Optus certainly is feeling the harsh glare of Australian senate. This comes after a high-profile blowout in its emergency services infrastructure that left three people dead. The outage occurred during a scheduled systems upgrade. This outage impacted Triple Zero emergency service across Western Australia, South Australia and parts of New South Wales. The Greens and the Coalition together have forced the government’s hand and today agreed to an inquiry. They’re seeking an inquiry into how telecommunication companies, government agencies and the communications minister responded to the disaster.
The outage went on for up to 12 hours before Optus even understood the scope of this massive disruption, let alone acknowledge it. At first, the corporation claimed that just 10 emergency calls were impacted. But it subsequently revealed that the real figure was around 600 calls — including calls associated with deaths. This announcement was made over a day after Optus first realised the extent of the problem.
Apologies and Accountability
In the aftermath of the incident, Optus has apologized for the outages to affected customers. Whether the operation should have ensured a smooth transition for emergency services while performing the upgrade remains the company’s responsibility, the judge said.
“Australians must have confidence that Triple Zero will be there when they need it most.” – Anika Wells, Minister for Communications
Minister Wells emphasized the importance of public trust in the emergency services system, stating that the inquiry aims to hold Optus accountable and suggest pathways for further reform. The focus of that inquiry will be on how Optus and federal regulators and agencies responded to the incident.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was notified about the outage more than 24 hours after Optus had realized its impact. This significant delay led to questions about communication policies between telecommunications corporations and governmental emergency authorities.
Legislative Changes and Recommendations
This incident comes on the heels of our earlier calls to action on the problematic Triple Zero system. A previous Board of Directors recommendation proposed the establishment of an “emergency service system custodian. Sure enough, the Labor government followed through by putting this idea into law.
“With these new powers for the Triple Zero Custodian, there will be more active and effective monitoring to make sure this vital service meets their needs,” – Anika Wells
The new legislation increases scrutiny of the Triple Zero system. It continues to fight against a re-occurrence of such failures in the future. This important inquiry should examine whether these legislative measures go far enough, or whether more robust reforms are warranted.
Greens’ senator Sarah Hanson-Young said this puts accountability front and centre. In making this announcement, she stated that this investigation is crucial to determining what occurred and in ensuring that what happened will never happen again.
“We need to hold Optus to account and suggest a pathway forward for further reform.” – Sarah Hanson-Young
Upcoming Inquiry Proceedings
The Senate has taken an important and courageous step in approving a public inquiry into this critical issue. Optus executives are to be some of the first witnesses called to give evidence under oath. The first hearing day is scheduled for next Monday at Parliament House in Canberra.
The purpose of this inquiry is to start understanding the decisions made by Optus and other involved parties during this massive crisis. The evaluation will consider how the outage affects public safety. It will focus on how we can stop incidents like these from happening in the first place.
