What is the ADS-B Australian Coverage at Lowest Safe Altitude?

[CaptainMidnight]

1. I'm just going to call Bulls$#t on the assertion that 77% of IFR registered aircraft are now have ADS-B fitted.

No, they no doubt aren't, and I didn't say they were. I said I believed the figures were "close to".

FWIW late last year I recall it was said to be 50-something percent of airframes when the table was 60-something percent "All IFR", so I assume 6 months later both numbers have moved on.

Ask CASA - they should know

[underfire]

The FAA has made recent statements saying that it will not slip later than 2020. And I think they are probably starting to be bound by ICAO undertakings.

But there are some very, very big differences with the FAA implementation:
1. They are implementing ADSB - in so that you can get traffic information. Their system also allows weather information and some other data to be received. The US flavour of FAA adds real value to the pilot.
2. The FAA is not mandating ADS-B for all airspace types and all levels. You will still be able to fly non ADSB VFR and even IFR
3. The FAA has granted some installation concessions to help make the conversion cheaper

Yes, that is the concept, but not the reality. Currently, the ADSB is so jammed up at most airports due to the capacity of 1090 MHz system. Those inherent limitations cannot go away by throwing more money at it. The 890 ADSB below a certain altitude and/or for ground ops, doesn't work any better with capacity issues.
The string length of the broadcast cant really get any longer, as this will bunch it up even more, and create more compatibility issues.
I have been in on the weather part of it for years, and unfortunately, there is just not enough length in the string to have a broadcast of any value.

It doesnt help the matter that anyone can send and receive the ADSB signal, which is why there will be little reliance on it. The FAA has gone to ADSB 2, which does include encryption, and that is what is being mandated for 2020. Back to my post, that is why the systems will not be compatible, and why the jump at this point, with systems and equipage, appears fraught with disaster.

As noted on the Boeing and Airbus details, the aircraft will begin being shipped with ADSB 2 beginning 2018...what will happen then in Oz? Aircraft and a whole system that cannot see an encrypted aircraft?

I feel that the systems that Boeing and Airbus are using now with some of their aircraft, that monitor the vital signs of the aircraft thruogh the Ku band uplink, are where it will all go in the very near future. There are already fleets of aircraft, equipped with certain IFE systems, that already do provide all of this data, and both in/out configurations. It works very, very well. If there are any SW, or Air Berlin drivers here (to name a few) , they can attest to the benefits, especially the uplink descent profiles.
Try any of that with ADSB...