Disaster relief

Your safety and wellbeing is always our number one priority. So, if you're in an emergency situation call 000 from your fixed line or mobile phone (or 112 from your Mobile).

These numbers work throughout coverage areas in Australia, no matter which service provider you're with, even if you've run out of Prepaid credit or have a restricted or suspended service. Please be advised there are some limitations on making emergency calls to Triple Zero on the VoLTE network. Visit the VoLTE article for more info.

During emergencies like bushfires, floods or other extreme events; your landline and mobile phone may be used to deliver critical warning messages. These messages are a way for authorities to advise you of what to do during an emergency.

Text messages are sent to you based on your last known location. Your location is updated when your mobile:

• Makes or receives a call; or
• Sends or receives an SMS; or
• Moves between a number of mobile network cells (your device has connected to a couple of mobile towers)

If none of the above has occurred, your mobile phone's location is automatically updated by the network every 60 minutes.

No. Only authorised personnel from emergency service organisations such as police, fire and related state emergency services can use the emergency alert system to send warning messages.

For more information on SMS and landline emergency alerts see the Australian Government's Emergency Alerts website.

Before reporting a fault with your Optus service, please remember, your safety comes first. Only contact us when it’s safe for you to do so. To report a fault/outage contact us.

If you have noticed a potential hazard with Optus equipment, learn how to report it.

If you have noticed a potentially unsafe or dangerous situation that involves Optus equipment, for example, Optus cable or wires have come down, etc. You don’t have to be an Optus customer to report a hazardous situation to us.

Outages 
You can visit our service & network status page to check for any known outages or service disruptions to our Mobile, Broadband and Fixed Phone networks in your local area. 

Just enter your city / suburb name to stay up-to-date on any planned repairs, maintenance or outages in your area. The network status and service page can be found at www.optus.com.au/networkstatus. 

Mass service disruptions 
If an area / region has been officially declared as part of a mass service disruption, it will be published on the Mass Service Disruptions page and in major newspapers. 

More information on mass service disruptions and the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) can be found in the Customer Service Guarantee, Waiver & Mass Service Disruptions FAQs. 
 

Optus will work to resolve any service disruptions as quickly as possible. However, during times of mass disruption like floods, bushfires and other extreme conditions it can sometimes take longer than expected.   
 


There are a number of reasons why these delays can occur: 

• The safety of the general public and that of our technicians are always our primary concern 
• Both the size and the location of a mass service disruption directly impact the time taken to rectify services 
• Local network infrastructure that requires repair may not be accessible due to hazardous conditions or as access has been restricted by emergency services or other government agencies 
• There may be a need for other utilities to restore services such as mains power, first 
• We may need to restore the 'backbone' of the region's network before we can work in a local area. As local mobile base stations, exchanges and other network facilities require connecting or supporting infrastructure to be up and running before more localised facilities can resume normal operations 

Many mobile phones may be capable of accessing Temporary Disaster Roaming. To access TDR, your device needs to support VoLTE roaming.

VoLTE roaming is available on select Optus-launched handsets, but it’s important to check if your device is compatible.

For Apple iPhone users: National data roaming is enabled by default on devices that are still supported by Apple's iOS updates – no action is required.

For Android device users (Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, Motorola, Nothing, Oppo, Nubia and other handsets): Android devices vary in compatibility, and you should check with your manufacturer on how to enable VoLTE roaming. Some older Android handsets may not support VoLTE roaming.