The Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) described the latest Telstra network failure as a clear signal that stricter rules are needed to protect EV charging access across the country.

The outage on Wednesday, July 8, hit thousands of customers nationwide and blocked phone services, mobile data and other functions such as EFTPOS transactions, while also slowing taxi services.

Public transport networks in Victoria and New South Wales faced interruptions, and some emergency calls were delayed.

Chargefox, the nation's biggest public charging operator with ties to the NRMA, RACV and Woolworths, saw its stations affected when the Telstra issue blocked its smartphone app, prompting the AEVA to repeat its request for stronger national rules on charging equipment.

"A network failure should not interfere with EV drivers' routines the way it did this week," AEVA vice president Jo Oddie told CarExpert.

"As an advocacy group seeking improved standards for EV users everywhere, we want every public charger to include reliable backup options when connections fail."

"This applies especially to government-supported units, where multiple carriers or stronger connection designs should be required. Chargers should also switch to free use if connectivity is lost."

"Many of these chargers sit in important regional locations without other choices, leaving some EV owners without options."

The Telstra problem also stopped EFTPOS payments at several charging points, which the AEVA said showed the value of better protections.

"Contactless payment options that hold authorised transactions until a link returns would keep drivers moving and remove reliance on app payments when mobile signals drop."

The event followed record EV sales in Australia, with electric models making up 23.3 per cent of new-vehicle registrations in June 2026, nearly matching petrol cars at 24.8 per cent.

The Tesla Model Y led all vehicle types that month, and every model in the top 20 offered electric, hybrid or diesel choices, with none limited to petrol only.

This outage therefore reached more drivers than earlier events, such as the November 2023 Optus failure that restricted some Evie Networks chargers to RFID-card users.

"The broad Telstra outage shows how connected our daily routines have become and underlines the risks along with the need for stronger connectivity safeguards in both business and personal settings," Ms Oddie said.