Labor’s guilt in the Triple Zero failures
Jul 12, 2026 •
Another major telco outage has raised the question: what happens when you call triple-zero and can’t get through?
This week, Telstra blamed a software defect for a national outage that disrupted phones, payments and transport – and left more than 300 triple-zero calls failing to connect. The communications watchdog is now investigating.
It comes after last year’s catastrophic Optus failure, when a 13-hour outage blocked hundreds of emergency calls across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and was linked to deaths.
ACMA opened an investigation into Optus, but still hasn’t published final findings.
Today, journalist and Crikey contributor Michael Sainsbury – on what went wrong at Optus and how the government’s choices led us here.
This episode was originally published in September 2025.
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.
Labor’s guilt in the Triple Zero failures
1980 • Jul 12, 2026
Labor’s guilt in the Triple Zero failures
Another major telco outage has raised the question: what happens when you call triple-zero and can’t get through?
This week, Telstra blamed a software defect for a national outage that disrupted phones, payments and transport – and left more than 300 triple-zero calls failing to connect. The communications watchdog is now investigating.
It comes after last year’s catastrophic Optus failure, when a 13-hour outage blocked hundreds of emergency calls across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and was linked to deaths.
ACMA opened an investigation into Optus, but still hasn’t published final findings.
Today, journalist and Crikey contributor Michael Sainsbury – on what went wrong at Optus and how the government’s choices led us here.
This episode was originally published in September 2025.
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.
Guest: Journalist and Crikey contributor, Michael Sainsbury
Listen and subscribe in your favourite podcast app (it's free).
7am is a daily show from Solstice Media.
It’s made by Arielle Richards, Atticus Bastow, Chris Dengate, Daniel James, Krystal Keller, Ruby Jones, Travis Evans and Zoltan Fecso.
Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.