The Albanese Government is boosting oversight of the critical Triple Zero service, through legislation to bolster the powers of the Triple Zero Custodian, with a Bill introduced to Parliament today.
Triple Zero is the most important service in our telecommunications system, and Australians must have trust in their calls for help being answered when they need it most.
The new laws will reinforce a key recommendation of the Review into the Optus Outage of November 2023 by enshrining the powers and functions of the Custodian in law and providing end-to-end oversight of Triple Zero.
Through the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the Custodian will be able to demand information from telecommunications providers so it can monitor Triple Zero performance, identify risks, respond more quickly to outages and make improvements.
The new laws cement the Custodian - which has been established administratively within the Department of Communications since March - as a permanent, proactive role to oversee the Triple Zero system as a whole and ensure it delivers when needed for Australians.
These new powers of the Custodian, will work in conjunction with the direct action the Albanese Government is taking to bolster the Triple Zero system.
This includes:
Real time reporting of outages to ACMA and emergency services which begin on November 1.
New rules starting on November 1, forcing telcos to test Triple Zero during upgrades and maintenance.
New requirements on providers to fully ensure Triple Zero calls fall back to other networks.
Mandatory improvement plans after Triple Zero outages.
Within six months of the commencement of the laws, the Custodian, through ACMA, will issue additional performance requirements to telcos, to assure Australians of best practice.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Communications, Anika Wells:
"The law in Australia is clear - if an outage occurs, telcos must make sure that Triple Zero calls still connect by being redirected to alternate mobile towers - that responsibility rests with them.
"As a government we know it's important the Triple Zero system is continually improved which is why we've introduced these new laws to enshrine the Triple Zero Custodian in legislation.
"Working in lock-step with the ACMA as the independent regulator, the Custodian will have end-to-end oversight of the Triple Zero system to ensure things are working as they should, and improvements are continually made.
"We know Australians' confidence in Triple Zero has been shaken, and its vital that it's rebuilt.
"With these new powers for the Triple Zero Custodian, Australians can be assured of more active and effective monitoring of this most vital of services to make sure it meets the community's needs."
