Ballarat MP Catherine King said she had raised the issue of poor coverage with a Senate Estimate Committee in Canberra this week to find out when the Federal Government's Mobile Black Spot Program would be rolled out.

Ms King's intervention comes just days after a crash between a bus and a tractor in the centre of Lexton which injured 13 people, including 12 children.

The issue came to a head after shocked children tried in vain to contact their parents after the crash, but had no phone coverage.

Ms King said the it was incumbent on the Federal Government to end mobile black spots in rural areas, suggesting the program which promised full coverage by June this year was unrealistic.

"In February the Lexton community was promised by the Federal Government that they would have mobile coverage from the end of June this year," Ms King said.

"Now we learn through Senate Estimates that construction is only set to be completed by June next year.

"Even with this approaching deadline, we know that a site for construction is still yet to be confirmed. The Government needs to stop making promises that it cannot keep."

The Federal Government has committed $380 million to the Mobile Black Spot Program over six rounds to invest in telecommunications infrastructure that improves mobile coverage across Australia.

Optus, which has been tendered to install the Lexton tower, said discussions with the Pyrenees Shire Council were still to determine a site.

"Optus is currently in negotiation with the local council regarding approval of the Lexton site and we will move to construction as soon as all agreements are in place," an Optus spokesperson said.

Any delay will also mean mobile coverage for the thousands of people attending January's Rainbow Serpent festival will again be non-existent, a concern police and emergency services have raised on a number of occasions.

A spokesperson from the Department of Communications and the Arts said a range of factors can delay delivery, including local planning approval processes, negotiations to acquire land at a suitable site, reliance on third parties such as power authorities to complete work on time and connect mains power and adverse weather conditions.

"The Australian Government is committed to delivering the clear public safety, social, and economic benefits of expanded mobile coverage for people living, working and travelling in regional and remote parts of Australia," the department spokesperson said.

"The Waubra base station funded under round two of the Mobile Black Spot Program was activated by Optus in September 2019."

But Ms King said the black spot in Lexton was just one of over 100 from the first three rounds - of the six round program - which had yet to be completed.

"This is not good enough. Regional communities deserve to be given a realistic assessment of when towers will be completed," she said. "The failure to fix the Lexton black spot has already endangered members of our community - it must now be addressed as a matter of urgency."

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