Telstra outage: Mobile network mostly restored after nationwide crash, causing transport and payment delays

By: Andrew Thorpe and Luke Cooper – for updates, see ABC

Telstra says its services have been mostly restored after its network suffered a major, nationwide outage that left potentially millions of Australians unable to make phone calls or access the internet.

"We've made good progress restoring services, with just under 90 per cent of calls and data now flowing successfully across the network," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Our teams are working as quickly as possible to restore remaining services and get all customers back online."

Telstra's chief financial officer Michael Ackland told reporters there was no evidence to suggest "malicious activity" might have sparked the outage, but said the telco did not know what the "root cause" was.

Mr Ackland said he believed the outage might have stemmed from issues within data centres operated by Telstra in Sydney and Melbourne.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the outage as "deeply concerning" and "very disruptive to people's lives", and said: "None of it is, of course, acceptable."

"Some people have been unaffected, but many have been severely disrupted," he said.

"Telstra is investigating, but we will work closely with them."

Earlier on Wednesday, the outage affected payment systems and public transport across the country, with regional rail lines in NSW and Victoria and the ACT's MyWay+ ticketing system among those services affected.

Hundreds of traffic lights in South Australia were also impacted, operating on basic programming rather than responding to traffic conditions.

The outage appears to have started early on Wednesday morning, with outage monitoring site Downdetector.com showing a large spike in reports beginning about 5am AEST.

Users of other mobile providers that operate on Telstra's network, including Boost, Aldi, Tangerine, Belong and Everyday Mobile, are also reporting outages.

However, the outage does not appear to be affecting all the telco's customers, with some reporting on social media that they are still able to make calls, access the internet, or both.

Triple Zero calls impacted

Calls to Triple Zero (000) should be unaffected by the outage, with calls being rerouted to use other providers' mobile networks, and emergency services in Victoria and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman have said this is the case.

However, police in Western Australia posted a statement on Facebook saying the outage appeared to have affected some Triple Zero calls, advising people with "a vulnerable family member, friend, neighbour or co-worker" to "consider offering support during the service disruption".

Police in NSW also said they understood the outage was impacting network devices, and some people might need to call Triple Zero using a non-Telstra device.

"Triple Zero systems are not affected, but you may not be able to reach Triple Zero if you are calling from a Telstra device," a NSW Police spokesperson said in a statement.

"If you try to call Triple Zero and can't get through, we recommend using another device, a landline or wi-fi calling."

Queensland Police confirmed the state's Triple Zero service was not impacted.

Mr Ackland told reporters that Telstra's internal systems handle Triple Zero calls according to different settings than those used for ordinary phone calls.

"We have seen a small number of reports that we are investigating," he said.

"As part of our standard process, which has been operating through the night and through this morning, we conduct welfare checks when any call to Triple Zero fails, and we've been doing this.

"We do ask customers not to test and try out Triple Zero unless you need Triple Zero."

Communications Minister Anika Wells said Triple Zero calls were "flowing as expected" to Australia's Emergency Call Person (ECP) network.

"The Triple Zero Custodian has advised that some callers were unable to connect to the ECP, and that these are being investigated by Telstra," Ms Wells said in a statement.

"All telcos, including Telstra, have strict requirements in relation to welfare checks for disconnected Triple Zero calls, and the Triple Zero Custodian is in regular communication with Telstra to receive updates on the progress and outcomes of these checks."

Ms Wells also said the Australian Communications and Media Authority would conduct an investigation into the outage, which would include asking further questions of Telstra about how the incident unfolded.

Transport networks disrupted

Trains between Newcastle Interchange and Maitland on the Hunter Line stopped running due to the outage, with replacement buses deployed.

The Southern Highlands line between Campbelltown and Moss Vale/Goulburn was also affected.

In Victoria, all regional train services were suspended by service operator V/Line, including the Bendigo, Seymour, Gippsland, Geelong and Ballarat lines.

Josh Meadows was set to commute from Castlemaine to Melbourne this morning when, after his train arrived at the station, he heard an announcement that it couldn't proceed due to a "Telstra radio network fault".

"I sat on the train for half an hour. It was nice and warm inside the train, then … decided I'll have to work from home," he said.

V/Line said it was "assessing the situation and will advise when trains will resume", and added that there was "no estimated time for rectification at this stage".

Canberra's public transport authorities said they were investigating a "likely" connection between the outage and issues with its MyWay+ ticketing system, though bus and light rail services were running on time.

Transport for NSW acting coordinator-general Matt Longland later told the ABC that train services to and from Canberra had been shut down, with at least one service departing Sydney stopped outside the city after it lost communications with a control centre.

Queensland Rail experienced no issues relating to the outage.

Money payment connections cut

ATMs in Sydney Airport also appeared to have been affected, frustrating passengers unable to access cash while their mobile payments are down.

A spokesperson for Tyro, Australia's largest EFTPOS provider, which services almost 80,000 customers, said it was aware some people were unable to connect to payment machines that operate on 4G networks.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said its merchant EFTPOS terminals were also impacted, and suggested customers switch connections to an Optus network or local wi-fi source.

Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said Telstra had advised the federal government of the outage, which was affecting "a large number of mobile calls and connections".

"We understand Telstra is working on resolving the issue, and arrangements are being made for affected rail passengers," she said.

"Like all telcos, Telstra must notify customers and emergency services of any major outage."

Telstra operates Australia's largest mobile network, providing about 24.9 million retail mobile services as of June last year.

The company was fined more than $3 million in 2024 for a network outage that prevented customers from calling Triple Zero.

Optus, Telstra's biggest competitor, said its systems were working as normal.

"Optus's network is operating normally, and customers can continue to make calls, send messages and access data across our mobile and fixed networks," a spokesperson said.

"Keeping our customers connected is our priority, and we continue to monitor network performance closely."

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) described the Telstra outage as "a stark reminder that Australia still has no enforceable reliability standards holding telcos to account for network stability".

"Every telco outage carries a cost — to public safety, to business operations, to social connection, and to the economy at large," ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said in a statement.

"This is only the latest in a spate of reliability flashpoints across the Australian telco sector.

"Consumers are right to ask: how much longer before these companies are held to account for their networks, with enforceable reliability requirements rather than voluntary commitments?"