Australians are experiencing more service outages than ever before - and they're losing trust in the digital systems once considered reliable.
From mobile banking apps to broadband providers, service disruptions are becoming routine. But for businesses, the consequences are anything but.
New research commissioned by PagerDuty reveals just how widespread the impact has become.
Its State of Service Reliability in Australia 2025 report surveyed 1,000 consumers across the country, highlighting a growing sense of frustration and a dramatic decline in trust - particularly in the banking, financial services, telco and retail sectors.
David Williams, PagerDuty's Senior Vice President of Product, said the findings should serve as a warning to Australian companies.
"There is a rising likelihood that services people depend on are going to have outages," he said. "And consumers are making choices that reflect their dissatisfaction - they're voting with their feet."
Digital reliability has become business critical
According to the research, 72% of Australians say they would reconsider using a company after experiencing an outage.
Many are changing their habits entirely - switching providers, carrying cash again, or seeking backup options to avoid being caught out.
"Younger generations have only dealt with digital services," Williams said. "They don't carry physical cards, they don't have landlines - it's all digital, and that's all they know."
According to Williams, this reliance not only creates risk - but also an opportunity.
"If reliability is what customers care about, then reliability can become your differentiator," he added.
Telcos, banks and airlines under pressure
Among the industries surveyed, telcos reported the highest number of outages, with 41% of respondents saying they'd experienced disruptions in the past year.
"In the Australian market, telcos are probably suffering the most," Williams said.
"Major providers have had repeated incidents, and consumers are losing confidence."
Banks and airlines were also in the spotlight. As consumers shift toward mobile-first banking and digital travel platforms, expectations have surged. But reliability hasn't always kept up.
"You used to check your bank balance once a month. Now you're tapping your phone five times a day," Williams said. "It's not the same infrastructure load anymore."
In aviation, a post-pandemic mix of reduced staffing, outdated tech and surging travel demand has made flight systems more fragile.
"Legacy operations that once worked fell apart during the pandemic," he said. "And many airlines have struggled to recover."
Digital operations provide a path forward
Williams argues that digital resilience - not just uptime - must be treated as a strategic investment. That's where PagerDuty's Operations Cloud platform comes in.
"To solve these problems, businesses need people, process and tools," he said.
"That means training staff, building incident response plans, and using AI and automation to detect and resolve issues faster."
PagerDuty helps companies spot potential failures before they impact customers, activate response teams quickly, and learn from every disruption through post-incident reviews.
"If you don't learn from an incident, it'll happen again," Williams explained.
"We automatically capture everything - from the root cause to who was involved, what actions were taken and how fast it was resolved - so you can improve."
Communication is part of resilience
The report also found that 97% of Australians expect transparent communication during an outage - yet most brands still fail to provide it.
"Communication is basic customer service," Williams said. "If something's gone wrong, tell your customers. Acknowledge it, give a timeframe, and follow through."
He noted that different services carry different expectations - a retail website might be down for an hour with little impact, but a failed digital payment or internet outage can be far more disruptive.
"The customer impact depends on the moment," he said.
Consumers now plan for failure
Perhaps most telling is how Australian consumers are proactively adapting to unreliability. Some are carrying cash again. Others are setting up duplicate services. And many are opting for businesses with better digital reputations.
"If I can't trust one provider, I'll find another," Williams said. "That's what we're seeing - customers taking matters into their own hands."
Retail, he noted, is especially vulnerable to this shift. "If I can't check out on your website, I'll buy from someone else. Even if it costs more."
Reputation is won, or lost, in real time
Williams believes that in today's world of social media and instant reviews, businesses don't have long to prove themselves.
"Word of mouth used to spread slowly. Now it spreads instantly," he said. "If you fail to communicate or recover quickly, your customers - and their networks - will know."
For those who have already lost trust, recovery isn't impossible - but it does take time.
"Be honest. Be transparent. Show what you're doing to get better, and prove it," he said. "That's how you earn someone back."
Why you shouldn't just wait for the next outage
With more systems going digital and consumer expectations continuing to climb, Williams said digital operations should be a top boardroom priority.
"Service disruptions don't just cause annoyance - they change behaviour, break loyalty and cost you business," he said.
"The companies that invest now will be the ones customers trust tomorrow."