Government to mandate that telcos maintain public outage registers
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The news: Minister for Communications Anika Wells intends to mandate that telecommunications companies maintain a public register of network outages in the wake of Optus’ triple zero outage in September.
The context: Wells told the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) that she will direct the regulator to amend the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 to mandate that telecommunications providers maintain a public register of network outages.
Wells said in her letter to ACMA that the public registers will “increase transparency and accountability around outages and related impacts on access to Triple Zero”. It will apply to all kinds of network outages.
Telcos are already required to inform their customers of outages in real time under the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard Variation 2025 (No.1), which commenced on 30 June 2025.
ACMA commenced its investigation into the triple zero outage on 22 September.
On Tuesday, Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson will move a motion to establish a Senate inquiry into Optus’ triple zero outage on 18 September. She characterised ACMA’s investigation and described it as “woefully inadequate and riddled with conflicts of interest”.
The motion is expected to pass as it is supported by the Greens, with Green Senator Sarah Hanson-Young co-sponsoring the motion alongside Liberal Senator Dean Smith and Nationals Senator Ross Cadell.
In a speech to the Senate on Monday, Senator Henderson said “we are determined to drag Optus executives before the Senate and demand answers”, which she aims to undertake next week.
She also called on Wells to appear before the inquiry such that her role “in safeguarding the integrity, resilience and public confidence in the triple zero system” can be scrutinised directly.
The source: Minister for Communications Anika Wells statement
