Telstra CEO's pay rises to $6.8m despite network outage

Telstra CEO Vicki Brady's total compensation reached $6.8 million for the year ending in June, marking a $700,000 increase from the previous year. This rise came even as the company docked 20% of Brady's bonus following a nationwide network outage in July. The outage, which Telstra attributes to a software update issue on a key time-keeping system, affected nearly half of all calls and data sessions on its network. Brady acknowledged the company "let our customers down" and took "full accountability," stating that Telstra is investigating the root cause with an external expert and will be transparent about the findings. The company has paid out nearly $1 million in compensation to affected customers and continues to assess claims, noting that potential financial implications from the outage remain uncertain. In response to the outage, Telstra also reduced bonuses for other senior executives, cutting their combined pay by $1.3 million. Despite the outage and political criticism, Telstra reported a slight increase in profits to $2.4 billion and maintained its dividend payout. The company also reduced its workforce by 1,219 employees over the year, bringing the total to 29,334 by June. Income from mobile services increased, driven by higher prices on both prepaid and postpaid plans, with Telstra adding one million new mobile plans.

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At this stage regulatory outcomes and any financial implications from this outage are uncertain and cannot be reliably estimated.