SAPOL offer guidance as regional South Australians forced to travel hours to replace compromised critical documents
SAPOL has urged Optus customers caught up in the data breach to beware of any suspicious or unexpected activity on their online accounts as those in regional areas face an additional hurdle.
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People in regional communities without a nearby Service SA branch have raised concerns about how they can replace crucial documents following the Optus cyber attack.
Earlier in the week, the state government made the decision to waive the $20 fee to replace a driver’s licence.
Hundreds of victims of the data leak flooded to Service SA to take advantage of the announcement, but it’s not that easy for South Australians in the state’s regions.
Yorke Peninsula resident Scott told the ABC the round trip to the closest branch is 360km.
Scott raised questions about introducing temporary measures for South Australians in similar positions.
“Why can’t we go to a local police station?,” he said.
“Why can’t we do the details there and the police can issue the licence?”
Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the problem lay with the software.
“The police don’t have the ability to collect the information, verify it and send it off to Service SA,” he said.
Mr Koutsantonis went on to apologise for the inconvenience but reiterated the best option was to make the trip.
“It’s a very unique piece of identity … we need to make sure that we fix that and it’s just not as easy to go out remotely,” he said.
“We are looking at what we can do in regional centres, whether it be pop-up centres, I’m not too sure yet.”
The scrutiny comes as Services SA announced centres in Marion, Prospect and Elizabeth would extend their opening hours to 7pm Thursday to accommodate the volume of requests.
South Australians living outside of Adelaide and neighbouring townships face up to six hours in the car to reach their nearest Service SA branch.
For residents of Coober Pedy, the closest branch is 540km away in Port Augusta.
For South Australians in Ceduna, the closest branch is in Port Lincoln, 403km south.
And like Scott, residents in the south of the Yorke Peninsula must travel to the closest branch in Kadina, 180km away.
Mayor of Yorke Peninsula Council Darren Braund said residents travelling to Service SA in Kadina would generally need to block out the whole day.
“It’s not something you can do in your lunch break, it’s a decent inconvenience,” he said.
Mr Braund added he has been notified of around a dozen locals seeking assistance in relation to the breach at a community hub in Yorketown.
“The people needing help were just referred to the centre in Kadina,” he said.
“A pop up service in some of the major towns for a few days would be helpful.”
On Friday, SA Police offered advice for customers caught up in the breach.
The statement confirmed Optus will contact the affected customers within the next few days.
The notification will occur via email and will not provide any links to verify any personal details or billing information.
The official advice also suggested to look out for any suspicious or unexpected activity across online accounts and to not respond to any requests for money or to buy gift cards.
About bloody time #optus came to the party and gave their #OptusHack victims credit monitoring. I wonder how long it will be until they set that up 🙄🙄🙄 it took them 5 days to tell me my driver’s license & Medicare numbers had been exposed. #OptusClassAction#optusfail
— Ariadne Quinn 💉x5 (@ariadne_quinn) September 26, 2022
Latest from me #OptusDataBreach@newscomauHQhttps://t.co/7ITjOgAatU
— Alex Turner-Cohen (@AlexTurnerCohen) September 25, 2022
The extent of the breach continues to grow as Optus later revealed 37,000 Medicare details were also compromised, including almost 15,000 active numbers.
The government has also interviewed.
The Herald Sun reported Foreign Minister Penny Wong sent a letter to Optus chief Kelly Bayer Rosmarin asking for “confirmation” the company would cover the costs of replacement passport documents for victims of the cyber attack.
“There is no justification for these Australians – or for taxpayers more broadly on their behalf – to bear the cost of obtaining a new passport,” the letter stated.
A replacement passport would set an Australian back $193.
Optus previously stated they are working with state governments on providing replacement documents for those affected.
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