Optus update: new powers for Triple Zero Custodian, wrong email used

In the wake of Optus’s Triple Zero outage on 18 September, the Australian Government has introduced a new Bill to bolster the powers of the Triple Zero Custodian, in order to boost oversight of the Triple Zero service. The new legislation is set to reinforce a key recommendation of the Bean 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.

The legislation seeks to 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. 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.

These new powers of the Custodian are intended to work in conjunction with other actions the government is taking to bolster the Triple Zero system, including:

• real-time reporting of outages to ACMA and emergency services, beginning on 1 November;
• new rules forcing telcos to test Triple Zero during upgrades and maintenance, beginning on 1 November;
• new requirements on providers to fully ensure Triple Zero calls fall back to other networks; and
• 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.

“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,” said Minister for Communications Anika Wells.

“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.

“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.”

Just one day after the Bill’s introduction, it was revealed in a Senate estimates hearing that Optus had sent two emails to Wells’s department as well as ACMA on the day of the outage — one confirming the outage had occurred, and another seven minutes later saying everything had been rectified. The emails claimed that “10 calls may have been impacted”, when in fact the real number was over 600, with three lives lost.

Furthermore, it transpired that these emails were incorrectly sent to a recently retired departmental email address that was no longer being actively monitored, despite Optus knowing there was a new address in place because it had been using it for other outages. The emails were also CCed to a staff member from Wells’s office, but a spokesperson for Wells claims she was not personally informed until the next day.

Wells and her department maintain that responsibility for the bungle lies squarely with Optus.

Image credit: iStock.com/Kokkai Ng