Triple-zero outages and changes trigger more complaints

Complaints about outages from emergency services have increased in Australia following Optus’ triple zero outage and the discovery of faulty mobile phone hardware.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman revealed a rising number of mobile phone complaints on Wednesday in a report that also showed a rise in concerns about internet outages and rising compensation claims.

Social networks were receiving more complaints from consumers, although the ombudsman was not equipped to handle these problems.

The findings come after Optus suffered an outage across four states and territories in September 2025 that affected triple zero calls for almost 14 hours, during which hundreds of emergency calls failed.

Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said interest in access to emergency services had led to a rise in complaints between October and December, both from consumers who faced setbacks and from those concerned about access to triple zero.

The report revealed that the number of complaints made to the ombudsman increased by 3.6 percent in three months, reaching over 14,000, and more than 6,000 of the complaints were about mobile services.

“The prominence of triple zero accountability has encouraged people to reach out and chat about their concerns,” he told AAP.

“Some were from people saying they tried to call triple zero specifically but couldn’t get through, and since the focus has been on that, people have complained about the failed calls that have been happening in recent months.”

Ms. Gebert said the discovery of a hardware issue in some older Samsung phones that prevented them from connecting to emergency services had also caused confusion for consumers, with many not understanding why their phones had disconnected.

Nearly 200 people complained about the issue, and the report cites the example of an elderly man who sought help after his telecommunications company notified him that his service would be cut off.

After an intervention, the provider agreed to waive fees for six months.

The biggest increase in complaints was due to faulty phone or internet services (up 41.6 percent), with more than 1,100 people claiming compensation from providers for non-financial losses (up 13.8 percent).

Although complaints about financial hardship measures decreased by 19.2 percent, the biggest concern remained a lack of action or delayed corrections from providers.

Ms. Gebert said digital platforms inspired 20 percent more reports to the ombudsman, even though the institution was not equipped to handle disputes.

Consumers and businesses filed more than 700 complaints about online services in the three-month period; Many of these involved social media and email accounts being hacked or suspended.

“(Consumers) are hitting brick walls or not being able to actually talk to a human to explain why something like an account ban is happening,” he said.

“We call on the government to fill the consumer protection gap.”

The Online Safety Act review recommended the creation of a digital ombudsman scheme to cover digital platform complaints, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission published a similar recommendation in its final Digital Platform Services report.