Australia Senate inquiry recommends nationalising Triple Zero service

An Australian Senate inquiry has released a report recommending sweeping reforms to the nation’s telecommunications sector following a series of major outages, including a September 2025 Optus failure linked to multiple deaths. The Environment and Communications References Committee recommends nationalising the Triple Zero emergency call system by stripping Telstra of its role as the ‘Emergency Call Person’ and transferring oversight to a new government-run statutory authority.

The report’s 11 recommendations also call for the introduction of mandatory domestic roaming to allow devices to connect to any available network, the modernisation of the Telecommunications Act 1997, and the implementation of a reliable text-based emergency contact option. Additionally, the committee suggests that telcos should be subject to a penalty regime and an automatic compensation scheme for customers affected by service outages.

Inquiry chair Sarah Hanson-Young stated that the findings signal ‘the end of the era of self-regulation,’ noting that current laws have failed to keep pace with technology and that major providers like Telstra, Optus, and TPG have failed the public.