An independent manager of the triple-zero emergency system has not yet been staffed by the federal government, despite it being a key recommendation of the review into Optus’s last emergency outage.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, said she wanted to “fast track” that process and others rising out of the latest debacle from the maligned telco, but consumer advocacy bodies and the Greens are critical the government has not worked quicker. Calls are growing for Optus to face multimillion-dollar fines even higher than the penalties from a similar incident in 2023.
“The failure from Optus has been deadly, and I don’t think we should be waiting for another review before we do what we know needs to be done,” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The minister should use her powers today, put in place independent oversight of Optus, get the cabinet to approve it and start making sure we regulate this company and this industry properly.”
The former deputy chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Richard Bean was commissioned by the former communications minister Michelle Rowland to probe the November 2023 Optus outage, which left millions without coverage. The second recommendation on his list, delivered to the government in March 2024, was for the government to “establish a Triple Zero custodian, with oversight of and overarching responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Triple Zero ecosystem”.
The government response in April 2024 called this a “priority recommendation”, and recognised “the need for a single organisation with oversight of the Emergency Call Service”, but said further investigation and consultation was needed.
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On Monday, Wells said the role had been established inside the communications department, but it is understood that it has not yet been filled, with further legislation still required to fully implement the change.
“That role has actually been established and is operative within my department at the moment. It’s one of the recommendations of the Bean Review that has been implemented but not yet in full,” Wells said.
“One of the things that I’ve been looking at across the weekend is how I can fast track regulatory and legislative relief to make sure that all of these are delivered in full.”
Wells’ office said the role would be fully operational as soon as possible, pending the passage of further legislation in the near future. Asked whether private companies would still deliver triple-zero services, Wells said that would be considered as part of Acma’s ongoing investigation.
“Other telecommunications providers have had Triple Zero outages as well. This isn’t entirely a matter for Optus. So, we are now considering what needs to be done holistically or as part of legislative relief for Australian people,” Wells said.
Carol Bennett, of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said the custodian rules were among the most important recommendations of the Bean review.
“These will ensure there is government oversight of the triple-zero system. It would be an extra safety net to provide public safety assurance. That has not been implemented. We need to see fast-track legislation to ensure it is,” she said.
“This is a failure to implement the Bean report recommendation which state they are obliged to alert emergency services, relevant government agencies and the public at the first opportunity when they become aware the triple-zero service is not working.”
On Monday afternoon, Optus revealed that it had identified another seven calls that had failed to connect to emergency services during a period between 12:17am to 12:30am on Thursday last week.
Optus chief executive Stephen Rue said the company had been able to complete welfare checks on three of the affected households none of which required further assistance.
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Two calls were referred to South Australian police, who said on Monday afternoon that they had completed those welfare checks without issue. The two remaining calls were referred to WA Police, one of which had since been resolved, and inquiries were underway in relation to the other.
Hanson-Young, the Greens’ communications spokesperson, said the government should more forcefully regulate the telecommunications sector.
“For too long, these big telco companies have relied on self-regulation rather than direct regulation,” she said.
“How many more strikes does this company need?”
The Acma chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, said companies could face up to $19,000 per infringement notice, and court-ordered fines of $250,000 per contravention.
Hanson-Young said the previous $12m fine on Optus for a similar breach in 2023 was not enough, saying penalties should be substantially higher.
“Legislatively, we probably need much stronger penalties and much stronger consequences. That’s why I’m saying the minister could send a very strong message today by delivering a consequence, that these type of services cannot be left in the hands of Optus alone. They’ve clearly failed, and the government needs to intervene.”
The Coalition communications spokesperson, Melissa McIntosh, said Optus’s previous fine “obviously barely scratched the surface”, calling for an independent review rather than an Acma probe.
“Something more needs to be done. It needs to be more than just a fine. Obviously, Optus hasn’t met all of the recommendations from the review,” she told 2GB.
“We’ve had review after review … Something stronger than that needs to happen.”
