Telstra Fined $3 Million for Triple Zero Emergency Call Failures

A 90-minute outage in March led to 473 rule breaches, including 127 missed emergency call transfers, with one death linked to the incident.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fined Telstra $3 million for breaching emergency call handling rules during a 90-minute outage on March 1, 2024.
During the disruption, 127 out of 494 emergency calls were not transferred to emergency services due to incorrect backup phone numbers in Telstra's contingency plan.
A Melbourne man in his 50s died after his family struggled to reach emergency services during the outage, making four unsuccessful calls to Triple Zero.
Telstra has since updated its backup phone number list, conducted an internal review, and appointed an independent consultant to address the failures.
ACMA acknowledged Telstra's swift corrective actions and public apology, but emphasized the critical need for reliable emergency call systems at all times.