Triple-zero text function could be piloted after outage
Australians can’t text triple zero despite technology used overseas as authorities explore alternative options after deadly Optus outage.
Triple Zero Commissioner Clare Chapple told the Senate inquiry into the deadly triple zero service outage that the Department of Communications was working on piloting an “SMS relay model”.
The officer explained that the SMS relay model would allow the caller to send a message to the call center, which would then have the operator call the person back instead of sending a message.
The pilot will help understand what is needed for a future triple-zero environment following an outage in September 2025 that lasted almost 14 hours, affected hundreds of calls and was linked to two deaths when emergency calls failed to connect.
“A key consideration is how SMS performs, how it is prioritized on the network, and whether it can provide the right type of service in a time-critical emergency,” Ms. Chapple said.
Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson asked why the text-to-zero functionality, which operates successfully in other countries, was not available in Australia.
The SMS triple reset feature is different from the SMS transfer function called for the pilot; because it allows people to send a message directly to an emergency number and receive a text back.
Senator Henderson said, “This is a technology that exists in many other countries, why did the government have the ability to convert text to three zeros?” he asked.
“This isn’t rocket science.”
Ms Chapple said “we are currently supplying the market for SMS to triple zero” and said the Department had not been informed of the alternative text to triple zero model.
In Australia, emergency messaging functionality is currently limited to the 106 Text Emergency Relay Service for people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment; this requires a teletypewriter device rather than standard mobile SMS.
Six months after the deadly outage, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked why the Australian Communications and Media Authority had not yet submitted a report to the inquiry committee.
The authority was tasked with investigating Optus’ compliance with emergency call service regulations.
“We have been on the road for six months and have not heard back from the key regulator and from what I hear the Department of Communications has no information either,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
