The recent nationwide outage of Telstra’s network has prompted calls for a reliable compensation scheme for SMEs that are adversely affected during such incidents.
On July 8, the incident downed telecommunications networks, eftpos payment systems, and public transport networks before being resolved by 4 pm that same day.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (Cosboa) said the outage highlighted the vulnerability of businesses in its wake.
“Small businesses rely on telecommunications to trade, take payments, communicate with customers, manage bookings, coordinate staff and access essential systems. When those services fail, the impacts can be immediate and costly,” said Cosboa CEO Skye Cappuccio.
“Small business owners should not be left carrying the cost of failures in essential services they pay for and rely on to operate.”
Cappuccio said any compensation should be “simple and proportionate”.
“Small businesses should not face unnecessary complexity when seeking compensation for losses caused by failures in essential services,” she added.
The association said it intends to advocate for measures to strengthen network resilience while seeking greater flexibility for businesses affected by technical failures beyond their control.
This article was first published on Inside Small Business.
