Overview

• After meeting Optus, Telstra and TPG bosses in Canberra, Communications Minister Anika Wells moved to enshrine the Triple Zero Custodian in law.
• The custodian will sit within ACMA with powers to demand carrier information, monitor performance and respond to failures, with additional requirements to be issued within six months of commencement.
• New rules from November 1 mandate real-time outage reporting to emergency services and ACMA, testing of Triple Zero during upgrades, fallback to alternative networks and mandated improvement plans after failures.
• ACMA is investigating Optus’ compliance following the September 18 disruption, while Optus has commissioned independent reviews led by Kerry Schott and consulting firm Kearney.
• September’s Optus firewall upgrade blocked at least 600 Triple Zero calls across several jurisdictions and has been linked to three deaths, prompting calls to rebuild public trust before the disaster season.