Optus outage widens to New South Wales as emergency calls fail, four deaths linked to fault

An outage affecting Optus's emergency-services network blocked hundreds of triple-zero calls across several Australian states, raising questions about the telco's handling of the incident as authorities linked four deaths to the fault.

Officials said the problem stemmed from a botched firewall update that blocked emergency calls in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with two callers in New South Wales unable to connect because they were near the border and routed through cross-border towers. Five customers had warned Optus about a critical triple-zero issue before the scale of the outage was fully understood, and Optus prepared a media response before notifying government authorities.

Optus chief executive Stephen Rue rejected calls to resign, saying he was “absolutely determined” to work through the company's reform efforts and implement recommendations. He said early investigations showed the firewall upgrade did not follow established processes and that he would discuss the technical details with the staff involved as part of the inquiry.

A separate review found three additional emergency calls connected to the outage, but no red flags were raised because call volumes appeared normal at the time, Rue said.

An eight-week-old boy from Gawler West, north of Adelaide, was among four deaths linked to the fault. South Australia Police said the outage was unlikely to have contributed to the child's death because the grandmother immediately used another phone to contact triple zero after the initial call failed. Investigations into the death of a 68-year-old woman from Queenstown were more complex, with officials continuing to assess the outage's impact. Two men in Western Australia—one 74 from Willetton and another 49 from Kensington—also died in incidents tied to the fault.

Optus paused all network system changes while it reviewed processes and said it was monitoring triple-zero call volumes and failure rates state by state around the clock.

Political leaders criticized the telco. South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas called the behaviour “reprehensible” and said Optus informed government officials only during a press conference. Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the latest outage was “absolutely disgraceful” and urged a review of the company’s protocols. Federal opposition leaders pressed for an independent investigation into the triple-zero network, while Nationals leader David Littleproud said Optus should face penalties and that the government should act to tighten oversight. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network urged fast-tracked legislation and independent technical oversight of Optus's triple-zero systems.

The incident comes as the telco continues a broader review following a 2023 outage that led to more than $12 million in fines. About a third of the 18 recommendations from that review have not yet been implemented, according to Optus.

Observers say regulators and lawmakers are pushing for stronger, independent oversight of the triple-zero network while Optus extends its internal reforms; investigations into the latest outage are ongoing and no definitive findings have been released.