All Records Of Communication, Including Copies Of Emails And Electronic Messages, Between The First Assistant Secretary, Communications Services And Consumer Division And The Chief-Of-Staff To The…
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All Records Of Communication, Including Copies Of Emails And Electronic Messages, Between The First Assistant Secretary, Communications Services And Consumer Division And The Chief-Of-Staff To The Minister For Communications Between 24 September 2025 And 27 September 2025.
Infrastructure
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This FOI release contains communications between the Department of Infrastructure's First Assistant Secretary for Communications Services and Consumer Division and the Minister's Chief-of-Staff between 24-27 September 2025. The three disclosed emails, sent by Samuel Grunhard on 24 September, address operational matters including custodian acknowledgment points, an update on a Wentworth Falls Triple Zero call incident (with the Australian Communications and Media Authority noted as aware), and a situational report on an Optus matter. Significant portions of the communications have been redacted under exemption s22(1)(a)(ii), limiting visibility into the substantive content of discussions between the senior departmental official and ministerial office regarding these communications-related issues.
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FOI 26-187 - Document 1 # FOI From: Grunhard, Samuel Sent: Wednesday, 24 September 2025 4:44 PM To: Kerdel, Barnaby (A. Wells, MP); Kerdel, Barnaby Cc: CHISHOLM, James; Silleri, Kathleen; s22(1)(a)(ii) Subject: custodian points [SEC=OFFICIAL] OFFICIAL Hi Barnaby, s47C Released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts 647C FOI 26-187 - Document 1 Released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts FOI 26-187 - Document 1 Sam Grunhard a/g Deputy Secretary Communications and Media Group E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au P +61 2 6136 s22( ) • M +61 s22(1)(a)(ii) EA: s22(1)(a)(ii) 1 E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au • P +61 2 6136 s22( ) 1(A) Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts CONNECTING AUSTRALIANS • ENRICHING COMMUNITIES • EMPOWERING REGIONS Infrastructure.gov.au I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet, work and live. I recognise and respect their continuing connection to the land, waters and communities. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. OFFICIAL Released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts FOI 26-187 - Document 2 # FOI From: Grunhard, Samuel Sent: Wednesday, 24 September 2025 5:03 PM To: Kerdel, Barnaby (A. Wells, MP); Kerdel, Barnaby Cc: s22(1)(a)(ii) CHISHOLM, James; Silleri, Kathleen Subject: wentworth falls Triple Zero call matter [SEC=OFFICIAL] # OFFICIAL Hi Barnaby, An update on this matter reported earlier today:  The ACMA is aware. Sam Sam Grunhard a/g Deputy Secretary Communications and Media Group E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au P +61 2 6136 s22(1)(a)(ii) M +61 s22(1)(a)(ii) E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au * P +61 2 6136 s22(1)(a)(ii) Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts CONNECTING AUSTRALIANS • ENRICHING COMMUNITIES • EMPOWERING REGIONS # Infrastructure.gov.au  I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet, work and live. I recognise and respect their continuing connection to the land, waters and communities. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. # OFFICIAL FOI 26-187 - Document 3 # FOI From: Grunhard, Samuel Sent: Wednesday, 24 September 2025 5:31 PM To: Kerdel, Barnaby (A. Wells, MP); Kerdel, Barnaby Cc: s22(1)(a)(ii) CHISHOLM, James; s22(1)(a)(ii) s22(1)(a)(ii) ; McMullan, Kate; Silleri, Kathleen; Media Subject: RE: Optus sitrep - 5pm 24 Sept [SEC=OFFICIAL] Attachments: Optus sitrep 5pm 24 Sept.docx # OFFICIAL Barnaby, updated sitrep as at 5pm 24 September. Propose discontinuing sitrep (as opposed to other response work still underway) noting we are unlikely to continue to learn information at pace about the incident itself. Let us know if you disagree. Sam Sam Grunhard a/g Deputy Secretary Communications and Media Group E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au P +61 2 6136 s22(·M +61 s22(1)(a)(ii) E: s22(1)(a)(ii) 1 E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au • P +61 2 6136 s22(· Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts CONNECTING AUSTRALIANS • ENRICHING COMMUNITIES • EMPOWERING REGIONS # infrastructure.gov.au I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet, work and live. I recognise and respect their continuing connection to the land, waters and communities. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. # OFFICIAL From: Grunhard, Samuel Sent: Monday, 22 September 2025 5:37 PM To: Kerdel, Barnaby (A. Wells, MP) ; Kerdel, Barnaby Cc: s22(1)(a)(ii) ; CHISHOLM, James ; s22(1)(a)(ii) , s22(1)(a)(ii) ; McMullan, Kate ; Silleri, Kathleen Subject: Optus sitrep - 5pm 22 Sept [SEC=OFFICIAL] # OFFICIAL # OFFICIAL FOI 26-187 - Document 3 Hi Barnaby, Please find attached updated sitrep. Next one tomorrow or as information unfolds. Sam Sam Grunhard a/g Deputy Secretary Communications and Media Group E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au P +61 2 6136 s22(1)(a)(ii) = M +61 s22(1)(a)(ii) E: s22(1)(a)(ii) communications.gov.au = P +61 2 6136 s22(1)(a)(ii) Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts CONNECTING AUSTRALIANS = ENRICHING COMMUNITIES = EMPOWERING REGIONS infrastructure.gov.au I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet, work and live. I recognise and respect their continuing connection to the land, waters and communities. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL FOI 26-187 - Document 3 Attachment # OFFICIAL Optus situation report – as at 5pm 24 September 2025 (updates highlighted) Clearance: Sam Grunhard, a/g Deputy Secretary Communications and Media Group, DITRDCSA ## Facts / chronology - Optus advises that the outage was triggered when a system upgrade was started around 12.30am on Thursday 18 September. The upgrade was related to a firewall upgrade. - The technical failure impacted 624 Triple Zero calls in SA, NT, WA, and two calls in NSW. The duration has been reported as between 10 and 14 hours. - On 22 September (1:20pm) Optus advised that it has identified an additional 7 calls (3 in SA, 4 in WA), taking the number to 631. These calls occurred between 12:17am and 12:30am. Welfare checks had not been undertaken but are being done now. - On 24 September the Optus CEO said that of the 631 calls, some were ultimately able to get through to Triple Zero (including via camp-on) but 480 did not. Investigation is needed to determine the cause. - Optus says that they and police services have since conducted welfare checks on all missed calls. - On 21 September the Optus CEO said that Optus has now identified five calls to its call centres raising Triple Zero concerns, but these were not acted upon; internal escalation protocols failed. Optus says it has commenced “24/7” monitoring of its Triple Zero function. - SA Police says it has since determined that an eight-week-old boy from Gawler West and a 68-year-old woman from the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown have died. SA Police now says the infant death is unlikely to have been caused by the outage. - The Western Australian government confirmed a 74-year-old man has died, and another person may also have died as a result of the outage. - State investigations will be held, including possible coronial proceedings. - The Optus CEO said on 20 September that Optus will order an independent investigation into the incident. - It is not yet clear precisely how the outage occurred, and why internal systems within Optus failed to act faster to restore services. - Minister Wells announced on 20 September that the ACMA will be investigating the incident. On 22 September in a joint press conference with the Minister, the ACMA Chair announced that the ACMA’s investigation would focus on (1) the requirements in the Emergency Call Service Determination, (2) outage notification requirements, and (3) welfare check obligations. The ACMA will also consider ‘whether there has been sufficient investment in Optus’ network... and the systems and processes in place to alert Optus to when things are going wrong’. - On 24 September the Optus board announced that Dr Kerry Schott has been appointed to run Optus’ ‘independent review’ into the incident. ## Background ### How does Triple Zero work? Triple Zero is delivered in coordination across the Australian Government and State and Territory Governments. The Australian Government provides and funds call centres that undertake the initial call answering, and then transfers genuine calls to the relevant police, fire or ambulance service in the appropriate state/territory. Telstra is required by law to provide Triple Zero services, and all telecommunications carriers are required to ensure that their customers’ calls are passed through to Triple Zero. OFFICIAL FOI 26-187 - Document 3 Attachment # OFFICIAL Isn't there a system in place for all emergency calls to be carried even when the 'home' network is down? Yes, this is called 'camp-on'. It enables mobile calls to be carried to Triple Zero even when the home network is down, by 'camping on' to another mobile network. It is not yet clear whether this system worked in this case, and if not, why not. This will form part of the ACMA's investigation. Optus informed the Department on 21 September by phone call that it is clear some calls did not successfully camp on, though the number of calls is TBD. Telstra has told the Department it is looking into its own data and will collaborate with Optus to understand what happened. ## When was the Department notified of the Outage? The Department has a dedicated email address which is used by the telcos to notify of outages. Optus notified at 2.45pm on 18 September of an issue affecting some customers attempting to call Triple Zero. At 2.52pm Optus advised that the matter was resolved and that up to 10 calls may have been impacted. The Department was then contacted by the ACMA at 3.29pm on 19 September (the next day) to advise that Optus had experienced a 14 hour outage and over 600 calls were impacted. ## What did the Bean Review into the 2023 Optus outage find? What action has the Government taken? - Following the November 2023 Optus outage, the Department undertook a review of the incident to uncover the lessons for Government and the tele...