Petition updateStop Telco 4G/5G Device Blocking & VoLTE Restrictions - Australia's 3G Shutdown

4G Phone Blocking Update: 2 Years On since the Petition + Triple Zero Outage Report & 11K Signatures

James ParkerBrisbane, Australia
25 Sept 2026

Hi Petition Signers,

Today the 26th of September 2026 marks two years since I created this Petition.
In the last 24hrs the Petition has also reached 11,000 signatures!

Please continue to share the petition to raise awareness, many people are impacted by this without knowing about it.

In addition to today marking two years since the launch of the Petition, there have been a few other important updates this past week which I thought I would share.

Triple Zero Outage Senate Inquiry Report
Earlier this week the Senate 'Environment and Communications References Committee' issued their final report to the Triple Zero Outage Senate Inquiry which was established following on from the September 2025 Optus Triple Zero Outage and failures.

Thank you for those that did write a submission to that Inquiry.
The Committee has called for a range of reforms to the regulatory requirements for the telcos.

More information can be found below.

Unfortunately not all of the issues I and others raised in the submissions to the Committee were looked into, including issues around the inconsistent blocking and network standardisation issues.

Though my submission and evidence is cited a few times in the report in regards to impacts & costs to consumers.

Given the scale of the problems within the sector it seems that the Senate Committee may not be across all of the technical issues that persist.
But the broad recommendations from the report are a positive step forward.

Triple Zero Legislative and Regulatory Review
In addition to the Senate Inquiry into Triple Zero, the Federal Government (and new Triple Zero Custodian) is now currently undertaking a review into the Triple Zero Laws and Regulatory Framework.

One of the 'matters for consideration' in the review terms of reference is
"The effectiveness and appropriateness of rules requiring that customer equipment to be capable of contacting Triple Zero" (i.e Device Blocking)

Public Submissions to the review closed 30 June 2026.
You can see all of the submissions that have been made public (including my own) at the page below.

Triple Zero Legislative and Regulatory Review Submissions
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/triple-zero-legislative-and-regulatory-review

The Custodian received 80 submissions as part of the review, with 59 from members of the public. (73% of Submissions)
Thank you to all of those that provided a submission, and either used my template or wrote about your own experiences.

Those submissions are a very valuable contribution, even if it seems like nothing has changed or will change.

The Department and Triple Zero Custodian are well aware of the issues consumers have reported and are facing with the inconsistent blocking. (As is the regulator the ACMA)

The  review is examining all of the regulatory settings around all Triple Zero Legislation, with a view to ensure that Triple Zero laws are effective and remain fit for purpose.

This week I had another meeting with Triple Zero Custodian branch regarding the device blocking issue, carrier issues and the review.

The meeting was constructive and given all the recent events with Triple Zero & carrier failures, change is going to happen around all of this. Though this will not be for some time to come. But there will be changes.

For reference the 'Triple Zero Regulatory Review' which the Custodian is currently carrying out is set to provide an interim report to the Communications Minister (who is also my Local MP) before the end of the year, with a final report due in approximately 6 months time in March next year.

Once the final report is handed down we will start seeing some changes around the various rules the telcos and industry adhere to.

In the intervening time the ACMA are making some very minimal tweaks to the Emergency Call Service Determination (device blocking rules) to better handle devices that require software updates. 

However none of those changes actually address the core problems, nor the foundational failures in how the carriers determine what does and doesn't work. 

Inconsistent Device Blocking
Also as a reminder in late May last year the ABC published a story about the inconsistent blocking by the providers.

The story includes reference to a website I launched that allows consumers to compare the list of blocked and supported devices between carriers.

https://isthisphoneblocked.net.au

Looking at the data it's abundantly clear the telcos have failed to do proper analysis, and continue to do so!
Especially for phones they didn't sell or their partners didn't sell.

This is especially true for Optus and it does speak to a systemic issue with the analysis they did and broader issues within the organisation.

If you are looking to buy or use a phone, please make sure you check if that model is being blocked by any of the providers.

For new devices, you are likely best placed to avoid TPG/Vodafone and Optus.
Telstra is firmly operating on a 'Blacklist' approach (at least currently) and are not blocking brand new devices.

Warning: Vodafone IMEI Blocking 'incompatible' new Phones as 'Lost & Stolen'

As also noted on the site, if the device you want to use is newer than 2024/2025 avoid using TPG/Vodafone as they may IMEI Block your phone for being 'unknown' for 000. 

Vodafone started doing this late last year after Samsung related deaths on their network.

As a result of being IMEI blocked this way, the device will also be IMEI blocked from Telstra & Optus.
Even if Telstra and Optus are Not blocking that 'TAC' (Make & Model).

To check if your device has been IMEI blocked in this way you will need to check it on the 'AMTA Stolen Device Checker'.

A link can be found at the bottom of every brand page.
(Additionally If you have a dual sim phone, one IMEI may be blocked but the other not blocked)

For more information on all of these issues refer to the below:

Related Articles & News Coverage

Youtube Video Coverage

As always, you are welcome to contact me if you have any further information you want to share, multiple contact methods are available.

https://medium.com/@jamesdwho/about

Thank you for all the support and interest with this to date and please continue to share the petition!

I can confidently say there WILL BE changes around all of this.

If you have been recently impacted by Blocking, (especially on a device your telco said was perfectly fine before the 3G Shutdown) please write to the Communications Minister and ACMA to complain. 

Continued complaints about these issues and the telcos handling of this is essential for change to occur!

Resources: Write to your Local MP, the Minister, Regulators (ACCC & ACMA)

AEC Find Your Electorate:
https://electorate.aec.gov.au

ACCC - Report a Consumer Issue:
https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/contact-us-or-report-an-issue/report-a-consumer-issue

ACMA - Contact Us
https://www.acma.gov.au/contact-us

Communications Minister Contact
https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/wells/contact

Regards

James

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