Peak communications consumer body ACCAN has today identified urgent steps that must be taken in the aftermath of an Optus Triple Zero outage during which at least three people tragically died after failed attempts to contact Triple Zero (000), and around 600 emergency calls did not connect.
CEO Carol Bennett said, "I express my deepest sympathies to the families and communities who have lost loved ones at this time. People should never be left wondering whether Triple Zero will connect when they need it most. The solutions are known and must be put into law, enforced, and monitored in real time. Anything less is unacceptable."
"Communications services are essential and need to be regulated appropriately. The current form of telco self-regulation has yet again proven to be a failure. It needs to change."
Ms Bennett has called for three urgent steps to be taken following this latest outage.
The first and most urgent step is for the Australian Government to appoint an independent technical expert (via urgent carrier licence condition) to oversee Optus' Triple Zero (000) capability and broader critical network operations for public safety. It is apparent that this company can no longer be trusted to fulfil this vital safety function without strict oversight.
Secondly, the government must fast track legislation to implement Triple Zero Custodian rules and other recommendations made in the now two-year-old Bean Review following Optus' 2023 outage. Around one third of the recommendations made in that review have not yet been implemented.
Thirdly, the Government must look at ways to drive the cultural change needed in the telco sector. A start would be to introduce direct regulation to replace the current Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code to provide consumers with real and effective protections. Further, we need to reform the Telecommunications Act. Allowing telcos to rely on a "best endeavours" approach to compliance overseen by industry driven regulators is not going to keep Australians safe, let alone ensure appropriate consumer protections or access to fair and affordable communications.
"While the full details are still unclear, it's obvious that Optus has yet again failed the Australian public and needs to be held accountable for those failures," Ms Bennett said.
"The communications regulator ACMA is currently considering whether to green-light industry-drafted consumer protections. It's time consumer interest comes first in regulation rather than making telco rules to appease industry and protect their profits."
ACCAN looks forward to contributing constructively as government and industry acts urgently to address the critical gaps in our communications legislative and regulatory framework.
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.
