Overview

• Optus confirmed some emergency calls failed on Thursday during a network upgrade, with normal calls still connecting while 000 was affected.
• Two deaths occurred in South Australia and one in Western Australia, and welfare checks of impacted households are continuing.
• South Australia Police identified an eight-week-old boy from Gawler West and a 68-year-old woman from Queenstown among those who died.
• State leaders and emergency services condemned Optus’s communication, with SA’s premier calling its conduct reprehensible and St John WA saying it was not notified.
• Optus says the fault has been fixed and it will cooperate with inquiries, as its prior A$12 million ACMA penalty and questions over failed call handover safeguards raise the prospect of further penalties.