Telstra CEO apologises as software glitch triggers nationwide outage

Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady has apologised after the company's nationwide outage disrupted Triple Zero services, train networks and electronic payments across Australia, according to media reports.

The outage has left the telecommunications giant facing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation claims.

As mentioned by ABC news, in her first public appearance since the incident, Brady said the disruption was caused by a software glitch triggered during routine network work.

"We have let our customers and Australians down and for that I am deeply sorry," Brady said.

"I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work and stay safe. I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down, from things like payments to transport,” she added.

"It's extremely frustrating and disruptive when services aren't available, and I am sorry for the impact that this has had on so many people,” she also said.

Brady was overseas with her family when the outage occurred. She returned to Australia as quickly as possible after learning of the incident. She also remained in contact with Communications Minister Anika Wells and later briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Software glitch

The outage began at about 4:20am on Wednesday. A network node restarted while engineers were carrying out maintenance work. The restart triggered an unexpected software glitch.

"We know that this particular node did restart as work was happening on it, and as it restarted a software glitch was triggered," Brady said.

"It is not unusual in a network of our size, as you're doing work on various components of it, you will have equipment restart."

Equipment normally restarts without problems. In this case, however, the restart activated the software fault.

Telstra is now closely monitoring similar network components. The company is confident the issue has been resolved. A small number of enterprise customers still require field visits to reset specialised systems.

Investigation underway

Brady said Telstra now understands what caused the outage. The company will complete a full investigation and implement measures to prevent a repeat.

Telstra takes its responsibility for Triple Zero services "extremely seriously". While network failures can occur, she said stronger safeguards and response processes are essential.

Death probe

The outage is also being examined in connection with the death of an elderly patient at a regional South Australian hospital.

Police are investigating whether the disruption affected attempts by the patient's family to contact Triple Zero. The family reportedly failed to get through before successfully calling from another phone.

Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland said, “To date, we can see no record of calls from those numbers accessing Telstra's mobile network to call Triple Zero, and more broadly, no record of any calls from those numbers to the Triple Zero platform.”

He added that there were no active outages in the area at the time. Telstra's records also showed strong mobile coverage. A separate call from another number connected successfully to Triple Zero.

Ackland said Telstra carried out welfare checks during the outage. Seven cases requiring assistance were referred to police.

Compensation

Brady rejected suggestions that recent job cuts contributed to the outage. She said there was no indication workforce changes played any role.

She also said executive remuneration would be handled through the company's normal governance process.

Compensation claims would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Customers affected by the outage have been encouraged to contact Telstra directly.