Two Subsea Cables Near Perth Faulted, Owner Calls for Police Probe

Over the weekend, two distinct subsea cables located in the Submarine Cable Protection Zone off Perth encountered faults, according to Subco’s chief executive Bevan Slattery. He posted on LinkedIn that the incidents occurred close together and called for an urgent investigation by the Australian Federal Police. Senior research fellow David Brewster explained that Australia’s 16 undersea cables carry 99% of its international data traffic, so any outage could have a massive economic impact.

The damaged lines sit within a protected corridor that stretches 60 nautical miles from City Beach and reaches depths of 2,000 metres, yet they can still be severed by anchors or sabotage. Brewster highlighted that increasing the number of cables and clarifying governmental responsibility are key to reducing vulnerability, especially as many are owned by foreign tech firms such as Meta, Google and Amazon. He also pointed out that no single regulator currently oversees the sector, leaving operators uncertain about who to contact in an emergency. Subco’s request for a police probe underscores the growing concern over the security of critical communications infrastructure.