Media release - Labor and the Greens put Triple Zero transparency last

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

 28 October 2025

LABOR AND THE GREENS PUT TRIPLE ZERO TRANSPARENCY LAST

Six weeks on from the Optus Triple Zero disaster, where lives were lost, Australians have learned that the Albanese Government has said no to a transparent public Triple Zero outage register.

Shadow Communications Minister, Melissa McIntosh has been calling for a public Triple Zero outage register since the beginning of this crisis. Labor’s plan is a watered-down, telco-run register that lets the companies mark their own homework.

“The register the Albanese Labor Government is putting forward is not public nor run by the Government’s Triple Zero Custodian, rather it will be self-operated by the telcos. This mechanism is not transparent. The Coalition’s public Triple Zero outage register would ensure the telcos must report outage data in real time in a central location for all Australians to view which will provide additional accountability measures on the telcos,” said Mrs McIntosh.

“Labor and the Greens have teamed up in the Senate to vote down common-sense measures to safeguard the Triple Zero network. The Greens talk tough on big corporates but when it comes time to voting in favour of stronger penalties on telcos, they stuck to their stitched-up secret deal with the Government.

“Australians are losing confidence in the Triple Zero network. This is why the Coalition has put forward amendments to the Triple Zero Custodian Bill to boost community confidence and make sure the number one priority is the Triple Zero system, and the protection of Australians, despite Labor and the Greens objecting to them. The amendments include:

• Increasing the maximum financial penalties for Triple Zero outages from $10 million to $40 million. 
• Establishing a public Triple Zero outage register to keep telcos accountable and the public informed. 
• Reduced reporting times from 6 months to every 3 months and have these reports published publicly. 

“On behalf of the Coalition, I will continue to fight for better protections of our Triple Zero network in the interests of Australians, not watered-down outage registers and weakened transparency and accountability measures that Labor and the Greens want.

“Why is Labor worried about cracking down on telcos and giving them stronger penalties for failing Australians with Triple Zero outages? How come this Government won’t put in place a transparent public Triple Zero outage register given the distrust Australians have in the telcos right now? Why is the Government afraid of additional transparency measures being put in place on their Triple Zero Custodian to provide mandatory reporting within shorter timeframes and making those reports public?

“Australians have been rocked by the Optus Triple Zero disaster and the Government’s on-going mishandling of the crisis. It is time for the Labor Government to step up and make sure the telcos and their Triple Zero Custodian are held to account and have strong transparency measures in place.”