Massive data breach finally sees day in court, with trillions at stake for Optus

Peak communications consumer body ACCAN acknowledges the court proceedings initiated today by the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) against Optus for alleged breaches of the Privacy Act 1988.

We welcome the OAIC taking this action with the stated aim of taking “the action necessary to uphold the rights of the Australian community.”

This sends a clear message to the telco sector that if they are not prepared to take their responsibility to consumers seriously, that Australian regulators will act to protect consumers from the immeasurable harms caused by their actions.

This is not an isolated incident. It comes after Optus was subject to a $100m penalty for unconscionable sales practices affecting vulnerable consumers, and the 2023 nationwide outage that impacted millions of businesses and consumers.

ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said that action of this kind is critical to driving the cultural change that we need to see in this sector.

“I note that Optus is undertaking a restructure led by recently appointed CEO Stephen Rue, with a view to shifting the culture of the organisation that has enabled these behaviours.”

“This court action demonstrates how far short Optus fell from what consumers expect and deserve from their telcos.”

“This action has been made possible through clear and substantive consumer protections articulated in direct regulation, which consumers should be able to rely on when they purchase essential communications services. It’s high time the ACMA reject the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code and provide real consumer protections.”

“We have a long way to go to remedy the sorts of practices and behaviours we have seen from Optus over the past few years.  It paints a picture of a telco that has lost sight of its obligation to consumers in delivering an essential service that consumers need and rely upon.”

“Changing that culture won’t be easy and this very significant action from OAIC is yet another wake up call for action.  It seems Optus have been asleep at the wheel when it comes to accepting their moral and ethical responsibility to Australians.”