Optus Triple-Zero Outage Probe Reveals ‘Not Followed’ Procedures: Ignored Warnings Linked to Four Tragic Deaths
In a shocking revelation that’s ignited national outrage, Optus has admitted that critical customer warnings about failing emergency triple-zero calls were “not followed” during a catastrophic network outage, contributing to at least four deaths—including an eight-week-old baby. As Australia’s communications watchdog launches a full investigation into the telco’s lapses, the incident exposes deep flaws in the nation’s emergency lifeline, raising urgent questions about accountability and reform in the wake of repeated failures.
The Fatal Outage: What Went Wrong on September 18, 2025
Optus’s nightmare unfolded during a routine firewall network upgrade that began around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 18, 2025, affecting customers in South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. The technical glitch silently severed triple-zero connections for nearly 14 hours—far longer than the telco’s initial eight-hour estimate—blocking around 600 emergency calls while everyday voice services remained operational.
Welfare checks later uncovered the heartbreaking toll: In South Australia, an eight-week-old boy in Gawler West and a 68-year-old woman in Queenstown died after failed attempts to reach help; in Western Australia, a 74-year-old man and a 49-year-old perished under similar circumstances. SA Police clarified the infant’s death was “unlikely” directly tied to the outage, but the other three are under coronial review, with a potential fourth in WA still being probed.
Compounding the horror: Backup “camp-on” protocols—designed to reroute triple-zero calls to rivals like Telstra—also failed, leaving callers in limbo without alerts or diversions. Optus only detected the issue after the fact, rectifying it around 2:30 p.m., but not before lives hung in the balance.
Ignored Warnings: The “Not Followed” Escalation That Sealed the Tragedy
At the heart of the probe lies a damning admission from Optus CEO Stephen Rue: Two customers alerted the call center as early as 9 a.m.—hours before the fix—that triple-zero services were down, yet these red flags were “not escalated” internally. By Saturday, Rue revealed five such complaints in total went unheeded, with no alarms raised despite standard protocols demanding immediate action on emergency reports.
“This is not clearly good enough,” Rue conceded in a media update, announcing a new “compulsory escalation process” for future alerts. The outage evaded early detection partly because non-emergency call volumes stayed normal, masking the silent crisis in monitoring systems.
This echoes the 2023 nationwide blackout, where Optus skipped welfare checks on 369 failed callers, earning a $12 million fine from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). In that case, over 2,100 couldn’t reach triple-zero; here, the human cost is irreversible.
Government and Expert Fury: Calls for Structural Overhaul
Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells branded the outage “completely unacceptable,” vowing a thorough ACMA-led probe into Optus’s compliance failures. “No triple-zero outage is acceptable under any circumstances,” she stated, noting the government’s implementation of 12 of 18 post-2023 recommendations, with six more underway.
State leaders piled on: SA Premier Peter Malinauskas slammed Optus for “reprehensible conduct” and “incompetence,” revealing the telco withheld death details from governments until a Friday press conference—leaving emergency services blindsided. WA Premier Roger Cook decried the lack of proactive alerts to St John Ambulance, which learned of the issue post-facto. Opposition spokesperson Melissa McIntosh demanded scrutiny of the failed camp-on system, calling it a “deep concern.”
Telecom expert Paul Budde labeled it a “disaster,” arguing privatization has vulnerable-ized the network: “Triple-zero is not a ‘product’; it’s a critical safety lifeline.” He and others, including Griffith’s Graeme Hughes, push for enforceable redundancies, national roaming gateways, and an independent triple-zero custodian to prevent repeats.
Social media erupted with #OptusOutrage, blending grief-stricken tributes to victims with demands for CEO Rue’s resignation—echoing the 2023 ousting of then-CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.
Devastating Impact on Australians: Lives, Trust, and Systemic Risks
For everyday Aussies, this outage strikes at the core of safety nets—turning phones from lifelines into liabilities during heart attacks, accidents, or infant crises. Families in remote NT outback or Adelaide suburbs now second-guess their Optus reliance, amplifying rural vulnerabilities where alternatives are scarce.
Economically, it erodes trust in a $50 billion telecom sector, potentially hiking premiums as Optus faces multimillion fines and lawsuits—mirroring Telstra’s $3 million penalty for a non-fatal 2024 glitch. Businesses in affected states report disrupted operations, while tourism dips in outage-hit regions amid safety fears.
Politically, it fuels debates on regulation: Labor touts post-2023 fixes, but critics decry slow progress, eyeing 2025 election angles on corporate accountability. Tech-wise, it spotlights upgrade risks in 5G rollouts, urging better AI monitoring for anomalies.
Lifestyle ripple: Barbecues in Perth or family drives in SA now include “What if?” contingency chats, underscoring how one glitch shatters peace of mind.
Path Forward: Justice, Reforms, and Lingering Questions
As the ACMA probe delves into Optus’s “not followed” protocols and the coronial inquests unfold, Rue’s apologies ring hollow without action—welfare checks continue, but transparency lags. Experts warn without mandatory redundancies and real-time alerts, tragedies like this fatal Optus triple-zero outage will recur, eroding faith in essential services.
Australia demands more than mea culpas: Enforce protocols, bolster backups, and prioritize lives over upgrades. For the bereaved and the 600 silenced voices, the true fix starts now—lest “not followed” becomes another preventable epitaph in the Optus outage probe.