ACMA to establish dedicated triple zero division

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will establish a dedicated team for managing issues related triple zero calling issues.

The regulator has told parliament’s triple zero inquiry committee that the new branch is the result of the federal government’s decision to allocate additional funds to the regulator following the Optus triple zero outage incident last September.

An ACMA spokesperson told iTnews that the formation of its new triple zero branch is not intended to accelerate its investigation into the Optus outage, which has since been linked two deaths.

“It represents a longer term strengthening of ACMA’s capability to oversee triple zero services and respond to incidents within an enduring regulatory framework.

"The branch will rely primarily on internal expertise, supplemented by external technical or legal advice where required,” the spokesperson said.

ACMA is responding to broader questions from the committee regarding the regulator’s capacity to regulate triple zero calling with its current resources and staffing levels.

The regulator responded in writing to questions from the committee, saying it welcomed an additional $23.4 million included in the federal government MYEFO budgetary measures announced last December.

It also revealed that its new dedicated branch would, at least in part, support the work of the newly established Triple Zero Guardian.

“The funding will be used to increase ACMA’s capacity to undertake regulatory and compliance activities around triple zero matters including newer obligations on telcos relating to outage notifications, reporting and registers, device testing and blocking, tower wilting, record keeping and information sharing," tne authority said.

“It will allow the ACMA to undertake more audits, compliance assessments, investigations and, where required, enforcement action, than has previously been possible.

"It will also be used to support the work of the new Triple Zero Custodian who can make requests to the ACMA to issue directions or referrals."

ACMA is currently under pressure to deliver its findings on its investigations into the September Optus outage as soon as possible.

It has since received additional questions on notice from the inquiry committee further scrutinising its capacity to complete the investigation.

The committee asked the regulator whether TPG Telecom, and Optus and its subsidiaries had missed any deadlines responding to statutory notices that ACMA needs progress its investigations.

It was then asked whether the staffing resources it has committed to date reflected “the scope and urgency of the investigation”.

ACMA conceded that the investigation had required it to divert resources from other “lower priority” work.

“ACMA considers that the allocated staffing levels are appropriate and sufficient having regard to the scope, complexity and urgency of the investigations and to ensure each of these investigations was progressed in the shortest possible timeframe.

"Resourcing is actively managed and adjusted over time, and the investigations continue to be among ACMA’s highest compliance priorities.

“To prioritise these investigations, ACMA undertook some internal re-prioritisation, including deferring or rescheduling some lower-priority work. No mandatory work was suspended,” the regulator told the committee.