A multicast status availability indication from an anchor (24) is provided to a plurality of base nodes (22) that are part of a multicast group serviced by the anchor (24). The availability status indication in one example is sent autonomously by the anchor (24) independent of any inquiry or attempted setup of a new session with that anchor by a base mode (22). The base modes (22) maintain a candidate anchor set that includes information regarding currently available anchors for establishing new sessions, for example.