ACMA slaps Australian broadband company with $213,000 fine over emergency risk

An Australian broadband company has been fined $213,000 for risking the physical safety of more than 30,000 customers by making them uncontactable in an emergency.

An Australian broadband company has been slapped with a $213,000 fine after it failed to inform emergency services about the details of 30,000 of its customers.

As a result, these customers were unable to receive emergency text alerts or be contactable by triple-0 operators in a crisis.

Industry watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found Aussie Broadband Limited responsible for large-scale breaches of public safety rules on more than 30,000 occasions between November 2021 and May 2022.

An investigation found Aussie Broadband failed to upload customer information to secure databases used by emergency services across the country to warn of floods and bushfires.

These databases are also used by law enforcement, making it more difficult for police to track down any phones involved in an investigation.

Aussie Broadband failed to upload customer information to secure databases used by emergency services across the country.

ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the risk to customer safety was unacceptable.

“While we are not aware anyone was harmed due to the breaches, it’s alarming that Aussie Broadband did not have effective processes in place to identify that its customer information was not being provided,” she said.

By not providing customer information, 30,000 users could not receive emergency warnings about floods or bushfires. Picture: Saeed Kahn / AFP

The company has since paid the fine.

“While the breaches should not have occurred, we are pleased to see Aussie Broadband moved quickly to upload the missing data once it was brought to its attention and has taken steps to comply in future,” Ms O’Loughlin said.

If Aussie Broadband repeats the offence it could face penalties of $250,000 per individual breach.