The heads of Australia’s major telecommunications providers have filed into parliament for a dressing down from the communications minister over the integrity of the triple-zero network.
Embattled Optus chief executive Stephen Rue was steeling himself for a grilling over how the company allowed two emergency call outages to occur last month, one of which resulted in hundreds of failed calls and was linked to three deaths.
“Just looking forward to meeting the minister,” Mr Rue told reporters as he entered parliament on Tuesday.
After meeting with the chief executives of Optus, Telstra and TPG, Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced legislation to parliament enshrining the recently created triple-zero custodian into law.
The custodian, embedded within the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which will oversee the service, was a recommendation of an 18-month-old report into the system following a previous Optus outage in 2023.
Additional performance requirements will be issued within six months of the start of the bill.
From November 1, telcos will also have to provide real-time reporting of outages to ACMA and emergency services and ensure upgrades and maintenance of their system don’t result in triple-zero outages.
Ms Wells said she told Mr Rue, as well as Telstra chief Vicki Brady and TPG boss Inaki Berroeta, it was their legal obligation to ensure Australians had reliable access to triple zero ahead of the approaching national disaster season.
“Optus and all telecommunications carriers have no excuses for triple-zero outages,” she told the House of Representatives as she introduced the bill.
Optus and ACMA are undertaking separate reviews into the September 18 outage.
The telco said it occurred during an upgrade to its firewall systems.
Ms Wells said public trust in the triple-zero network needed to be rebuilt following the Optus outage.
“With these new powers for the triple-zero custodian, Australians can be assured of more active and effective monitoring of this most vital service to make sure it meets the community’s needs,” she said.
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