Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024

Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024

made under subsection 125AA(1) of the

Telecommunications Act 1997

Compilation No.  2

Compilation date:   31 March 2026

Includes amendments: F2026L00382

Prepared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Melbourne

About this compilation

This compilation

This is a compilation of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 that shows the text of the law as amended and in force on 31 March 2026 (the compilation date).

The notes at the end of this compilation (the endnotes) include information about amending laws and the amendment history of provisions of the compiled law.

Uncommenced amendments

The effect of uncommenced amendments is not shown in the text of the compiled law. The details of amendments made up to, but not commenced at, the compilation date are underlined in the endnotes. Any uncommenced amendments affecting the law are accessible on the Register (www.legislation.gov.au).

Application, saving and transitional provisions

If the operation of a provision or amendment of the compiled law is affected by an application, saving or transitional provision that is not included in this compilation, details are included in the endnotes.

Modifications

If the compiled law is modified by another law, the compiled law operates as modified but the modification does not amend the text of the law. Accordingly, this compilation does not show the text of the compiled law as modified. Any modifications affecting the law are accessible on the Register.

Self‑repealing provisions

If a provision of the compiled law has been repealed in accordance with a provision of the law, details are included in the endnotes.

Part 1—Preliminary

1  Name

  This instrument is the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024.

3  Authority

  This instrument is made:

1.     under subsection 125AA(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997; and
2.     in accordance with:

1.      sections 5 and 6 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages Industry Standards) Direction 2024; and
2.    sections 5 and 6 of the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages Industry Standard Amendment) Direction 2025.

Note 1:  The directions referred to in paragraph (b) were given to the ACMA by the Minister under subsection 125AA(4) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 and are legislative instruments registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. 

Note 2:  The Federal Register of Legislation may be accessed free of charge at www.legislation.gov.au.

4  Application

  For the purpose of subsection 125AA(1) of the Act, this instrument:

 (a) applies to the section of the telecommunications industry consisting of carriers whose telecommunications networks are used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users, and carriage service providers that supply relevant carriage services to end-users;

 (b) deals with the information and advice a carrier must provide to other carriers, carriage service providers, the public and relevant stakeholders, in the event of a major outage or a significant local outage;

 (c) deals with the information and advice a carriage service provider must provide to end-users and the public, in the event of a major outage or a significant local outage;

 (d) is intended to give effect to the objectives, and address the matters, set out in section 6 of the 2024 Direction as they relate to the carriers and carriage service providers referred to in paragraph (a); and

 (e) is also intended to give effect to the objectives, and address the matters, set out in section 6 of the 2025 Direction as they relate to the carriers and carriage service providers referred to in paragraph (a).

5  Definitions

  In this instrument:

2024 Direction means the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages Industry Standards) Direction 2024.

2025 Direction means the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages Industry Standard Amendment) Direction 2025.

ABS Remoteness Structure means the Remoteness Structure described as such in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), Edition 3, July 2021-June 2026, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Note: The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) divides Australia into five classes of remoteness. The ASGS is available, free of charge, on the website of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and could, at the time of the making of this instrument, be accessed at the following website: www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/latest-release.

Act means the Telecommunications Act 1997.

easily accessible form means a form of communicating, notifying or informing that uses plain language, is easy to understand, and is readily available including to a person with disability, from a culturally or linguistically diverse background or with other accessibility requirements.

Note: A carrier or carriage service provider does not need to communicate, notify or inform a person in multiple languages, however it should provide guidance on how a person may access translation or interpretation services.

emergency call person for 000 and 112 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service numbers 000 and 112.

Note:  At the time this instrument was made, the emergency call person for 000 and 112 was Telstra Limited (ACN 086 174 781).

emergency call person for 106 means the emergency call person who is the recognised person who operates an emergency call service for the emergency service number 106.

Note:  At the time this instrument was made, the emergency call person for 106 was Concentrix Services Pty Ltd (ACN 166 171 991).

fixed-line carriage service has the same meaning as in Part 8 of the Act.

Note: See section 142A of the Act.

internet of things data-only service means a carriage service that:

 (a) is only accessible on a carriage service provider’s network;

 (b) is used for consumer and enterprise connected internet of things devices; and

 (c) only requires access to data (internet protocol and non-internet protocol) services.

internet of things devices means devices and objects with sensors, processing ability, software or other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communication networks.

major outage means any unplanned adverse impact to a telecommunications network used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users that:

 (a) results in an end-user being unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service; and

 (b) affects, or is likely to affect:

1.           100,000 or more services in operation; or
2.         all relevant carriage services supplied using the telecommunications network in a State or Territory; and

 (c) is expected to be, or is, of a duration longer than 60 minutes.

Note: In relation to paragraph (a), an end-user is unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service if the end-user is unable to use the service in the way it is ordinarily able to be used.

For example, in the case of a relevant carriage service that is a standard telephone service, an end-user is unable to establish and maintain the service if the end-user is unable to use the service to make a call (including a call to an emergency service number) successfully.

material change means a change to the scale, geographic area, number or type of relevant carriage services impacted, or to the expected time of restoration of the relevant carriage services affected, by a major outage or a significant local outage, that is likely to result in a significant increase or decrease in the severity of the outage, or in the time taken to restore the relevant carriage services affected by the outage.

National Emergency Management Agency means the body known as the National Emergency Management Agency established by the Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency.

Note: The Order to Establish the National Emergency Management Agency as an Executive Agency was an order made under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999 and can be accessed, free of charge, at www.legislation.gov.au.

natural disaster means an emergency event caused by a natural hazard (such as a fire, flood, storm, cyclone or an earthquake) that causes, or is likely to cause, widespread disruption to:

 (a)  a community; and

 (b) the provision of relevant carriage services.

Note:  Examples of widespread disruption to a community include:

(a) disruption to government services;

(b) disruption to air, ground or sea transport;

(c) damage to major infrastructure;  

(d) power grid failure.

near real-time communications are any mode of telecommunications:

 (a) that are not real-time communications; and

 (b) in which all users can exchange information with minimal latency or transmission delays.

NSW Telco Authority means the New South Wales Government Telecommunications Authority established by the Government Telecommunications Act 2018 (NSW).

Note:     The Government Telecommunications Act 2018 (NSW) could, at the time of making this instrument, be accessed free of charge from the NSW legislation website at www.legislation.nsw.gov.au. Also, see paragraph 6(b).

other media includes:

 (a) newspapers;

 (b) radio and television broadcasting services; and

 (c) electronic services (including services provided through the internet) that are similar to newspapers, radio or television broadcasts.

plain language means the use of simple, clear and straightforward language that simplifies complex ideas for easier understanding, keeps sentences short, and avoids complicated words.

real-time communications are any mode of telecommunications in which all users can exchange information instantly or with negligible latency or transmission delays.

regional Australia means the area classified as Inner Regional Australia or Outer Regional Australia under the ABS Remoteness Structure.

relevant carriage service means a carriage service, excluding an internet of things data-only service.

Note: This definition covers different types of carriage services, including standard telephone services and other carriage services that are ‘emergency telephone services’ (within the meaning of the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019) and can be accessed, free of charge, at www.legislation.gov.au.

relevant stakeholders include:

1.     the emergency call person for 000 and 112 and the emergency call person for 106;
2.     the ACMA;
3.     the Department administered by the Minister administering the Act;
4.     the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman;
5.     the National Emergency Management Agency; and
6.      for any major outage or significant local outage impacting New South Wales – the NSW Telco Authority.

remote Australia means the area classified as Remote Australia or Very Remote Australia under the ABS Remoteness Structure.

responsible carrier means a carrier that detects a major outage or a significant local outage affecting a telecommunications network owned by the carrier.

services in operation means relevant carriage services that are:

 (a) connected to a telecommunications network, or would, but for a major outage or a significant local outage, be connected to a telecommunications network; and

 (b) provided to an end-user under an arrangement between a carriage service provider and the end-user.

significant local outage means any unplanned adverse impact to a telecommunications network used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users, that: 

 (a) results in an end-user being unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service;

 (b) affects, or is likely to affect:

(i) 1,000 or more services in operation in regional Australia; or

(ii) 250 or more services in operation in remote Australia; and

 (c) is expected to be, or is, of a duration longer than:

(i) if the services in operation are in regional Australia – 6 hours; or

(ii) if the services in operation are in remote Australia – 3 hours; and

 (d) is not a major outage. 

Note: In relation to paragraph (a), an end-user is unable to establish and maintain a relevant carriage service if the end-user is unable to use the service in the way it is ordinarily able to be used.

For example, in the case of a relevant carriage service that is a standard telephone service, an end-user is unable to establish and maintain the service if the end-user is unable to use the service to make a call (including a call to an emergency service number) successfully.

social media means internet-based technology or applications, where:

 (a) the sole or primary purpose of the technology or application is to enable social interaction between two or more end-users;

 (b) the technology or application allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end-users; and

 (c) the technology or application is a means by which a person may create and share content generated by the person.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines means:

 (a) the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 published by the World Wide Web Consortium; or

 (b) guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium which are expressed to extend, replace or supersede the guidelines described in paragraph (a).

Note:     The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 could, at the time of making this instrument, be accessed free of charge from the World Wide Web Consortium’s website at www.w3.org. Also, see paragraph 6(b).

website means a website that is generally available to the public.

Note: A number of other expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:

1.      ACMA (section 7);
2.      carriage service (section 7);
3.      carriage service provider (section 87);
4.      carrier (section 7);
5.      emergency call person (section 7);
6.       emergency call service (section 7);
7.      emergency service number (section 7);
8.      standard telephone service (section 7);
9.        telecommunications network (section 7).

6  References to other instruments

  In this instrument, unless the contrary intention appears:

 (a) a reference to any other legislative instrument is a reference to that other legislative instrument as in force from time to time; and

 (b) a reference to any other kind of instrument is a reference to that other instrument as existing from time to time.

Note 1: For references to Commonwealth Acts, see section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and see also subsection 13(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 for the application of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to legislative instruments.

Note 2: All Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Note 3: For paragraph (b), see also section 589 of the Act.  

Part 2—Notification, communication and assistance requirements

Division 1  Notification and communication requirements

Subdivision 1.1 Carriers

7  Application

 (1) This Subdivision applies to:

 (a) a responsible carrier; and

 (b) a carrier who is not a responsible carrier but has received a notification under this Part from a responsible carrier.

 (2) For the avoidance of doubt and unless otherwise specified, a reference to a carrier in this Subdivision is a reference to both a responsible carrier and a carrier notified by a responsible carrier under this Part.

 (3) Unless otherwise specified, the requirements in this Subdivision apply whether or not the sole or predominant cause of a major outage or a significant local outage is a natural disaster.

8  Requirement to notify and assist other carriers and carriage service providers

 (1) As soon as practicable after a carrier detects a major outage or a significant local outage, or receives a notification about a major outage or a significant local outage, the carrier (the first carrier) must:

 (a) notify each other carrier or carriage service provider with whom the first carrier has a commercial arrangement for the supply of relevant carriage services, if:

(i) where the first carrier’s arrangement is with another carrier – end-users of relevant carriage services supplied by a carriage service provider using that carrier’s network are affected by the outage; and

(ii) where the first carrier’s arrangement is with a carriage service provider – end-users of relevant carriage services supplied by that provider are affected by the outage; and

 (b) include in the notification, the information set out in subsection 13(1). 

 (2) The first carrier must provide each carrier or carriage service provider that the first carrier notifies under subsection (1) with such assistance as the carrier or carriage service provider reasonably requires in order to comply with its obligations under this Part.

9  Requirement to communicate with the public – major outage

 (1) Subject to subsection (2), as soon as practicable after a carrier detects a major outage, or receives a notification about a major outage, the carrier must communicate information (in an easily accessible form) about the major outage to the public using:

 (a) either:

  (i) the carrier’s website; or

  (ii) if the carrier does not have a website:

1.   another carrier’s website; or  

(B) another website that the carrier considers is more suitable for communicating information to the public; and

 (b) at least one of the following channels:

(i) the carrier’s primary social media account; or

(ii) one or more types of other media.

 (2) If the sole or predominant cause of the outage is a natural disaster, the carrier:

 (a) must comply with paragraph (1)(a); and

 (b) is not required to comply with paragraph (1)(b).

 (3) The information communicated under subsections (1) or (2) must include the information set out in subsection 13(1).

9A  Requirement to communicate with the public – significant local outage

 (1) As soon as practicable after a carrier detects a significant local outage, or receives a notification about a significant local outage, the carrier must communicate information (in an easily accessible form) about the outage to the public using:

 (a) the carrier’s website; or

 (b) if the carrier does not have a website:

(i) another carrier’s website; or

(ii) another website that the carrier considers is more suitable for communicating information to the public.

 (2) The information communicated under subsection (1) must include the information set out in subsection 13(1).

Note: In this section, where a significant local outage is detected, the obligations on carriers are the same regardless of whether the sole or predominant cause of the outage is a natural disaster or not.

10  Requirement to communicate with relevant stakeholders

  A responsible carrier who detects a major outage or a significant local outage must communicate to relevant stakeholders:

 (a) the information set out in subsection 13(1), as soon as practicable after the carrier detects the outage;

 (b) updates about the outage provided at the same times as specified under subsection 14(3); and

 (c) information about the restoration of all relevant carriage services affected by the outage as soon as practicable after the services are restored.

Subdivision 1.2 Carriage service providers

11  Application

  This Subdivision applies to a carriage service provider that has received a notification from a carrier under section 8. 

12  Requirement to notify and communicate with end-users and the public – major outage not caused by natural disaster

 (1) If a carriage service provider receives a notification about a major outage, and the sole or predominant cause of the outage is not a natural disaster, the provider must, as soon as practicable after receiving the notification:

 (a) in accordance with subsection (2), and subject to subsection (5), attempt to notify each of its end-users affected or likely to be affected by the major outage, of the major outage;

 (b) in accordance with subsection (3), communicate with the public about the major outage; and

 (c) include in a notification or communication under paragraph (a) or (b), the information set out in subsections 13(1) and (2).

Note: An end-user may include the customer or relevant account holder of a carriage service provider’s services or products..

 (2) The carriage service provider must attempt to notify (in an easily accessible form) its end-users using at least one of the following methods of communication:

 (a)  an application that the carriage service provider makes available to its end-users to subscribe to, which relates to the carriage service it provides to the end-user;

 (b) email; or

 (c) SMS.

Note: SMS is short for short message service.

 (3) The carriage service provider must also make information (in an easily accessible form) about the major outage available to the public using:

 (a) the carriage service provider’s website;

 (b) the carriage service provider’s call centres; and

 (c) at least one of the following communications channels:

(i) the carriage service provider’s primary social media account; or

(ii) one or more types of other media.

 (4) The carriage service provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that the methods of communication used under subsection (2) and the communication channels used under subsection (3) include the method or channel that it considers is most likely to reach an end-user or the public, based on the carriage service provider’s understanding of the major outage.

 (5)  Where the carriage service provider supplies relevant carriage services to a person other than an individual (the relevant customer), the relevant customer is taken to be the end-user for the purposes of complying with paragraph (1)(a).

Note: If, for example, the relevant customer is a government entity that obtains relevant carriage services for its staff, the carriage service provider may attempt to notify the relevant account holder rather than each member of the entity’s staff. 

12A  Requirement to notify and communicate with end-users and the public – significant local outage not caused by a natural disaster

 (1) If a carriage service provider receives a notification about a significant local outage, and the sole or predominant cause of the outage is not a natural disaster, the provider must, as soon as practicable after receiving the notification:

 (a) in accordance with subsection (2), and subject to subsection (5), attempt to notify each of its end-users affected or likely to be affected by the significant local outage, of the outage;

 (b) in accordance with subsection (3), communicate with the public about the significant local outage; and

 (c) include in a notification or communication under paragraph (a) or (b), the information set out in subsections 13(1) and (2).

Note: An end-user may include the customer or relevant account holder of a carriage service provider’s services or products.

 (2) The carriage service provider must attempt to notify (in an easily accessible form) its end-users using at least one of the following methods of communication:

 (a)  an application that the carriage service provider makes available to its end-users to subscribe to, which relates to the carriage service it provides to the end-user;

 (b) email; or

 (c) SMS.

Note: SMS is short for short message service.

 (3) The carriage service provider must also make information (in an easily accessible form) about the significant local outage available to the public using the carriage service provider’s website and call centres.

 (4) The carriage service provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that the methods of communication used under subsection (2) and the communication channels used under subsection (3), include the method or channel that it considers is most likely to reach an end-user or the public, based on the carriage service provider’s understanding of the significant local outage.

 (5) Where the carriage service provider supplies relevant carriage services to a person other than an individual (relevant customer), the relevant customer is taken to be the end-user for the purposes of complying with paragraph (1)(a).

Note: If, for example, the relevant customer is a government entity that obtains carriage services for its staff, the carriage service provider may attempt to notify the relevant account holder rather than each member of the entity’s staff. 

12B  Requirement to communicate with the public – major outage or significant local outage caused by a natural disaster

 (1) If a carriage service provider receives a notification about a major outage or a significant local outage, and the sole or predominant cause of the outage is a natural disaster, the provider must, as soon as practicable after receiving the notification, make information (in an easily accessible form) about the outage available to the public using the carriage service provider’s website.

 (2) The information communicated under subsection (1) must include the information set out in subsection 13(1).

Subdivision 1.3 Contents and timing of notifications, communications and updates 

13  Contents of a notification or communication

 (1) A carrier or carriage service provider required to notify or communicate under Subdivision 1.1 or 1.2 must include as much of the following information about the major outage or the significant local outage as is available to the carrier or carriage service provider at the time of notifying or communicating:

 (a) the scale or suspected scale of the outage, including the number of relevant carriage services impacted;

 (b) subject to subsection (3), the cause or likely cause of the outage;

 (c) the geographic areas impacted or likely to be impacted by the outage;

 (d) the types of relevant carriage services impacted or likely to be impacted by the outage;

 (e) the estimated timeframes for updates in relation to the outage; and

 (f) the estimated timeframe for restoration of the relevant carriage services affected by the outage.

 (2) A carriage service provider required to notify or communicate under sections 12 or 12A must also include in the notification or communication, in an easily accessible form, the following details about how end-users can obtain additional information or assistance during the major outage or the significant local outage: 

 (a) contact information such as an email address, a phone number or social media account details;

 (b) a website or webpage that the public can view during the outage; and

 (c) where available –contact channels that are easy to access and enable an end-user to contact the carriage service provider using real-time communications or near real-time communications, if the end-user requires urgent assistance during the outage.

 Note: Section 16 provides that a carriage service provider who is required to comply with Subdivision 1.2, must, during a major outage or a significant local outage, and as far as is reasonably practicable, make available to its end-users one or more contact methods to enable the end-user to seek assistance from the carriage service provider using real-time communications or near real-time communications.

 (3) The carrier or carriage service provider is not required to give information about the cause or likely cause of a major outage or a significant local outage if it has reasonable grounds to believe that disclosing this information could compromise its telecommunications network security or national security.

14  Requirement to provide regular updates – carriers and carriage service providers

 (1) This section applies to:

 (a) a carrier who is required to:

(i) notify a carrier or carriage service provider under section 8; or

(ii) communicate with the public under sections 9 or 9A; and

(b) a carriage service provider who is required to:

(i) notify an end-user under paragraphs 12(1)(a) or 12A(1)(a); or

(ii) communicate with the public under paragraphs 12(1)(b) or 12A(1)(b), or subsection 12B(1).   

 (2) Until the relevant carriage services affected by a major outage or a significant local outage are fully restored, the carrier or carriage service provider must provide updates about the outage, at the times specified in subsection (3), and containing the information specified in subsection (4), to the following persons:

 (a) in the case of a carrier:

(i) the carriers and carriage service providers the carrier was required to notify under section 8; and

(ii) the public; and

 (b) in the case of a carriage service provider:

(i) each end-user the carriage service provider was required to notify under paragraphs 12(1)(a) or 12A(1)(a); and

  (ii) the public.

 (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the times are:

 (a)  if there is a material change that relates to the outage – as soon as practicable after the carrier or carriage service provider becomes aware of the material change; or

 (b) otherwise, as frequently as the carrier or carriage service provider considers an update is necessary, and at least: 

(i) once every six hours for the first 24 hours of the outage; and

(ii) once during each subsequent 24-hour period. 

 (4) For the purposes of subsection (2) the information is:

 (a) if the update relates to a material change – details about the material change; or

 (b) otherwise – a statement that there has been no material change to the outage.

 (5) An update provided under subsection (2) to a person or the public must be notified or communicated in the same manner as a notice or communication previously provided under sections 8, 9, 9A, 12, 12A or 12B to the person or the public.

15  Requirement to notify restoration of relevant carriage services affected by major outage or significant local outage – carriers and carriage service providers

 (1) This section applies to:

 (a) a carrier who is required to:

(i) notify a carrier or carriage service provider under section 8; or

(ii) communicate with the public under sections 9 or 9A; and

(b) a carriage service provider who is required to:

(i) notify an end-user under paragraphs 12(1)(a) or 12A(1)(a); or

(ii) communicate with the public under paragraphs 12(1)(b) or 12A(1)(b), or subsection 12B(1).   

 (2) As soon as practicable after a carrier or carriage service provider considers that all relevant carriage services affected by a major outage or a significant local outage have been restored, the carrier or carriage service provider must notify, and communicate to, the following persons about the restoration:

 (a) in the case of a carrier:

(i) the carriers and carriage service providers the carrier was required to notify under section 8; and

(ii) the public; and

 (b) in the case of a carriage service provider:

(i) each end-user the carriage service provider was required to notify under paragraphs 12(1)(a) or 12A(1)(a); and

(ii) the public. 

 (3) A notification or communication provided to a person or the public under subsection (2) must be provided in the same manner as a notification or communication previously provided under sections 8, 9, 9A, 12, 12A or 12B to the person or the public.

Division 2  Real-time or near real-time assistance

16  Requirement to provide real-time or near real-time assistance – carriage service provider

 (1)  A carriage service provider who is required to comply with a requirement in Subdivision 1.2 during a major outage or a significant local outage must, as far as is reasonably practicable, make available to its end-users one or more contact methods to enable the end-user to seek assistance from the carriage service provider during the outage using real-time communications or near real-time communications.

 (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a contact method may include:

 (a) for real-time communications – a phone number;

 (b) for near real-time communications – live chat.

Note: A carriage service provider may use other alternative communications methods as real-time or near real-time communications, as long as the alternative method is a real-time communication or near real-time communication.

 (3) The carriage service provider must ensure that any contact method used to comply with the requirement in subsection (1):

(a)  is easy to access;

(b) is resourced adequately;

(c)  is capable of responding immediately to requests for urgent assistance from end-users; and

(d) allows an end-user to live chat with, or talk to, a representative of the carriage service provider.

Part 3—Written procedures for communicating during major outages or significant local outages

18  Written procedures regarding communications during major outages or significant local outages – carriers

 (1)  Carriers that own a telecommunications network that is used to supply relevant carriage services to an end-user must have written procedures in place that outline how the carrier will communicate with the public, other carriers, carriage service providers and relevant stakeholders during a major outage or a significant local outage.

 (2) The written procedures under subsection (1) must be published on the carrier’s website and be in an easily accessible form.

 (3) Subject to subsection (4), a carrier must comply with the written procedures, if the carrier:

 (a) is a responsible carrier; or

 (b) is not a responsible carrier, but that has received a notification under section 8 from a responsible carrier.

 (4) To the extent that there is any inconsistency between a carrier’s written procedures and a requirement in Part 2, the carrier must comply with the requirement in Part 2. 

19  Written procedures regarding communications during major outages or significant local outages – carriage service providers

 (1) Carriage service providers who supply relevant carriage services to end-users must have written procedures in place that outline how they will:

(a)  communicate with end-users and the public during a major outage or a significant local outage; and

(b) manage real time communications or near real-time communications with end-users who require urgent assistance during a major outage or a significant local outage.

(2) The written procedures under subsection (1) must be published on the carriage service provider’s website and be in an easily accessible form.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), a carriage service provider must comply with the written procedures, if the carriage service provider receives a notification from a carrier that there is a major outage or a significant local outage.

(4) To the extent that there is any inconsistency between a carriage service provider’s written procedures and a requirement in Part 2, the carriage service provider must comply with the requirement in Part 2. 

Part 4—Outage register

20  Application

  This Part applies to:

 (a) a carrier whose telecommunications network is used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users; and

 (b) a carriage service provider who supplies relevant carriage services to end-users.

21  Definitions

  In this Part:

entry, about a relevant outage, is a record containing information about the outage entered on the outage register.

outage register, in relation to a carrier, means a register established and maintained by the carrier under section 22.

relevant outage, in relation to a carrier, means any major outage or significant local outage that:

 (a) affects a telecommunications network owned by the carrier that is used to supply relevant carriage services to end-users; and

 (b) either:

(i) commences but is not resolved before 31 March 2026; or

(ii) commences on or after 31 March 2026.

unique identifier means the identifier assigned to a relevant outage that:

 (a) is unique to the outage; and

 (b) remains associated with the outage, even if the entry about the outage is rectified, removed or otherwise amended.

22  Outage register

 (1) A carrier must establish and maintain a register (the outage register) that contains historical information about any relevant outage.

 (2) The outage register must include the following information, about each relevant outage, to the extent that it is known by the carrier:

 (a) title of the outage;

 (b) the unique identifier assigned by the carrier to the outage;

 (c) the type of outage (that is, whether it is a major outage or significant local outage);

 (d) the date and time the outage commenced;

 (e) the date and time the outage was resolved (being when all relevant carriage services impacted by the outage were restored);

 (f) the total duration of the outage;

 (g) the geographic areas impacted by the outage including:

(i) suburb/town;

(ii) State/Territory; and

(iii) postcode;

 (h) to the extent technically practicable and relevant:

(i) the types of relevant carriage services impacted by the outage;

(ii) the number of those services for each type; and

(iii) the number of premises supplied with a fixed-line carriage service where that service has been impacted by the outage;

 (i) subject to subsection (4), whether the outage was caused by:

(i) power interruption;

(ii) equipment or system fault or failure;

(iii) damage by a third party;

(iv) something else; or

(v) something unknown;

 (j) indicate whether the cause referred to in paragraph (i) is attributable to a natural event or weather;

 (k) if appropriate, the name of the carrier or carriage service provider responsible for resolving the outage;

 (l) the date the entry about the outage was first published;

 (m) if relevant, the date the entry was last rectified.

Note: The outage register may include any additional information about any relevant outage or any other outage.

 (3) The carrier must ensure that any information referred to in subsection (2) is included in the outage register no later than 3 days after the relevant outage is resolved.

 (4) The carrier is not required to give information about the cause of a major outage or a significant local outage under paragraph (2)(i) if it has reasonable grounds to believe that disclosing that information could prejudice the security of its telecommunications network or national security (within the meaning of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018).             

 (5) The carrier must ensure that the outage register is operational at all times on and after 30 June 2026.

23  Outage register must be kept up to date and accurate

 (1) A carrier must ensure that any information contained in the outage register is kept up to date and accurate.

 (2) If the carrier becomes aware that any information contained in the outage register is out of date or inaccurate, the carrier must rectify the information within 3 days. 

24  Entry about relevant outage must remain on outage register

An entry about a relevant outage must remain on the outage register until at least the end of 2 years after the date the outage is resolved.

25  Other requirements for outage register

 (1) An entry about a relevant outage must:

 (a) be presented in a manner that, at a minimum, contains:

(i) each field category set out in Column 1 of Schedule 1; and

(ii) the information for that field category, in accordance with the corresponding instructions set out in Column 2 of Schedule 1; and

 (b) be expressed in plain English.

Note: To avoid doubt, the entry may otherwise be presented in a manner considered appropriate by the carrier who is responsible for making that entry.

 (2) The outage register must be maintained by electronic means.

 (3) The outage register must be made available for inspection by being published on:

 (a) the carrier’s website; or

 (b) if the carrier does not have a website:

(i) another carrier’s website; or

(ii) another website that the carrier considers is suitable for the purposes of inspection. 

 (4) The website concerned must display the following, in a prominent position on a webpage that relates to network status or outages:

 (a) the outage register; or

 (b) a link to the outage register.

 (5) Information in the register must be made available in a manner that allows the information to be downloaded as Comma Separated Values (CSV) format file.

 (6) The CSV format file that is downloaded:

 (a) must contain:

(i) each field category set out in Column 1 of Schedule 1; and

(ii) the information for that field category in accordance with the corresponding instructions set out in Column 2 of Schedule 1; and

 (b) must present each field category as a horizontal column header and set out the information for the field category beneath the header. 

 (7) The published version of the outage register must satisfy the Level AA Success Criteria as specified in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Note: The Level AA Success Criteria could, at the time of making of this instrument, be accessed free of charge from the World Wide Web Consortium’s website at www.w3.org.

26  Carriage service provider’s obligation in relation to outage register

 (1) This section applies to a carriage service provider who supplies relevant carriage services to end-users, but who is not a carrier.

 (2) The carriage service provider must ensure that at all times on and after 30 June 2026 its website displays, in a prominent position, a link to the outage register published by the carrier for the relevant carriage services.

 (3) In this section:

carrier for the relevant carriage services means the carrier whose telecommunications network is used by the carriage service provider to supply the relevant carriage services to end-users.

27  Relationship with other requirements

  To avoid doubt, the obligations in this Part are in addition to, and not in substitution for, the requirements in any other Part of this instrument.

Note: This Part contains additional requirements to ensure that historical information about relevant outages is made generally available to the public.

Schedule 1—Entry about relevant outage

  (paragraph 25(1)(a) and paragraph 25(6)(a))

Endnotes

Endnote 1—About the endnotes

The endnotes provide information about this compilation and the compiled law.

The following endnotes are included in every compilation:

Endnote 1—About the endnotes

Endnote 2—Abbreviation key

Endnote 3—Legislation history

Endnote 4—Amendment history

Abbreviation key—Endnote 2

The abbreviation key sets out abbreviations that may be used in the endnotes.

Legislation history and amendment history—Endnotes 3 and 4

Amending laws are annotated in the legislation history and amendment history.

The legislation history in endnote 3 provides information about each law that has amended (or will amend) the compiled law. The information includes commencement details for amending laws and details of any application, saving or transitional provisions that are not included in this compilation.

The amendment history in endnote 4 provides information about amendments at the provision (generally section or equivalent) level. It also includes information about any provision of the compiled law that has been repealed in accordance with a provision of the law.

Misdescribed amendments

A misdescribed amendment is an amendment that does not accurately describe how an amendment is to be made. If, despite the misdescription, the amendment can be given effect as intended, then the misdescribed amendment can be incorporated through an editorial change made under section 15V of the Legislation Act 2003.

If a misdescribed amendment cannot be given effect as intended, the amendment is not incorporated and “(md not incorp)” is added to the amendment history.

Endnote 2—Abbreviation key

Endnote 3—Legislation history

Endnote 4—Amendment history