Network Outage Complaints Process

1. What this covers

If your service stops working because of a network outage, this is what happens when you contact us.

This process exists because network outages don't fit normal complaint handling. You can't wait 10 working days to be told your internet is down — you already know. The point is to get you reconnected and keep you informed while we do.

It's written to meet Parts 2A and 3A of the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018, which have applied since 30 June 2025, and it works alongside our Complaints Handling Policy for everything else.

Live outage information: www.atelis.com.au/outage-register

2. When this applies

Two things have to be true.

One: you tell us your service isn't working. A call, an email, a ticket, a message — anything where you say you can't get a voice or internet connection. That's a service outage report.

Two: we have reason to suspect a major or significant local network outage is behind it.

• A major outage affects 100,000 or more services and lasts more than an hour.
• A significant local outage affects 250 or more services in remote Australia for three hours or more, or 1,000 or more services in regional Australia for six hours or more.

If both are true, we treat your report as a network outage complaint under this process — even if you didn't say you were complaining and didn't ask for anything. We don't wait for you to use the word.

If it's just your service that's broken, it's a fault, and we handle it through normal support. If it turns out to be a wider outage after all, we'll reclassify it and tell you.

If the outage was caused by a natural disaster, this process doesn't apply and your complaint is handled under our Complaints Handling Policy. We'll still keep you updated through the outage register and direct notifications.

3. How to reach us during an outage

An outage may take out the channel you'd normally use, so there's more than one:

• Phone — 1300 283 547
• Email — help@atelis.com.au
• Live chat and the outage register — www.atelis.com.au/outage-register
• Portal — if you can reach it

We keep a real-time or near-real-time channel open during an outage for anyone who needs urgent help. If you can't get through on one channel, use another — we're not going to tell you that you used the wrong one.

Post and in-person contact aren't suitable during an outage, so we don't list them here.

4. What we do

Acknowledge you. Immediately if you call or chat, and within 2 working days otherwise. You get a reference number.

Tell you what we know. Whether there's a known outage, what's affected, and the current estimate for restoration if we have one. If we don't know yet, we'll say that rather than guess.

Prioritise urgent cases. See section 5.

Get you reconnected. That's the actual objective. Where the outage is on an upstream network we'll escalate to the carrier and push for restoration — we're required to, and they're required to give us reasonable assistance.

Check you're actually back. When the outage is fixed, most services come back on their own. Some don't. We won't close your complaint just because the network is up — we'll confirm your service is working, and if it isn't, we'll keep working on it. If you need to do something at your end to restore it, we'll tell you what.

Confirm it's resolved. We'll contact you to confirm before we close it.

5. Urgent outage complaints

We prioritise your complaint if the outage puts someone's safety or health at risk. Tell us if:

• you or someone at the premises has a medical condition that depends on a working connection;
• you receive Priority Assistance;
• you can't make emergency calls and have no mobile alternative; or
• there's another reason the loss of service is putting someone at risk.

Say so when you first contact us. We'll act on it straight away rather than putting you in the queue.

6. Keeping you updated

During a major outage we publish information at www.atelis.com.au/outage-register and update it at least every 6 hours for the first 24 hours, then at least daily until it's fixed.

We'll also try to reach affected customers directly — SMS, email, or the portal, depending on what's still working. We'll tell you when it's fixed.

We publish what's affected, what we know about the cause, and the current restoration estimate. Where an upstream carrier is the source, we publish what they've told us and say so.

7. If you're not happy

Everything in our Complaints Handling Policy still applies. You can ask us to escalate, and you can go to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman at any time — tio.com.au or 1800 062 058. Free, independent, and you don't need to have exhausted our process first.

8. Records

We record every network outage complaint, when it came in, what happened, and when it was resolved. We review them to find patterns worth fixing.

9. Compensation

If an outage means you've paid for a service you didn't get, tell us and we'll look at a credit. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law aren't affected by anything in this document.

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