Govt begins triple zero reforms after Optus outage review
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The news: The federal government will begin reforms to improve the emergency call service, as part of its official response to the review into last year’s Optus outage released today.
The numbers: Optus’ 12-hour nationwide outage in November 2023 left 10 million retail and business without phone or internet access and cost its parent company Singtel $61 million. It also left many Australians unable to call triple zero.
The context: The Post Incident Review, announced the day after the outage, is the first comprehensive review of the triple zero ecosystem in over a decade.
The government said the principal cause of triple zero issues during the outage was a lack of wilting on the Optus 3G network, whereby signals are powered down in order to enable calls to be carried by another network.
While Optus has advised this issue is now addressed, the government said the outage identified a broader need to improve information flows, governance, and technical assurance frameworks in the emergency calling context.
The government will implement all 18 of the recommendations from the review, in an effort to help reduce the impact of future outages on Australians.
Over the next 12-18 months, the government has committed to:
- Establishing the triple zero custodian framework to improve industry accountability and end-to-end oversight of triple zero;
- Implementing new rules mandating how, what and when telecommunications carriers communicate with their customers during and after a major outage;
- Requiring industry to provide work plans to the regulator following a major outage, to explain how an impacted telco will mitigate the risk of a similar outage in future;
- Creating a new comprehensive testing regime across telecommunications networks and telecommunications devices for calls to triple zero; and
- Reviewing and updating legislation and regulation relating to the delivery of triple zero.
Meanwhile, the Australian Communications and Media Authority is undertaking a separate investigation into Optus’ compliance with the Emergency Call Determination.
What they said: Communications minister Michelle Rowland said: "Australians need to have confidence in our telecommunications services, particularly when it comes to triple zero.
"Last year’s Optus outage and the Telstra triple zero fault earlier this year highlights vulnerabilities in the system," she said.
"The review identified opportunities every part of the system need to do better, and these recommendations will help us do just that."
The source: Minister for Communications media release
