Sustainability Report Media Release

Optus today released its 27th annual Sustainability Report, highlighting progress made during the first full year of implementation of its 2030 Sustainability Strategy.

The report outlines performance across the company's three strategic sustainability pillars - Digital Empowerment, Healthy Planet and Responsible Business - and provides transparent reporting on both achievements and challenges experienced throughout FY26.

The results demonstrate continued progress towards Optus' 2030 sustainability targets, including expanding digital inclusion initiatives, reducing environmental impacts and strengthening responsible business practices.

FY26 highlights include:

Digital Empowerment

• Connected and educated 203,710 Australians in FY26, supporting Optus' ambition to reach 750,000 Australians by 2030.
• Expanded the Digital Thumbprint online safety program by 101 per cent year-on-year, helping nearly 100,000 students build digital literacy and online safety skills.
• Enabled an additional 12,497 participants to access the Donate Your Data program, with more than 12.2 million GB of data donated by 200,214 Optus customers.

Healthy Planet

• Recycled 98 per cent of operational e-waste and reused or recycled 175,799 customer devices.
• Reduced Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent year-on-year to 216,622 tCO₂e.
• Increased renewable electricity usage from 21 per cent in FY25 to 35 per cent in FY26.

Responsible Business

• Spent $1.88 million with First Nations suppliers, progressing towards a commitment of $14 million by 2030.
• Contributed $17.2 million to communities through community investment initiatives.
• Supported 202 students with job-ready skills through our Pathways 2 Employment program

The report also openly addresses significant compliance incidents during FY26, including the Triple Zero network outage. Independent reviews have been completed, recommendations have been accepted, and structural reforms are being implemented to strengthen governance, accountability and operational resilience.

Chief Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer, Felicity Ross said:

“This report reflects a year of meaningful progress as we delivered the first full year of our 2030 Sustainability Strategy and continued our work to make Optus easier to trust and easier to choose.

“We are seeing positive momentum across digital inclusion, environmental sustainability and responsible business, with progress against a number of the commitments and targets we have set for ourselves. As a provider of critical infrastructure, we recognise the important role we play in helping people, businesses, governments and communities stay connected, participate and thrive in a digital economy.

“Equally important is being transparent about where we have fallen short. Trust is built through accountability, not just achievement. During FY26, we experienced serious compliance incidents, including the 18 September outage, and this report outlines both what happened and the actions we are taking in response. We have accepted the findings of independent reviews and are implementing significant reforms to strengthen governance, accountability and operational resilience.”

The full FY26 Sustainability Report is available at:
https://www.optus.com.au/about/sustainability/reporting

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About Optus

Optus is Australia’s second largest telecommunications provider, with a network that reaches 99.1% of Australians and connects around 12 million customers and businesses across the nation.

Backed by some 7,000 employees, 250 retail stores across the country, award-winning 5G and human support available 24/7, we offer a wide range of services, including mobile and home phone plans, internet and broadband, satellite services and business solutions that help make life easier and better for our customers and the nation.

We’ve built a network with the power to inspire positive change. Now we’re also committed to building a stronger Optus, listening to our customers’ needs and investing in our people, partnerships, communities and technology to create a better, connected future for Australia.