Updated 14 Nov 2023

Contacting Optus

• Latest information on the Outage here: Outage | Optus
• Optus Specialist Care: Specialist Care (optus.com.au)
• Contacting Optus: Message Optus anytime (24/7) via My Optus app remains the easiest way to contact Optus, or call on 133 937.

Who we can help

Individual consumers
An individual consumer is a person who uses a telecommunications provider’s services for personal purposes. Most providers only allow one person to be listed as the account holder of a residential account.

Small businesses and not-for-profits 
Generally, a small business or not-for-profit consumer has up to $3,000,000 annual turnover and no more than 20 full-time employees. We take into account if employees are permanent, casual, and if employment is seasonal or voluntary. 

How we can help

Whilst service providers do not offer a fault-free service, there may be remedies available to you when a product does not perform as expected.

These remedies will vary based on individual circumstances but may include refunds for the time you were unable to use the service, compensation, or in some circumstances a release from contract.

We will take a careful approach to considering whether compensation is appropriate. The amount of compensation awarded will be proportionate to the extent of the harm suffered. It is likely most awards of compensation for non-financial loss will be modest.

If you have contacted Optus and are unhappy with its response to your complaint, we may be able to help.

We deal with compensation claims for:

• financial loss caused by a breach of an obligation a telco owes a consumer
• non-financial loss where an individual has suffered:
  • embarrassment or humiliation caused by a privacy breach
  • unusual amounts of stress or inconvenience.

Types of claims for losses

We deal with claims for compensation such as:

• lost business profit due to connection delays or network faults
• costs of having to pay for alternative services when a telco does not supply agreed services
• the costs of repairing a telco's damage to property
• the costs of protecting someone’s safety after a telco discloses a consumer’s personal information, for example an unlisted number or address.
• breach of privacy rights resulting in injury to your feelings or humiliation
• where an unusual amount of physical inconvenience, time taken to resolve a situation, or interference with an individual’s peace of mind has occurred because of a telco’s action or inaction.

We do not deal with claims for compensation:

• for the costs of making a complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
• for loss of business reputation
• made to penalise a telco.

When assessing your compensation claim, we will consider what steps you took to protect your interests and minimise any losses. 

You can only get compensation for losses directly caused by the telco

We assess claims by first determining if there was a breach by the telco. Then we consider the impact of the breach on you.

For financial loss, you will need to give us evidence to show the loss. This will vary depending on the loss you are claiming for.

Faulty services

The Australian Consumer Law sets out consumer guarantees for goods and services and the rights you have when something fails to perform as expected.

When assessing complaints, the TIO assesses whether these guarantees have been met, the extent of the failure and what remedies may be fair and reasonable in the circumstances.

Remedies

The remedy you are entitled to will depend on whether the failure to comply with the guarantee is a major or minor failure.

If your product or service fails to meet a consumer guarantee, your right to a remedy may depend on the type of failure. Some possible remedies that may apply are:

• refund
• repair
• replacement or exchange
• compensation
• cancellation of contract.

Minor failures can usually be remedied within a reasonable amount of time.

Major failures apply when there is a clear breach, and a product or service cannot be fixed or remedied within a reasonable time.

As telco’s do not offer a fault free service, a one-off outage is unlikely to be considered a major failure which would constitute a cancellation of contract under the ACL.

When we handle complaints about faulty services, we consider what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances having regard to the law, relevant industry codes, guidelines, and good practice.

Compensation amounts

The amount of compensation for financial loss we can award

We can direct a telco to pay you up to $100,000 in compensation. If we estimate the value of the claim is likely to exceed $100,000, we may decide not to handle a complaint because a court or tribunal is more appropriate for your claim.

If you want to make a claim for financial loss, you should be able to show us the loss with supporting information.

The amount of compensation for non-financial loss we can award

The limits on the amount of compensation we can award are:

• A maximum of $100,000 for complaints about privacy rights
• A maximum of $1,500 for all other complaints.

You can find more information about how we handle complaints about faulty services and compensation in the links below.

Further information

• Seeking compensation | The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
• Faulty services | The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
• Consumer guarantees - a guide for consumers | ACCC