Optus has come under severe criticism following a triple-0 outage that has been linked to the deaths of three individuals, including two from Western Australia. The incident, which occurred on September 27, 2023, has raised significant concerns about the telecommunications company’s crisis management and communication protocols. Politicians, law enforcement, and the public have expressed their outrage over the handling of the situation, which has continued to unfold since the initial reports surfaced.
Outage Timeline Raises Alarms
When the outage first became public knowledge on September 29, WA Police and the Cook Government indicated they were unaware of the incident’s severity. Premier Roger Cook stated that his office did not receive any information until late on Friday evening, while his counterpart in South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, condemned Optus for keeping both governments in the dark until they called a press conference. This lack of communication has been described as “reprehensible.”
According to WA Police, the outage began at 22:40 on September 27. However, they only became aware of the issue at 21:04 on September 28, nearly 24 hours later. Initially, police were informed of 26 failed triple-0 calls and that services had been fully restored, leading them to believe there was “no ongoing threat to the community,” as stated by WA Police Commander Jodie Pearson. “Information that the WA Police Force received was that it was a minor outage,” she added.
It was not until the media began reporting on the situation that the police learned there had been more than 100 missed calls and at least one death associated with the outage. “The WA Police Force was not advised of these deaths or the scale of the outage prior to this public media release,” Commander Pearson stated. As part of their response, police conducted welfare checks on 149 West Australians who had been unable to connect to emergency services, discovering a second death during these checks.
Optus’ Accountability Under Scrutiny
In the aftermath of the incident, Stephen Rue, CEO of Optus, addressed the media multiple times, acknowledging that “established processes were not followed” during the outage. Rue revealed that five individuals had complained to the company about their inability to reach triple-0, a fact that had not been escalated appropriately. He admitted that the situation could have been handled better, remarking, “This failure was clearly not good enough.”
Despite his assurances that a new escalation process will be implemented following any customer reports of triple-0 issues, questions remain about why Optus did not inform authorities as soon as they became aware of the problem. Rue attributed the delay to the company’s focus on conducting welfare checks, a justification that many find unsatisfactory.
The fallout from this incident has implications that extend beyond public relations. With three lives lost, the urgency for accountability and transparent communication from Optus is paramount. As investigations continue, the scrutiny over the company’s operational practices and crisis management protocols will likely intensify, leaving many to wonder how such a significant failure occurred in the first place.
The editorial responsibility for this report lies with WAN Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.
