Were you affected by the Telstra outage? Here’s how to claim compensation

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Mariam Gabaji
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Key takeaways

  • A software defect disrupted Telstra's mobile, data and payment services across Australia on Wednesday, 8 July.
  • Australians, including small businesses, who lost income or couldn't access critical services during the outage can claim compensation through Telstra.
  • Telstra is warning customers to watch out for scam calls, with reports of fraudsters pretending to be from Telstra and using the outage as an opportunity to target people.

If you were caught out during the Telstra outage, here's what you can do to claim compensation.

How can individual customers claim compensation for the Telstra outage?

You can start by lodging a complaint directly with Telstra through its online complaints form.

You'll need to explain how the outage affected you and what it cost you.

Telstra will then review each case and work out the best way to resolve it.

If you're not satisfied with Telstra's response, you can contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to lodge a complaint.

What about businesses?

Small businesses can either fill out the online complaints form or call Telstra's compensation hotline on 1800 242 728 to discuss the losses they took on the day.

You'll need to give a clear description of the impact, an estimated claim amount and supporting documentation on how the outage hit your trading.

Examples of evidence include POS reports, booking records, invoices and comparable sales data from previous Wednesdays so you can show the gap.

Telstra would also like to see the steps you took to protect your business during the outage.

Did you know?

Transport Victoria says passengers who travelled, or planned to travel, on V/Line services between 6am Wednesday, 8 July and 12pm Thursday, 9 July 2026, can apply for compensation if they incurred extra costs because of the outage.

What happened in the Telstra outage?

Telstra blamed a software defect in time-keeping servers at its Sydney and Melbourne data centres.

The fault started around 4:30am AEST and wasn't fully fixed until about 4pm that afternoon.

During that window, mobile calls and data sessions dropped in and out, EFTPOS terminals stopped working, and train networks in NSW and Vwere suspended as a safety precaution.

Must read

Telstra has received reports of scammers calling customers, pretending to be from Telstra and trying to take advantage of the outage. It's urging customers to be cautious. If someone claiming to be from Telstra calls and asks for your personal details in relation to the outage, hang up and contact Telstra directly using an official channel.

Sources

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