Terms of Reference for Optus outage review announced

The review will consult widely with industry and consumer stakeholders as well as with Australian Government and state and territory agencies.

The findings of the review will allow Optus – and the broader telecommunications community – the opportunity to proactively address any underlying issues discovered, while providing the government with a strong evidence base for any potential reforms required.

The Review will report on and make recommendations regarding:

  1. The functioning of Triple Zero during the Outage, including whether changes are required to ensure continued access to Triple Zero during outages, as well as the interactions between industry participants and the Triple Zero Service;
  2. The role of Government in managing and responding to national service outages;
  3. The adequacy of requirements for customer communication in national service outages;
  4. The adequacy of how customer complaints and compensation processes performed for consumers and small business following the outage;
  5. The circumstances in which other networks may be relied on to support a network that is subject to a major outage; and
  6. Other telecommunications sector implications, including resilience and interdependencies between telecommunications networks.

The Review will be conducted by Mr Richard Bean. A report will be provided to the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, by 29 February 2024.

For more information, visit https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/phone/review-optus-outage-8-november.

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