My mobile network is down. What am I owed for the outage?
What the Australian Consumer Law and the ACMA's outage rules give you during a mobile outage, how to claim a credit, and when to go to the TIO.
You can ask for a credit or refund for the time you had no service, and compensation for any loss, because a mobile plan is a service covered by the Australian Consumer Law guarantees (sections 60 to 62). Report the outage so it is logged as a network outage complaint, then put the claim in writing; your telco has 10 working days to respond. If it refuses, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman decides, free of charge.
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Are you entitled to anything when your mobile network goes down?
Usually, yes, beyond a short blip. A mobile plan is a service, so under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) your telco guarantees it will be supplied with due care and skill (section 60), fit for the purpose you told it about (section 61) and within a reasonable time (section 62). The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) puts it plainly: if outages are frequent or major you can ask for a refund or rebate for the time without service, cancel without penalty, or claim compensation for loss. A minor, short outage earns at most a goodwill credit.
No rule fixes a dollar amount per day without service. The starting point is the share of your plan fee for the days you could not use it, plus any loss you can show.
- Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024. In a major outage (100,000 or more services, or a whole state or territory, for more than 60 minutes) or a significant local outage (1,000 or more services in regional Australia for 6 hours, or 250 or more in remote Australia for 3 hours) your telco must publish what has happened on its website, update you at least every 6 hours for the first 24 hours and then daily, say what is affected, the likely cause and an estimated fix time, and tell you promptly when service is restored.
- Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018, Part 2A. Since 30 June 2025, when you report no service during one of those outages the telco must log a network outage complaint with a reference number, tell you in writing when service is back, and tell you about any blanket credit and how to claim more. If you have priority assistance or tell the telco the outage puts your safety or health at risk, it must make reasonable efforts to keep you connected and check within 2 calendar days that your service is back.
The Customer Service Guarantee Standard does not apply; it covers landline connection and repair times, not mobile or internet.
Which fork you are on:
- Network-wide outage. Expect a blanket credit or data offer. You can still claim more if you lost money.
- Repeated local dropouts. That is a fault, not an outage. Log each date and time and lodge a standard complaint; 10 working days applies.
- The coverage was never there. Check the standardised coverage map every mobile provider has had to publish since 30 June 2026. If you were sold a plan for a place it shows as basic or no coverage, ask to leave without fees.
What should you do first?
Step 1: Rule out your handset, then get the outage on record
Toggle aeroplane mode, restart the phone, and check your telco's outage page; Telstra, Optus and Vodafone each publish one. If others nearby on the same network are down, it is the network. Contact the telco by app, chat or phone and say: "I'm reporting a network outage and I want a complaint reference number." Note when the service dropped and when it came back; the telco's restoration SMS is evidence. If a Triple Zero call fails, retry it: since 1 November 2025 carriers must let your phone camp on another network for emergency calls when theirs is down.
Step 2: Ask in writing and set a deadline
Once service is back, do not settle for the blanket offer if it does not cover you. A written complaint starts the 10-working-day clock under the Complaints Handling Standard. Use the complaints channel: for Telstra the form at telstra.com.au/forms/make-a-complaint, for Optus optus.com.au/complaints. The telco complaints guide lists what to include.
Subject: Credit claim for network outage, account [account number], outage reference [reference]
My mobile service [number] had no service from [date and time] to [date and time] because of your network outage. I reported it on [date], reference [reference].
A mobile plan is a service under the Australian Consumer Law. Sections 60 to 62 guarantee it is supplied with due care and skill and within a reasonable time, and it was not. I am claiming a credit of $[amount], being [X] days of my $[plan fee] monthly plan[, plus $[amount] for [loss, for example a paid hotspot or missed work], receipts attached].
Under the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018 please propose a resolution within 10 working days, by [date]. If you refuse I will lodge a complaint with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
Step 3: Keep the loss evidence
Receipts for a replacement SIM or data, screenshots of failed calls, a note of appointments or shifts missed. Loss claims are judged on what you can show. After its 8 July 2026 outage Telstra opened a dedicated line (1800 242 728) and asked small businesses for supporting documents before assessing financial loss; expect the same from any telco.
What if the telco refuses a credit?
- Escalate inside the telco. Reply in writing that you reject the offer and want a manager to review it. Once you say you are unhappy with progress, the telco must give you the TIO's details.
- Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). Free, and every telco must belong. Lodge online at tio.com.au or on 1800 062 058, within 2 years of the outage. The telco then has 10 working days to settle; about 80 per cent of complaints end there. If it does not, the TIO assesses a fair outcome and can make a decision binding on the telco for up to $100,000, including financial loss and up to $1,500 for stress and inconvenience. In one published TIO case a rural doctor whose provider insisted there was no outage was refunded her service charges for the weeks she had no service, once the TIO referral made the provider admit a network outage. The guide to lodging with the TIO covers each stage.
- Report the outage handling to the ACMA. The ACMA does not award credits, but it enforces the outage communication and complaints rules, and in July 2026 it took Optus Mobile to the Federal Court over the September 2025 Triple Zero outage. A report at acma.gov.au counts if the telco did not notify you, did not log a network outage complaint, or missed its deadlines.
- Chargeback. Only fits a card payment for a service not supplied at all, such as a prepaid recharge bought during a total outage. Raise it with your bank quickly; card schemes set time limits.
- Tribunal. A state civil tribunal can hear a consumer law claim, but starting one ends the TIO's involvement. Keep it for claims the TIO cannot handle.
Ajust contacts the business, follows up, and escalates if they refuse. You get notified when it moves.
Get help with my complaintTelstra's 8 July 2026 outage, which hit about 45 per cent of mobile calls and data sessions at its peak and caused some Triple Zero calls to fail, is the kind of event the 2024 and 2025 rules were written for; Telstra opened a dedicated complaints line and a loss-claim process within days. The ACMA has said it will review the customer communication rules 12 months after the June 2025 changes, and from 30 June 2026 every carrier's outage register gives you the start time, duration and cause of an outage to quote in your claim.
What doesn't work
- Taking the free data as full settlement. A blanket offer does not stop you claiming a credit for the days lost or compensation for loss; lodge a separate complaint.
- Never reporting the outage. Without a network outage complaint and reference number there is no record of how long you were down.
- Claiming under the Customer Service Guarantee. It covers landlines only; telcos will reject a CSG claim for a mobile service.
- Claiming losses you cannot evidence. The TIO judges financial loss on receipts and records; stress and inconvenience is capped at $1,500.
- Going to the TIO first. The telco gets 15 working days instead of 10, and you still have to give it the chance.
- Treating patchy coverage as an outage. Chronic poor coverage is a sales or coverage complaint; use the provider's standardised coverage map, not the outage rules.
Common questions
How much credit should I get for a mobile outage?
There is no fixed rate. Ask for the share of your monthly plan fee for the days you had no usable service, and add any direct loss you can prove, such as data you had to buy elsewhere. Short, one-off outages usually earn only a goodwill credit.
The outage only lasted a few hours. Can I still claim?
You can ask, but the ACMA says minor, short outages probably will not attract compensation. The claim gets stronger if the outage caused a provable loss, if your telco broke its notification obligations, or if it is one of a series of outages, which the Australian Consumer Law treats differently.
Can I cancel my contract because of repeated outages?
Often, yes. The ACMA's guidance is that frequent or major outages can entitle you to cancel without penalty under the Australian Consumer Law, separate from your contract terms. Put the dates of each outage in writing and ask for release from the contract and any device repayments.
Does my telco have to tell me there is an outage?
Yes, for a major outage or a significant local outage. It must publish details on its website, update you at least every 6 hours for the first day, and notify you when service is restored. Smaller outages and natural disaster outages carry lighter obligations, website updates only.
I'm with a small provider on the Telstra or Optus network. Who handles my outage complaint?
Your provider. The network owner must notify it of the outage, and your provider must pass on the updates, log your network outage complaint and resolve your claim. Its outage page must also link to the network owner's outage register.
Can I still call Triple Zero when my network is down?
Usually. Since 1 November 2025 carriers must shut down a base station that loses its core network so your phone can camp on another carrier's network for emergency calls, if one is in range. If a call fails, retry straight away, and report any failed Triple Zero call to your telco.
- ACMA, Mobile outages and network interference
- ACMA, Rules for significant and major outages
- ACMA, Network outage complaints
- ACMA, The Customer Service Guarantee
- Federal Register of Legislation, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law)
- Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, Dr Kumari did not get an explanation for her mobile outage
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Issues
Read about the issues consumers are facing. Have a different issue? You can still make a complaint.