Australian government to reform Triple Zero emergency call service

The Australian Government has taken decisive action to enhance the Triple Zero emergency call service in response to the November 2023 Optus outage, which left many Australians unable to access this critical service. Minister for Communications of Australia, the Hon. Michelle Rowland MP, announced a comprehensive set of reforms to improve industry accountability and ensure public access to emergency services. These changes are being implemented through a Ministerial direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which will amend enforceable rules for mobile carriers.

The government has directed the ACMA to require mobile carriers to take all reasonable steps to ensure that emergency calls can be made on any available network during outages. This directive addresses the technical issues that prevented many Optus customers from reaching Triple Zero during the outage. Additionally, the government is mandating that providers improve the visibility of future outages for frontline emergency service organisations, thereby enhancing communication and preparedness during emergencies.

Also, the government is committed to implementing all 18 recommendations from the Post Incident Review of the Optus outage, the first comprehensive assessment of the Triple Zero ecosystem in over a decade. These recommendations include establishing a Triple Zero Custodian framework, requiring telecommunications carriers to provide detailed work plans after major outages, and creating a comprehensive testing regime for telecommunications networks and devices.