UPDATE: Optus is under intense scrutiny following a catastrophic handling of a crucial triple-0 outage, now linked to the deaths of three individuals, including two in Western Australia. The situation escalated dramatically over the weekend as politicians, police, and the public expressed outrage over the telecommunications giant’s failures.
The outage reportedly began at 10:40 PM on July 12, 2023, but WA Police did not receive notification until 9:04 PM the following day—a staggering delay of nearly 24 hours. During this time, police were misinformed that only 26 triple-0 calls had failed and that services were fully restored. Commander Jodie Pearson of WA Police stated, “Information that the WA Police Force received was that it was a minor outage, that services had been fully restored.”
However, it was later revealed that over 100 additional calls had been missed, and at least one fatality had occurred prior to the public announcement. “The WA Police Force was not advised of these deaths or the scale of the outage prior to this public media release,” Pearson added, highlighting the disconnect between Optus and emergency services.
As the fallout continued, Optus CEO Stephen Rue faced public backlash during his third press conference in three days. Rue admitted that “established processes were not followed” and acknowledged that five customers had reported issues with triple-0 calls—yet no alarm was raised. “This failure is clearly not good enough,” he stated, as he outlined new escalation processes for future incidents.
The implications of this outage are profound. WA Police conducted welfare checks on 149 individuals who were unable to connect with emergency services, leading to the discovery of another man’s death. The incident has sparked a national conversation about the reliability of emergency communication systems in Australia and the responsibilities of telecom providers to notify authorities promptly.
Criticism has mounted from various government officials, including WA Premier Roger Cook and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, both of whom expressed their disbelief at being kept in the dark until Optus held a press conference. Cook stated that the lack of communication was “reprehensible,” emphasizing the need for accountability in such critical situations.
As Optus grapples with the aftermath of this tragic outage, the focus shifts to what measures will be implemented to ensure this does not happen again. With public trust at stake, the company faces mounting pressure to restore confidence in its ability to safeguard lives through effective communication.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and further updates are expected as the situation develops. Authorities and citizens alike are demanding answers, and the urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. Stay tuned for more developments on this critical issue as they unfold.
