Optus, ACMA and the Australian Government have all come under criticism for failing to prevent the 13-hour long emergency calling outage linked to four deaths
The Australian Government has launched its response to Optus’ emergency calling outage in September 2025
On 7 October 2025, the Australian Government introduced the ‘Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers Bill 2025’. The legislation is part of the Government’s and the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) response to the Optus’ emergency calling outage (referred to as a Triple Zero outage) on 18 September 2025. The outage, which affected mobile services throughout southern, western and northern parts of the country, lasted for 13 hours and has been linked to four deaths, prompting a statement of condolences from Lawrence Wong (Prime Minister, Singapore) given Singtel’s ownership of Optus, the second largest MNO in the country. Optus also reported a second Triple Zero outage, on 28 September, that impacted a smaller number of consumers in New South Wales. In addition to introducing legislation, Anika Wells (Minister for Communications, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts) has met with Yuen Kuan Moon (Group CEO, Singtel) as well as the chief executives of TPG and Telstra, Australia’s two other MNOs, to discuss the resilience of emergency calling services and “lay down the law" on behalf of the Government. ACMA, at the request of the Government, opened an investigation into the outage on 22 September, which will cover both the operator’s obligations in maintaining the network as well as its duties in communicating outages with the public.
Establishing the ‘Triple Zero Custodian’ as a new regulatory office
If the proposed legislation is adopted, the ‘Triple Zero Custodian’ will be a new office established within ACMA with powers to provide “end-to-end oversight” in the operations of emergency calling. The creation of the post was first recommended in the Bean Review, conducted in 2024 in response to a November 2023 Optus outage that impacted approximately 10m consumers and included a series of recommendations to better secure emergency calling services. The Government has come under significant criticism for its perceived failure to implement these recommendations completely and in a timely manner, despite having “administratively” established the Triple Zero Custodian as an office within the Department of Communications in April 2025. Within six months of passage of the legislation, the Custodian will be empowered to issue additional performance requirements to operators. The Government also restated obligations for operators to test Triple Zero services during upgrades and maintenance, ensure Triple Zero calls fall back to other mobile networks and conduct real-time reporting of outages to the regulator and emergency services, though it is unclear if enforcing these obligations will be a duty of the Custodian. In announcing the legislation, Wells acknowledged that “Australians’ confidence in Triple Zero has been shaken”, but stated that the forthcoming Custodian should reassure consumers that services will be more actively and effectively monitored in the future.
ACMA will investigate the outage in the context of emergency calling rules as well as newer consumer protection standards for outages
ACMA’s investigation into Optus will cover obligations under the Emergency Call Service Determination as well as under newer rules for communicating with consumers during service outages that were adopted in 2024. Operators are expected to maintain access to emergency calling services at all times, and under updated rules, are also expected to “wilt” or redirect traffic among mobile base stations to prioritise Triple Zero services in the event of interruptions or outages. Should a significant outage occur, operators are required to conduct welfare checks on consumers who attempted to place emergency calls and must communicate relevant and timely information on service status to consumers through multiple channels (i.e. social media, apps, SMS and emails). In announcing its investigation, ACMA noted that Optus was found to have previously breached the Emergency Call Service Determination during its 2023 outage and was fined A$12m (£5.9m) as a result.
