UPDATE: Optus is facing severe criticism after leaked audio revealed an operator’s confusion during a devastating Triple-0 outage that resulted in the tragic death of a 68-year-old woman in South Australia. The incident, which occurred on September 18, has prompted urgent calls for accountability as authorities scramble to understand the failures that led to this crisis.
Exclusive audio obtained by 7NEWS highlights critical moments when South Australian emergency services were left in the dark as Optus struggled to diagnose the outage. “Do you guys have anything on your radar about an Optus outage for Triple-0 calls?” questioned a representative from South Australia Ambulance during the chaotic night. The response from Optus was alarmingly vague, admitting to the outage but unable to determine its cause.
In the recording, an Optus operator stated, “It is correct, it’s for your region and Western Australia, and they’re working on it to try and find what the hell’s gone on.” This lack of clear communication left both police and ambulance services increasingly concerned as calls to Triple-0 went unanswered.
South Australia Police Minister Blair Boyer expressed his outrage, stating, “I think any South Australian who heard the confusion on those calls would be alarmed, especially knowing what we know now about the extent of the outage and the fact that people’s lives were lost.” The audio reveals even deeper confusion, with an SA Police representative confirming, “I can confirm it’s been going on for an hour,” while Optus had no clear timeline on the outage duration.
Disturbingly, it was over 24 hours after the outage that Optus publicly acknowledged the potential loss of life due to the failure, including the death of the woman from Queenstown. The South Australian government was not informed of these fatalities before they were disclosed to the media by Optus Chief Executive Stephen Rue the following day. Boyer remarked, “If we hadn’t had SA Police being so persistent… I wonder actually how long it would have taken before we got to the bottom of the extent of the outage.”
The fallout from this incident has been significant, with Optus criticized for “reprehensible conduct.” The outage, which affected up to 600 households across South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, was due to a firewall update, marking the second such failure in two years. A federal parliamentary inquiry in Canberra is now underway to investigate the details surrounding the outage.
Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells condemned the incident as “incredibly serious and completely unacceptable,” emphasizing the tragic consequences that have emerged from this failure. “My personal thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one,” she added.
As the situation continues to unfold, all telecommunications companies are reminded of their obligation to ensure the reliability of emergency service calls. This incident raises urgent questions about the safety measures in place at Optus and the potential for further tragedies if such failures are not addressed swiftly.
Stay tuned for ongoing updates as the inquiry progresses and more information becomes available.
