‘Secondary issue’ affecting Telstra triple zero calls following outage
Josh Taylor
Late last night, Telstra confirmed a secondary issue flowing on from yesterday’s widespread national mobile outage. They say the new issue is “impacting some calls including Triple Zero”.
Telstra said when some customers were calling triple zero, they would receive an error message and the phone will try to connect to an alternative network.
The company said customers should wait for the phone to connect to another network, or use a different phone to make the call.
We’re working urgently to resolve this issue.
The company made over 300 welfare checks to people who attempted to dial triple zero during yesterday’s outage. The company’s chief executive, Michael Ackland, said the number of calls appeared to be higher than normal, which suggested some customers may have been dialling triple zero to check if it worked during the outage.
Key events
Tory Shepherd
SBS highlights role of media in social cohesion before royal commission
SBS has “unequivocally” condemned antisemitism and highlighted “the vital role trusted, independent public service media plays in strengthening social cohesion” ahead of its executives appearing at the royal commission today.
The commission has heard complaints about how the ABC and SBS have covered the Middle East war. Both public broadcasters have stood by their coverage.
In a statement, SBS said its purpose was “to inspire all Australians to explore, respect and celebrate our diverse world, and in doing so, contribute to a cohesive society”:
SBS has invested significantly in reporting and programming that helps Australians better understand antisemitism and its impacts, with content available in more than 60 languages. Across all our platforms and services, we represent Jewish Australian stories and perspectives in a way that is respectful, accurate and inclusive.
Sarah Basford Canales
Committee of medical experts to hold first meeting over NDIS changes
A group of medical and clinical assessment experts chosen by the federal government to determine how the NDIS will assess functionality for Australians with disability will meet for the first time today.
The technical advisory group, revealed last night, will contain experts from a range of backgrounds including disability research, psychiatry, health statistics, law and paediatrics.
Together, the group will develop the evidence-based assessment framework for functional capacity that will ultimately determine who can access the NDIS when it is introduced from 2028. It will also advise on assessment tools, evidence requirements and test and validate the chosen approach.
The NDIS and health minister, Mark Butler, and ACT disability minister, Suzanne Orr, will co-convene the group’s meetings while the co-chairs Prof Christine Imms and health department deputy secretary, Mary Wood, will lead the meetings.
Butler said:
This is about getting access reform right – technical expertise going hand-in-hand with the lived experience of people with disability, to secure the future of the NDIS for generations to come.
Taylor to lay out economic pathway for Coalition
Tom McIlroy
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is set to deliver a major economic address in Sydney tonight, accusing the Labor government of damaging the country and offering a different path forward.
Taylor’s speech to the Sydney Institute will include new Coalition analysis of productivity, living standards and the cost-of-living pain being felt by households around the country.
Under Labor, government has gotten bigger and Australians have gotten poorer, that is the brutal truth. More spending, more bureaucracy and more public sector workers have not delivered better services or higher living standards.
Instead the prime minister has delivered the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world.”
He says the Coalition’s plan will lift living standards.
We will do this by getting government spending under control to take pressure off inflation, ending mass migration by capping migration to below the number of homes being built, axing Labor’s toxic taxes, and delivering automatic tax cuts every year through our tax back guarantee, indexed to inflation.
Sydney median house rents hit record $850 a week
Jonathan Barrett
House rents in Sydney have surged over the past three months to a record $850 a week, according to Domain data, as housing costs rise across the country.
Rent increases for houses were steepest in Sydney over the June quarter, with a 6.3% lift in median rental asking prices. Prices also lifted by 4% for Sydney units to $780.
The rental rises were steepest in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Darwin, while increases in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart have moderated, even as vacancy rates remain low.
House rents in Australia’s second biggest city, Melbourne, climbed by just 0.8% to $600, making it the country’s most affordable state or territory capital.
Domain’s report found that the national increases were “stronger than seasonal norms and relatively abrupt in some cities”.
The steepest increases were recorded in houses, while changes to unit rental prices were more subdued.
Domain said that landlords may have moved quickly to lift asking rents where market conditions allowed after the government announced changes to investor tax settings at the May budget.
Shadow minister defends test calls to triple zero made by opposition’s communications spokesperson
Anne Webster, the shadow minister for regional communications, is speaking now on RN.
She wouldn’t say whether it was reasonable for the opposition’s communications spokesperson, senator Sarah Henderson, to make test calls on the triple zero network yesterday. Henderson defended herself yesterday, saying she was “doing my job” and wouldn’t apologise for it.
Webster said:
I mean, she’s the shadow minister. She needs to know whether it works or doesn’t work. … I would have thought that it was reasonable.
But I would also suggest to you … that if people are worried, if they have an ongoing health issue, for example, or they’ve had issues trying to get through to triple zero in the past, that they want to know that that is going to be accessible.
She said people were a “curious set of beings” and would want to know if triple zero worked.
‘Full investigation’ will come amid Telstra outage, minister says
Tim Ayres, the federal minister for industry and innovation, said there would be a “full investigation” into the Telstra outages.
Ayres spoke to RN Breakfast, saying there were still “some challenges persisting” in the Telstra network:
Obviously we’re very concerned about passenger rail services in Victoria and New South Wales and monitoring the situation very closely in relation to triple zero calls in particular. There’s been some progress made. But Telstra’s obviously scrambling to fix all of these issues.
There’ll be a full investigation in due course by the proper authority, ACMA. But right now the communications minister is on deck dealing with these challenges.
He said the investigation will determine any potential fine or penalty for Telstra, but right now the “focus has to be on recovery from this fault”.
I mean, it goes without saying, communications and digital infrastructure is part of the lifeblood of the economy. Each of these operators has responsibilities here. The framework is there to manage those, to make sure we’ve got a transparent investigative framework and to apply penalties where it’s necessary.
Communication minister says no reported ‘adverse outcomes’ from Telstra triple zero issues
Anika Wells, the communications minister, said she has not heard of any “adverse outcomes” linked to any Telstra customers failing to connect to triple zero.
Wells spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying Telstra needed to account for “how and why” the outage occurred, because Australians should expect triple zero as“ a baseline service from their telco”. The minister said Australians were overwhelmingly still able to call triple zero yesterday, but added:
There are instances where the triple zero custodian has observed they have not been working, where Telstra has observed they have not been working, and that’s where welfare checks are taking place and continue to take place.
Wells maintained that there was “no evidence” to suggest any cyber-attack and it was “irresponsible” for parliamentarians to speculate about one without “any evidence”.
ABC stands by Middle East coverage ahead of antisemitism royal commission hearing
The ABC issued a statement last night in which it rejected claims “that its journalism has contributed to antisemitism or social division”.
It comes ahead of appearances today by senior executives from the corporation and SBS executives at the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion.
The broadcasters will be questioned about their coverage of the Middle East conflict amid allegations of bias.
But the ABC issued a statement that said its “reporting has been evidence-based, fair, impartial and consistent with its charter obligations”.
The ABC reporting has consistently centred on the experiences of Jewish Australians while providing context regarding broader social and political issues.
The ABC executives appearing today include editorial director Gavin Fang and ombudsman Fiona Cameron.
SBS’s director of audio and language content, David Thanh Man Tue Hua, will follow, along with SBS director of news and current affairs Amanda Wicks and ombudsman Amy Stockwell.
Good morning
Nick Visser
And happy Thursday. Nick Visser here to take the helm. Let’s get to it.
IMF trims Australia’s growth estimate
Patrick Commins
The International Monetary Fund says the world has “so far, weathered the shock from the war better than feared”, as it issued an unchanged forecast for Australia’s economic growth in this financial year, but trimmed its estimate for 2025-26.
The IMF in an update to its World Economic Outlook predicted Australia’s economy would grow by 2% in 2026-27 – the same as the most recent forecast from April – but downgraded its estimate for 2025-26 by 0.1 percentage point, to 1.9%.
The Washington-based body in its update to its World Economic Outlook pointed to fading risks of the “adverse” scenarios contemplated in April, although it said “the possibility of renewed Middle East conflict looms large” – a view reinforced by further evidence in recent days of the fragile nature of the US-Iran truce.
The global growth prospects were largely unchanged over its two year forecasts, as it pointed to the huge artificial intelligence investment boom that was buoying tech exporting countries such as Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.
Inflation around the world was higher than three months earlier, but there was no signs of it “de-anchoring”, or getting out of hand.
Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, in a statement said the IMF’s forecasts made Australia one of the fastest growing major advanced economies in the year ahead.
The IMF is clear that two of the biggest factors shaping the outlook for economies over the next two years are how exposed they are to the fuel shock and the AI boom, and Australia is well placed to manage both.
Josh Taylor
Telstra says ‘secondary’ triple zero issue reduced by 90%
Just an update on the earlier news we reported regarding a secondary issue affecting people being able to call triple zero after yesterday’s outage.
The telco this morning said the occurrence of this error has reduced by 90% as of 6.30am AEST today, and the company is working to eliminate the issue entirely.
Telstra is expected to provide more updates throughout today.
Achol Arok
Andrew Hastie rejects One Nation vision of ‘monoculture’
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie has said he believes he is in a “very good position” within the party to fight back against the existential threat of One Nation.
He told ABC’s 7.30 that he rejects Pauline Hanson’s calls for “monoculturalism”, accusing One Nation of being “focused on a hostile takeover of the centre right”.
I sit with most reasonable Australians somewhere in the centre. I think there is a third way. We’re all signed up to the Australian project. I think immigration has happened, that’s a reality.
It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what colour your skin is, if you sign up to our shared language, which is English, our shared institutions, like parliament, and the rule of law or our judiciary, and if you sign up to our shared symbol, the Australian national flag, you’re Australian.
Victoria’s V/Line regional train network is still suffering the after-effects of yesterday morning’s Telstra outage.
According to an update early this morning, passenger services are still not operating – and that includes this morning’s peak services.
The notice, from 5.30am, adds:
We advise passengers to please defer non-essential V/Line travel. We acknowledge this has been inconvenient to many people and thank passengers for their patience as work continues to safely restore services.
Police dispute SA senator’s claim of ‘tragic death’ due to triple-zero outage
A Liberal senator in South Australia claims there has been a “tragic death” following a failure to connect to triple zero during yesterday’s Telstra outage.
However police say they aren’t aware of the case.
On Wednesday evening, Kerrynne Liddle posted on Facebook:
My office has received a report of a tragic death following an apparent failure to connect to Triple Zero during a life-or-death emergency amid Telstra’s nationwide outage today
This death of an elderly South Australian represents a devastating failure for their family. Our thoughts are with them.
No Australian should ever be unable to connect to Triple Zero when their life depends on it.
The verified account for South Australia police replied to the post around two hours later, saying “South Australia police are not aware of any death in South Australia today as a result of the Telstra nationwide outage”.
Commuters urged to plan ahead as Telstra outage disrupts transport networks
Achol Arok
Public transport commuters in New South Wales and Victoria have been urged to plan ahead and seek alternative travel plans this morning as networks continue to be affected by yesterday’s Telstra outage.
The NSW transport department said last night that passengers on Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink regional rail services “should expect flow-on impacts” and “plan ahead and check the latest service information before commencing their journey due to ongoing disruptions affecting rail operations”.
Victorians have been advised “not to travel on V/Line services” if possible, with regional train services reduced to “a very limited coach service”.
Metro rail services in both Sydney and Melbourne remain unaffected.
‘Secondary issue’ affecting Telstra triple zero calls following outage
Josh Taylor
Late last night, Telstra confirmed a secondary issue flowing on from yesterday’s widespread national mobile outage. They say the new issue is “impacting some calls including Triple Zero”.
Telstra said when some customers were calling triple zero, they would receive an error message and the phone will try to connect to an alternative network.
The company said customers should wait for the phone to connect to another network, or use a different phone to make the call.
We’re working urgently to resolve this issue.
The company made over 300 welfare checks to people who attempted to dial triple zero during yesterday’s outage. The company’s chief executive, Michael Ackland, said the number of calls appeared to be higher than normal, which suggested some customers may have been dialling triple zero to check if it worked during the outage.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
We’re still feeling the effects of yesterday’s nationwide outage of Telstra’s mobile network, more than 24 hours on (and long after the carrier declared it fixed). Some still can’t make triple zero calls, and many trains are still out of action, especially in regional areas.
The ABC has rejected claims that its journalism has stoked antisemitism as executives from the corporation and SBS front the antisemitism royal commission today.
The International Monetary Fund says forecasts for Australia’s economic growth in this financial year are unchanged despite the war in the Middle East, but trimmed its estimate for 2025-26.
More coming up.
About the Author
