Almost half of Australians are concerned that they won't be able to reach Triple Zero when they need it most, and one in ten report they or a family member have been unable to connect to Triple Zero in the last twelve months according to new polling from peak communications consumer body, ACCAN.
The findings come from the third wave of ACCAN's Consumer Sentiment Tracker, a nationally representative survey of Australians' experiences with, and attitudes towards, communications services.
The survey shows that alarmingly, 1 in 10 Australians (10%) reported that they or a member of their family were unable to reach Triple Zero from a mobile phone in the last 12 months due to a mobile outage – validating widespread community fears about emergency connectivity.
Confidence in telecommunications reliability has been under strain for several years, with a succession of significant telco outages compounded by chronic issues with device compatibility with Triple Zero. Concerns about emergency connectivity came to a head following the Optus outage in September 2025, which left more than 600 Australians unable to reach Triple Zero and was linked to two deaths.
We have a solution to this problem – it's been solved in comparable sectors, and we can apply the same solutions to telecommunications.
ACCAN is calling on the Australian Government to establish minimum reliability standards for telecommunications networks to help ensure reliable access to emergency services.
ACCAN's forthcoming research wave revealed that 94% of consumers who had a firm view supported the introduction of reliability requirements for carriers, with only 6% of respondents expressing opposition.
ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said Australians must be able to rely on telecommunications networks when their safety is at stake, and the government can do more to bake in reliability.
"Triple Zero is an essential service but is not regulated or legislated that way and it should be. When people call for help in an emergency, they must be able to trust that the network will work."
"There are bills before Parliament that could be amended now to give the Minister the power to bring in reliability standards with the stroke of a pen."
"We hear broad support from Members of Parliament for reliability standards. In fact, many MPs are surprised there aren't standards already. And now our latest research now shows overwhelming public support for reliability standards, with 94% of those with a firm opinion supporting their introduction."
"In years gone by, the energy sector faced similar problems with outages and declining consumer confidence. Governments responded by bringing in real accountability through clear service standards," Ms Bennett said.
"It's time to get this done, amend legislation before Parliament to empower the Minister to set standards, and get a public consultative process underway to confirm the details."
Further findings from the latest wave of ACCAN's Consumer Sentiment Tracker will be released in the coming weeks.
About us:
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is Australia's peak communication consumer organisation. The operation of ACCAN is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
