTT applications to driving Big Data solutions with new LEO constellations, it has been his mission to explore non-traditional options to solve some of our unique communications challenges in Australia

Robbie Huxley

CEO/Managing Director, Mobile Communications

Robbie Huxley is the Owner and Managing Director of TE (PNG) Ltd, TE Solomons Ltd, TE Pacific Group, and Mobile Communications Pty Ltd. With formal qualifications in Aeronautical Engineering and Telecommunications & Network Engineering, Robbie brings a unique blend of technical expertise and hands-on solution delivery experience across the full spectrum of industries, NGO’s and government.

Based in Papua New Guinea for more than 12 years, Robbie has delivered numerous large-scale communications projects as a Project Manager/Director. His experience covers the end-to-end lifecycle of critical systems, spanning HF/VHF/UHF radio networks, satellite
communications, enterprise IT networks, security platforms, and fully integrated communications solutions.

His work is leading the way in integrated communications services — delivering scalable, future-ready solutions that combine technical depth, commercial insight, and local capability development. He places a strong emphasis on building long-term system reliability and resilience, while also mentoring and training local technicians to develop on- the-ground capability.

Through his group of companies, Robbie has delivered solutions across Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia, and the wider South Pacific. This regional reach has given him extensive experience working in both challenging remote locations and complex metropolitan environments. His ability to bridge the technical and commercial aspects of project delivery ensures outcomes that are practical, sustainable, and strategically aligned to client needs.

 


**The conference organisers reserve the right to make changes to the agenda at any time and without notice. Please check close to the conference date for the latest agenda.

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Date - 30th July 2026
Location - Rydges South Bank Brisbane, 9 Glenelg Street , South Brisbane, Australia

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