Share and Follow
Two senior executives from Optus have stepped down as the embattled telco faces ongoing scrutiny over a major triple-zero outage.
In a statement on Thursday, Optus announced the “planned retirement” of chief financial officer (CFO) Michael Venter, who will also step down as board director.
Andy Giles Knopp was named as the incoming CFO from April 2026.
Chief information officer Mark Potter will also leave the company in March 2026, with John McInerney having been named his replacement from November this year.
The statement announcing the departures didn’t suggest they were related to a recent Optus triple-zero outage, which has been linked to three deaths.
A recent technical glitch followed a routine firewall upgrade on September 18, causing a significant disruption in emergency services. Over 600 calls to triple-zero were unable to connect across South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and parts of New South Wales.
The calls failed to redirect to another functioning network in the area, despite a legal requirement for the telco to facilitate this.
In response to the incident, the government has fast-tracked new legislation that will mandate telecommunications companies to provide real-time updates on any outages to emergency services, the communications watchdog Australian Communications and Media Authority, and the government.
The telecommunications company, owned by Singapore, compounded the issue by mistakenly sending emails about the outage to an incorrect address within the federal communications department. This error left officials uninformed about the situation for more than 24 hours.
Optus has commissioned an independent review into the incident, and it is also under scrutiny from ACMA.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue thanked both men for their service.
“Michael has decided to retire from executive life to pursue a portfolio career, and I wish to thank him for his significant contribution to Optus over the past four years,” he said.
“Following long-term and open discussions, Mark has decided that early next year is the right time to leave Optus after four productive years and having laid strong technology foundations for Optus’ transformation plans.
“I wish him all the best with his next chapter.”
— With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
