IND Technology, Media Release, March 2025. Australian Rural & Regional News asked some further questions of IND.T founder and CEO, Professor Alan Wong, answered below the release.

Victoria has long faced the devastating impact of powerline-related bushfires, with outdated Single Wire Earth Return powerlines responsible for 30 to 40 fires each year.

Despite almost ten years of successful trials, partially funded by the Victorian Government, which prove that early fault detectors for powerlines can prevent bushfires, the technology has yet to be widely rolled out.

As one of the most bushfire-prone regions in the world, Victoria has a real opportunity to lead in implementing this proven, life-saving technology as part of its bushfire prevention efforts.

Originally developed at RMIT University by a team of engineering experts, this homegrown innovation has already prevented more than 500 potential fires, primarily in North America and Canada, where it has been widely adopted.

The demand for our product in North America fuels the expansion of our manufacturing facility in Richmond. The newly expanded facility will allow us to produce more than 10,000 EFD devices each year to meet the growth.

Yet in the very place where this breakthrough was created, it remains largely unused.

To support the push for broader adoption, local start-up IND Technology has expanded its manufacturing facility in Richmond. The expanded hub will not only increase production but also create local high-tech jobs, strengthening Australia’s advanced manufacturing sector.

Additionally, the strong demand in North America is driving the expansion of the manufacturing facility in Richmond, enabling IND Technology to produce more than 10,000 EFD devices annually to keep up with growth.

“There is a serious gap in Victoria’s bushfire safety plan. Despite all the evidence, we still don’t have the government support we need. With this new hub, we’re hopeful we can work closely alongside regulators to ensure this important innovation gets rolled out across Victoria and nationally,” said Professor Wong, Founder and CEO of IND Technology.

In November last year, IND Technology submitted a report to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action on the FireSafe Early Fault Detection trial.

“Our trial tested this bushfire safety technology across rural Victoria. A lot of Victoria’s worst bushfires, like the ones on Black Saturday, were caused by faults in these old powerlines.”

“These powerlines are still being used to power remote areas today, and the risk is still very real,” said IND Founder and CEO Professor Alan Wong.

At the expanded Richmond hub, early fault detection systems will continue to be developed and deployed, using real-time monitoring to detect faults before they can start fires.

“Right now, we’re primarily relying on private funding and investment to keep pushing this technology forward,” said Professor Wong. “We’re hoping for greater collaboration between industry, government, and regulators to make sure communities get access to the best fire prevention technology available. Most of our team lives here in Victoria, and we want to protect the communities we are part of.”

Australian Rural & Regional News asked some further questions of
Professr Alan Wong, CEO of IND Technology

ARR.News: Is the IND.T early fault system able to be used on both old and new power lines, including the extensive large scale transmission line infrastructure being constructed across Australia?

Professor Wong: Yes, our early fault detection system called EFD works on both old and new power lines, including the big transmission lines being built across Australia.

We originally developed it for rural areas, aiming to protect small towns and communities. It works on Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) powerlines, which are common in rural Australia. In fact, our eight successful trials in Victoria include two on rural SWER lines.

In Western Australia, the powerlines are a bit different because of the sandy soil. Instead of the single wire with earth return like in the east, they use two wires. Based on our analysis, we’re confident that our system will work just as well on these lines. We’re currently in discussions with Western Power to trial the system on their remote rural powerlines, so we’re excited to see how it performs there.

ARR.News: Has IND.T approached the different levels of government and the energy providers about installing the early warning systems?Are you able to share the nature of the responses given so far, including why it has not yet been sufficiently picked up?

Professor Wong: We’ve been working closely with both federal and state governments, as well as powerline network owners. For example, our trial in Victoria last year was co-funded by the Victorian Government, and we partnered with AusNet Services and Powercor Australia to carry it out. While most Australian utilities are still in trial phases, we’re seeing some really positive results.

Our first customer outside Victoria is Endeavour Energy in New South Wales. The insights from their network trial, particularly in the Blue Mountains, helped us identify key risks such as broken high and low-voltage lines, vegetation encroachments, and broken insulators. This work earned an ENA Industry Award and boosted our adoption in the US and Canada.

One of the main challenges we’re facing is Australia’s regulatory system, which is more complex than in other countries. In Australia, we have a national regulator overseeing network pricing, while state-based regulators focus on safety standards.

This is different from places like North America, where a single regulator handles both pricing and safety. Our division of responsibilities makes things more complicated.

The national economic regulator looks at how technology impacts network service pricing. It’s up to the state regulators to decide whether technologies like ours should be legally required for powerline owners.

If state regulators don’t make it mandatory, the national regulator won’t approve cost recovery for network owners to pass the cost on to customers. We estimate the technology would add around 30 cents per month to the average power bill, but without approval to recover those costs, it is challenging to push for a nationwide rollout. That being said, we’re still very much pushing for a full rollout of the system because we know its potential. Most of our team is based here in Victoria, and we are deeply invested in protecting the communities we live in. That’s why we’ve expanded our facility, to enhance our capabilities and better protect our rural communities.

ARR.News: Are you able to provide more information about the report you provided to the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action?

Professor Wong: The report we provided to DEECA outlines the successful results from our FireSafe SWER EFD trial. We saw a major 64 per cent reduction in deployment costs, which exceeded our expectations.

The technology has proven to be not only effective but also affordable and practical. It successfully detected multiple network defects, including issues that posed critical fire-risk.

However, one of the challenges we’ve encountered is that the economic regulation of utilities in Australia doesn’t directly support the rollout of this kind of technology. Despite this, both AusNet Services and Powercor Australia who were involved in the Victorian trials are now considering whether to keep the trial equipment in service.

Looking at the findings from the trial and the insights in our report, we believe there’s a real opportunity to roll out FireSafe SWER EFD technology across rural Victoria. This could be a game changer in protecting communities from the devastating risk of powerline-caused bushfires. The next step would be to secure funding to make this a reality and move to implementation.

ARR.News: Are you able to be more specific about the places in Australia (and perhaps even US) where the system is in operation and where it is not or where there are gaps? Is there any competing early fault technology that is in use in Australia? How costly is the IND.T system?

Professor Wong: Our system is still in the trial phase here in Australia, and while there hasn’t been a nationwide rollout yet, it’s actually gained more traction in North America, where it’s already being used on a very large scale. In fact, the system there has helped prevent over 500 potential fires in the US and Canada.

When it comes to competing technologies in Australia, there really isn’t anything like our FireSafe SWER EFD system. No trial to date has triggered a deployment of early fault detection technology in Victoria for its primary purpose of protecting rural communities from catastrophic powerline fires, like those that occurred on Black Saturday. This is exactly what our system is designed to address and the current limited coverage constitutes a substantial gap in Victoria’s rural fire-safety.

As for the cost, implementing the FireSafe SWER EFD system across all of Victoria would add approximately 30 cents to the average customer’s monthly electricity bill during its 15-year service life. Given the significant impact it can have in protecting communities from devastating fires, we believe this is a relatively small investment for something that could make such a big difference.

ARR.News: Do you have Australians with the necessary skills ready to take up work in your new manufacturing facility?

Professor Wong: Absolutely! We’re very confident that we have a strong pool of skilled Australians ready to take on roles at our new manufacturing facility.

In recent years, there’s been a significant push to develop the necessary skills within Australia’s workforce, especially in advanced manufacturing. Our investment in this new facility is designed to tap into that talent, drawing from local universities and training programs that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of high-tech industries. The skilled workforce we’re looking at includes engineers, technicians, and specialists in areas like automation, robotics, AI, and advanced manufacturing processes. This expanded facility will generate millions of dollars in export income for both Victoria and Australia, while also strengthening the country’s advanced manufacturing sector. Ultimately, this investment will create high-tech local jobs, showcasing Australian innovation and providing valuable opportunities for our workforce to grow alongside our industry.

Related story: Mitigating the disproportionate bushfire vulnerability in rural communities