Organisations scrambling after major Microsoft outage

Thousands others also reported issues with Microsoft's workplace messaging app Teams, as well as its AI assistant Copilot and other Microsoft 365 products.

The tech giant explained that a portion of its infrastructure was "experiencing elevated load" that was "likely contributing to the connectivity errors." 

The widespread disconnection has hampered Australian public services as well as the nation's top law enforcement agency.

The Australian Federal Police was affected by the crash, Commissioner Krissy Barrett said, as was the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

"We operate on multiple levels, so one level, yes (we are affected), but not completely," ASIO's Director-General Mike Burgess told reporters in Sydney.   

"The impact that they are dealing with is very much on email system," he said, having been briefed by Australia's national cybersecurity co-ordinator and Microsoft on Friday morning. 

"They believe that (what) they are dealing with, in some ways, is similar to what we saw with respect to CrowdStrike, where there is an update that has that has gone awry."

The CrowdStrike outage in 2024 affected workplaces, airports and national security across the globe after a faulty configuration update crashed almost 8.5 million computers.

NSW's parliament reported major impact on email services, with some MPs telling constituents there would be delays in responding to queries.

The ACT government also acknowledged services would be impacted, as did local councils.

Service NSW, the one-stop shop agency for residents, drivers, and business owners to access government services, said it was aware of the major IT issue 

"Some transactions in Service Centres and Call Centres are unavailable at this time," a spokesperson told AAP on Friday.

"Customers are encouraged to delay their visit to a Service Centre and to complete transactions online, where possible."

A priority call back system is in place for those unable to complete urgent transactions during the outage, the agency said.

Queensland Health Services which relies on Microsoft emails to power a 130,000 strong workforce has also been hit, ABC reported on Friday.

Employees in the Northern Territory government also said their services were down in their department, AAP has confirmed.

Microsoft said it was "aggressively pursuing all pathways to reduce impact".

Swinburne communication systems expert Associate Professor Ali Yavari warns businesses could face another crisis as workers turn to unapproved tools, potentially exposing sensitive information.

When communication, shared documents and connected AI tools rely on the same infrastructure, several parts of an organisation can grind to a halt together, he explained.

"Sensitive work information can then move beyond the organisation's security controls, creating risks of unauthorised disclosure, loss of oversight and potential privacy or confidentiality breaches," he said. 

"Those consequences can outlast the outage itself."