On October 14, 2025, at approximately 9:53 PM, a power outage significantly impacted the Triple Zero emergency call centres in Victoria. The hubs at Williams Landing and Ballarat remained energized. The digital dispatch system at the Burwood centre experienced a catastrophic failure, forcing operators to use manual note-taking techniques.
The computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) used by the Burwood call centre went out, affecting emergency services for hours during the outage. When that happened, Victorian emergency call operators heroically ensured they were still able to continue answering calls, but it was difficult. Through all those technical glitches, Triple Zero Victoria was able to reassure that not one emergency call went unanswered during the crisis.
Impact of the Power Outage
The recent power outage that hit Burwood definitely crippled some operators in terms of operators having access to their computer systems. Consequently, they were forced to go back to old ways of recording data with pen and paper. This left many asking if emergency response would be sufficient during the outage despite its brevity.
“Triple-0 calls from the community continued to be taken throughout a power issue that caused an unplanned outage of [the] computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) at 12:30 AM,” – Triple Zero Victoria spokesperson
Even after news of the mistake spread, Victorian government officials tried to reassure the public that emergency services would “never” be in doubt. And though the power failure put significant strain on operations, they highlighted that call-takers and dispatchers never stopped working during the crisis.
“The community can be reassured that in an emergency … our Triple Zero Victoria (TZV) call-takers and dispatchers are there for them,” – Victorian government spokesperson
Ongoing Investigation
In response to this incident, local officials have ordered an investigation into the cause of the electrical failure. We will focus on informing solutions to avoid such disruptions in the future. Our overarching objective is to ensure that emergency response is coordinated at every level.
“The matter is being thoroughly investigated,” – Victorian government spokesperson
As a result, Triple Zero Victoria was put under significant resource stress during the outage. Their operators did a terrific job of handling all those inbound calls. They confirmed again that there had been no reports of missed calls so far.
“TZV advises that calls continued to be taken at all times and has not advised of any missed calls at this stage.”
Concerns Over Systemic Issues
The event has sparked a larger debate about systemic problems in Victoria’s healthcare system, and more specifically, with Ambulance Victoria. Policymakers have warned that continued shortcomings in addressing these matters could compromise emergency response efforts during life-or-death emergencies.
“Over the last 11 years, they have failed to address the systemic issues, as the Ambulance Victoria inquiry has exposed,” – Georgie Crozier
Georgie Crozier articulated concerns about the ongoing challenges faced by emergency services due to underlying health system problems, highlighting the urgent need for reform to improve service delivery.
“So many issues with that, and systemic issues across the health system, that [it] is really having a massive impact on the delivery of services,” – Georgie Crozier
