The Government has outlined the approach it's planning to take in its review of the recent Optus network outage, which disrupted services for approximately 10 million people, impacted small businesses, and interfered with emergency calls.

The review, led by Richard Bean, former Deputy Chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), will focus on emergency calls, customer communications, and complaints handling. The review aims to provide Optus and the broader telecommunications industry with an opportunity to address key issues that arose during the network outage. It will further make recommendations on various aspects, including the functioning of Triple Zero during the outage, the role of Government in managing and responding to national service outages, and the adequacy of customer communication and complaints processes.

Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, emphasised the importance of learning from this incident.

"The recent Optus outage caused significant disruption to the lives of millions of Australians, impacted small businesses, and left many without the ability to contact emergency services. We need to learn the lessons from this serious incident, because no network is immune from technical faults or outages," she said.

Rowland added the Government's post-incident review is about helping the industry identify where its processes need to be strengthened, and provide advice to the Government on potential reforms.

"Australians expect and deserve better from their communications service providers when these kinds of incidents arise and I would encourage all to have their say - from impacted businesses and industry through to consumers," she urged.

The review will consult with industry and consumer stakeholders, Australian Government and state and territory agencies, and is set to provide a report by 29 February 2024. Meanwhile, the ACMA has also begun an assessment to investigate Optus' compliance with the existing regulatory framework.

The five elements of the review are:

1. The functioning of Triple Zero during the Outage, including whether changes are required to ensure continued access to Triple Zero during outages, as well as the interactions between industry participants and the Triple Zero Service; 2. The role of Government in managing and responding to national service outages; 3. The adequacy of requirements for customer communication in national service outages; 4. The adequacy of how customer complaints and compensation processes performed for consumers and small business following the outage; 5. The circumstances in which other networks may be relied on to support a network that is subject to a major outage; and 6. Other telecommunications sector implications, including resilience and interdependencies between telecommunications networks.