Committee: Environment and Communications References Committee
Date referred: 28 October 2025
Submissions close: 25 November 2025
Reporting date: 11 February 2026

Terms of Reference

An inquiry into Triple zero service outages, with particular reference to:

1. the Optus triple zero service outage of 18 September 2025, including:
   1. the cause of the outage including the performance of emergency ‘camp-on’ arrangements,
   2. the role of the Minister for Communications (the minister) and the Australian Government in safeguarding the integrity, resilience and public confidence of the triple zero system,
   3. the impact on Optus customers including in relation to the tragic deaths of a number of people as a result of not being able to telephone triple zero for emergency assistance,
   4. the response by Optus, including compliance with legislative, regulatory and policy requirements, the implementation of any technical and operational changes and any support and compensation provided to impacted customers and their families,
   5. the timeline of events, including the notification to and the adequacy of the response by the Australian Government, the minister and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and
   6. the role and responsibilities of Optus’s parent company Singtel with respect to Optus’s obligations to provide a telecommunications service on which Australians can depend;
2. other recent outages affecting access to triple zero and the adequacy of the responses by the relevant entity, the minister, the Australian Government and ACMA;
3. the frequency and management of triple zero outages including:
   1. the role of the minister, ACMA and the Australian Government in ensuring reliable access to and public confidence in emergency telecommunications assistance, including in relation to the efficacy, reliability and enforcement of emergency camp-on arrangements,
   2. steps taken to maintain access to emergency and essential services during outages and to support impacted Australians,
   3. the adequacy of regulatory, legislative and policy frameworks governing Australians’ access to emergency telecommunications assistance including whole-of-government responsibilities and co-ordination and the protection of vulnerable Australians, and
   4. whether federal government oversight of critical telecommunications infrastructure is fit for purpose;
4. the implementation of recommendations of the Australian Government Review into the Optus Outage of 8 November 2023 (Bean Review) and the September 2024 inquiry report by the Environment and Communications References Committee into the Optus network outage;
5. the limitations on domestic mobile telecommunications customers accessing services offered by alternate carriers, known as mobile phone ‘roaming’, which is particularly an issue in times of emergency in regional communities where mobile coverage can be less reliable;
6. the appropriateness of contracts between Optus and the Australian Government, particularly since the Optus network outage of November 2023; and
7. any other related matters.