Overhaul to triple-0 service announced in wake of Optus outage

Australia’s triple-0 service will be monitored by a “custodian” and telcos will be forced to put their phone lines to the test more regularly as part of significant changes in response to last year’s nationwide Optus outage that left thousands unable to make emergency calls.

All 18 recommendations put to the government by an independent review have been accepted, including new rules to mandate “how, what and when” phone companies communicate with their customers during and after major outages.

About 10 million Australians were left without phone service and businesses were unable to properly function for hours on November 8, and Optus earlier this year revealed that 2697 customers who tried to call triple-0 could not connect to emergency services.

In its response, the government said the outage had impacted public safety and the economy, and resulted in “considerable distress for many and damaged the community’s confidence that they will always have to critical services”.

On Tuesday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will announce the government has agreed to establish a triple-0 “custodian” who will be tasked with ongoing monitoring of the efficiency of the service.

“Australians need to have confidence in our telecommunications services, particularly when it comes to triple-0,” she said.

“Last year’s Optus outage and the Telstra triple-0 fault earlier this year highlights vulnerabilities in the system.

“This review is the most comprehensive examination of the triple-0 ecosystem in over a decade.

“It means we have a workable blueprint to implement changes that will help improve the resilience of telecommunications in this country.

“The review identified opportunities every part of the system need to do better, and these recommendations will help us do just that.”

Richard Bean’s post-incident review found the system on the whole was “not fundamentally broken” but that significant improvements could be made.

“There is a great deal we can learn from this outage. We need to act on and implement what we have learnt to ensure that Australia is better prepared for future outages, and most critically, that the emergency call service is delivered within a robust and reliable framework,” he wrote.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, telcos will be required to begin testing all aspects of the emergency services line at least twice a year to ensure such a failure doesn’t happen again.

Another recommendation agreed to by the government will force companies to provide plans of how it would mitigate the risks in the event of a major outage.

New rules will be established into how carriers communicate with their customers during an incident after Mr Bean deemed communication during the Optus outage, including with customers, to be “inadequate”.

He said carriers needed to share real-time network information, including about outages, with emergency services organisations.