Media release - Government’s delayed action on Triple Zero recommendations puts Australian lives at risk

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

2 October 2025

Government’s delayed action on Triple Zero recommendations puts Australian lives at risk

The Albanese Labor Government should have implemented the recommendations of the Bean Review into the Optus Outage when the report was delivered in March 2024. In not doing so, it has failed to prioritise the safety of all Australians ensuring that our vital Triple Zero network is available when people need it.

The Bean Review made 18 recommendations following Optus’ Triple Zero outage in November 2023, to ensure that our essential Triple Zero service would be protected and outages not happen again. Despite accepting all of the recommendations, when questioned by the media, the Communications Minister has failed to answer questions as to which recommendations the government has implemented.

Shadow Minister for Communications, Melissa McIntosh MP said, “with at least three outages across the Triple Zero network in the last fortnight, the slow actions by the Prime Minister and his Communications Minister are risking the safety of all Australians. Devastatingly there were four deaths during the first Optus outage.”

“The Communications Minister confirmed the Triple Zero Custodian role which is recommendation two, has been established in her department, but she has failed to ensure this role has the authority and legislative power to be effective as the watchdog over the Triple Zero ecosystem. She is only just now, after another crisis, and in the closing days of parliament for the year, wanting to rush legislation through.

“After a year and a half since the recommendations were made, the Albanese Labor Government has been too slow to act, and now we have had multiple outages to this vital service just in the last fortnight by two separate telecommunications providers.

“There are no excuses to being ‘new’ to a portfolio when the welfare of Australians is at risk. The Communications Minister should be across her brief, not travelling overseas during a crisis. 

“The Minister should also re-consider her decision to appoint ACMA as the investigator when the regulator was part of the failed process following the recent devastating outage where lives were lost.

“On behalf of the Coalition, I am also calling for a public register of Triple Zero outages to provide transparency. Australians should know what is going on with our most essential telecommunications service.

“We are approaching the emergency season where bushfires and floods impact communities with lives and livelihoods dependent on calling for help. Australians need to have every confidence in the Triple Zero network during their time of need.

“Despite the seriousness of this issue, Australians have not heard the Communications Minister provide any confidence that the government is taking every action necessary to fix the Triple Zero ecosystem immediately.”