A major telecommunications outage in Australia has tragically resulted in the deaths of three people, sparking public outrage and a government investigation.
The outage occurred on the night of September 18, 2025, when a firewall upgrade by Optus, the country’s second-largest telecom provider, caused a 13-hour disruption to emergency services across South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. During this time, calls to the Triple Zero (000) emergency service failed to go through, affecting around 600 customers.
Among those who died were an eight-week-old baby, a 68-year-old woman in South Australia, and a 74-year-old man in Western Australia. Authorities are investigating a potential fourth death linked to the outage.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue described the incident as “absolutely tragic” and admitted the company only became aware of the problem 13 hours after it began. He pledged full cooperation with authorities and confirmed welfare checks were conducted on affected customers.
Communications Minister Anika Wells condemned the outage, emphasizing that telecom providers have a legal responsibility to ensure emergency services remain accessible at all times. Optus, which faced a AU$12 million fine in 2023 for a similar nationwide network failure, is now under intense scrutiny and may face further legal consequences.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing, and Optus has promised to release the findings of its internal review.