Crowdstrike global outage: How the NT was affected by tech issues

IT issues have caused havoc across the globe and residents of the NT were not immune. Read how locals and businesses were impacted.

Some ATMs were down across town

Some Northern Territory residents were left reeling as the global outage plagued a range of businesses.

Local Anna Villalon said she was forced to withdraw cash to pay for her shopping.

"I was trying to buy an item and tap and go wouldn't work so I came to the ATM and thankfully was able to withdraw money, I didn't know what was going on," she said.

"Hopefully EFTPOS is up and running later so I don't have to keep coming back to the ATM."

Anna Villalon

Commbank customer Joel wasn't as fortunate when it came to getting physically money out.

"Na didn't work for me everytime I put my card in it would just shoot back out," he said.

A bottleshop attendant in the Darwin CBD said because of the outage her venue was deserted.

"This is the quietest we've ever been on a Friday afternoon - it will never be like this again," she said.

Coles in Alice Springs was also affected, forcing to be shut just after 3.30pm, according to security at for the supermarket. 

Woolworths and Bunnings were also closed by 6pm.

They said staff were unable to access computer systems and that self-serve checkouts were displaying a blue screen. 

The computer screens were turned off when NT News had a peek inside. 

The lines at the Alice Springs Woolworths Friday, July 19, 2024, during the worldwide system outage: Picture: Holly Keane

Dozens of shoppers were forced to abandon their shop, according to the security guard, and punters trying to enter were being turned away. 

The adjacent Liquorland also fell victim to the outage, with punters gathered out the front trying to get in. 

One man, when hearing the news, turned around and muttered "he didn't need beer anyway". 

When NT News asked him to elaborate, he told this masthead to "blame global warming for this" before shaking his head and walking away. 

The Liquorland in Alice Springs was another victim of the global system outage and shut Friday afternoon, July 19. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Many hadn't heard the supermarket giant was shut, and once they found out, they all went to the Woolworths across the road to get their groceries and grog.  

Self-serve checkouts were down at Woolies but the BWS still open, valiantly staffed by one man behind the counter.  

It is the second time in weeks that a mass migration between the two supermarket giants occurred in Alice Springs. 

At the start of July, the Yeperenye Shopping centre was evacuated due to a small electrical fire – an event which reportedly caused Red Centre Woolies shoppers to go shop at Coles instead. 

Meanwhile at Darwin International Airport flight delays were anticipated on Friday afternoon.

A spokesperson said they were managing the impacts of the global IT network outage.

This Darwin City bottleo was deserted as EFTPOS machines were down

"Passengers should contact their airline to confirm the status of their flight before travelling to the airport," the spokesperson said.

"DIA is working to resolve this issue as soon as possible to minimise disruptions to travellers.

"DIA appreciates the patience of all travellers while this global issue is resolved."

Alice Springs Airport and Tennant Creek Airport are not currently experiencing delays.

NT hospitals and government systems were also not affected by the outage.

"Northern Territory government systems have not been affected by the current international Crowdstrike outage," a spokesperson said.

"Triple zero and online reporting lines are functioning normally."