Australian media reported that the rules will be implemented by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) under the direction of Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

The rules stem from Optus' November 2023 outage, which affected 10.2 million customers, unable to make mobile calls or use NBN services.

Last April, CommsWire reported the government will begin to "implement a set of reforms and rules" to improve the emergency call service including a real-time network information during outages.

At that time, Rowland said in a statement that the government will implement new rules mandating how, what and when telecommunications carriers communicate with their customers during and after a major outage."

Last week, Rowland introduced the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages Industry Standards) Direction 2024, which requires the ACMA to "make new rules to ensure telcos keep customers informed and updated regarding major outages, for example, through website updates, email updates to customers, social media updates and radio and television news bulletins."

"The ACMA will also make rules to improve customer communications during significant local outages that are smaller in scale than major outages," she added.

Rowland said the telco industry will provide input into the development of the communication standards.

The Communications Minister also said ACMA would also review the existing Complaints Handling Industry Standard "to ensure complaints processes are effective for consumers in the context of network outages."

Communications consumer group ACCAN welcomed Michelle Rowland's announcement.

ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said in a statement that the new industry standard is important because consumers need clear, concise, and timely information in the event of an outage.

"A telecommunications outage is extraordinarily difficult, disruptive, and dangerous. When we lose the connectivity which we rely on for work, study, basic transactions, health, and safety, consumers expect clear information so that they can take steps to manage the impact."

"An outage can be made worse if clear communication is not given by a telco as to what the problem is, what they are doing to solve the problem, the extent of the issue, and an estimated resolution timeframe," Bennett said.

"During the Optus outage last November, consumers and businesses were beyond frustrated by Optus' slow response to basic questions about the outage. This standard will help to prevent this from happening in the future by requiring telcos to act in a clear and timely manner."