‘Conflict of interest’: ACMA chief Nerida O’Loughlin grilled on watchdog’s failures during Optus triple-0 outage

Australia’s telco watchdog has been scrutinised over a potential “conflict of interest” during a grilling over the fatal Optus triple-0 outage. Fronting an estimates hearing on Tuesday, Australian Media and Communications Authority chair Nerida O’Loughlin was asked by Liberal backbencher Sarah Henderson about conflicts between the investigation into the outage and ACMA’s failures during the incident. “Our responsibility is to look at the compliance of Optus with the legal instruments for which we have responsibility,” Ms O’Loughlin said. “That is our role. “If there are other matters that sit outside us looking at Optus as performance and Optus as compliance, that’s not a matter that we would be looking into. “However, that said, internally, as I’ve said on the record, previously, we’ve been looking at the amount of notifications we’re getting and how we handle that information, and how we escalate things when we need to. “And we have certainly looked at that after the Optus outage of September 18.” Ms O’Loughlin later clarified the review of escalation procedures was “an internal consideration“ and “not part of a formal investigation”. She also confirmed the scope of the formal compliance investigation into Optus had expanded to include a recent TPG outage, linked to one death. Up to 470,000 phones affected More than half a million Samsung phones on the Optus network may be unable to call triple-0, a Senate estimates hearing has been told. Telstra earlier this year identified 71 Samsung devices which were unable to reach triple-0 on the Vodafone network when Telstra or Optus networks were unavailable, of which about 60 required a software update or would otherwise be blocked from the network from January 14, 2026. A further 12 devices, including the once popular Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 8, would need to be replaced, having been blocked on November 27. Australian Communications and Media Authority consumer division general manager Cathy Rainsford told the hearing Samsung had identified 114,527 customers whose phones required an update and who had already been notified. A further 4158 devices Telstra devices are not capable of being upgraded As for Optus, the “worst case scenario” was that approximately 470,000 devices may be impacted. “The vast majority are likely to be able to be upgradable, but Optus is needing to work through that manually,” Ms Rainsford said. Triple-0 custodian staff grilled on ‘24/7’ claim Earlier, communications officials revealed the government’s triple-0 custodian handling overnight calls could be asleep when an emergency occurs, with staff kept on unpaid, on-call rostering for that aspect of the role. The triple-0 custodian service was fast-tracked in the wake of the disastrous Optus outage, which resulted in multiple deaths after customers were unable to contact emergency services. Senator Henderson grilled communications officials during a Senate estimates hearing to determine who in the 30-person team was responsible for taking overnight calls. “Is someone awake overnight to take the phone call?” she asked. “They’re not awake overnight. They’re available with a phone to be able to take the phone call if needed,” a communications department official said. “But what if they’re sleeping?” Senator Henderson said. “Their phone will ring and they’ll take the call,” the official said. However, deputy secretary James Chisholm clarified the communications department was not the first point of contact for an emergency response. “We are not the front line emergency response body,” he said. “The emergency call person, which is, as you know, run by Telstra and emergency services, are the most important first point of contact that networks should provide information to. “There are a range of other organisations that networks are required to notify, that includes the National Emergency Management Agency, ourselves, ACMA. “But the most important thing is that networks, when they are notifying of a problem, they are contacting the people who will help save lives immediately.” ACMA’s cut-price deal for Optus blasted Earlier, the communications watchdog came under fire as department officials were grilled on whether Optus would be given a cheaper spectrum licence, despite a disastrous triple-0 outage earlier this year. ACMA has proposed to renew almost 70 expiring spectrum licences for between $5bn and $6.2bn. The spectrum refers to the range of radio frequencies managed by ACMA, on which mobile networks are given a licence to operate. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked why Optus should be “rewarded” for its failings. “A company that has behaved so badly, that has failed so badly, should not be rewarded for that behaviour with a cheaper price to accessing that spectrum,” Senator Hanson-Young said. “And I think most Australians would agree. “I haven’t heard the government say that they’re too big to fail. “But if that’s the argument, then the government better start telling people that, because I think you’ll get some resistance.” Department officials denied making that claim, instead saying the potential consequences for Optus in relation to the triple-0 laws was a “big focus”. “But with spectrum, you’ve also got consequences for consumers, including Optus customers, and so the outcome of the spectrum process has implications for competition, for customers, for regional communities,” a department official said. “Optus, for example, has an arrangement with TPG that enables broader access for regional communities. “So whatever decision ACMA makes on spectrum has follow on implications for … competition for customers, for connectivity.” $10m social media ban campaign Labor’s media blitz for its upcoming social media laws will be executed at the hefty price-tag of $10m, department officials have revealed. With the world-first ban set to take effect in just over a week, the department will spend the multimillion-dollar figure from October 19 to December 20 2025. $6.4m has been allocated for media spend, with the remaining $3.4m spread across “research elements, the creative elements,” a department official told the estimates committee. “We also have public relations as part of this campaign,” they said. “We have also engaged a First Nations consultant and a core consultant to assist with the development of the campaign.” The campaign elements, spread across channels like radio, digital video and audio, television, print and social media, direct people to the information related to the social media minimum age on the eSafety website. “The eSafety website provides a whole raft of content, including support and resources for parents, individuals, educators,” a communications official said. “We’re working quite closely with them to continue to promote and amplify the messaging, to assist in developing content as well to support the audience.”